Gothic style chair. Gothic style interior design. Furniture and accessories

Each of us in childhood played brave knights and beautiful princesses, but then we grow up, fabulous adventures end, life becomes ordinary and routine. Gothic is a style of room decoration that takes us back to a children's fairy tale. This is not a gloomy middle ages in gray tones, but a bright and unrealistically airy atmosphere in the design of a room or even an entire apartment.

Where did the gothic style come from

The Gothic style originated in Western Europe in the 13th century, first in the architecture of buildings, and a little later in the design of the premises inside. The most characteristic feature of the Gothic style is the aspiration to the top in every detail. The interior in the Gothic style is decorated with natural stone, wood, leather and glass.

High ceilings, often in the form of an arch or rough wooden ceiling beams, floors covered with natural stone or marble slabs, sometimes with wooden boards, huge lancet windows that should let maximum light into the room - this creates an atmosphere of incredible solemnity and grandeur, and additional details in the design make the room cozy.

Advice: even if your apartment has low ceilings, the layout does not allow you to decorate the interior in the Gothic style, then with the help of individual details in the furniture or interior design you can create an atmosphere of Gothic mood in your home.

Gothic style furniture

In its striving upwards, the Gothic style in the interior is not limited only to the shape of windows or ceilings. All pieces of furniture in the room, even doorways, have an elongated, pointed shape. The wooden details are covered with intricate carvings, which sometimes turn into welts and look like elegant wooden lace with church motifs, intertwining arches, turning into arcades or clear geometric fragments. Double cabinets, bookshelves and sideboards on high legs with panels, chairs that look more like medieval thrones with high backs and hard seats. In the interior of an apartment in the Gothic style, there must be large wooden chests-cases decorated with bronze rivets, sometimes covered with leather. In the Middle Ages, trunks placed near the walls often served as benches, couches or even tables. A mandatory attribute, especially in bedrooms, is screens. The wide beds, located on a dais, are decorated with twisted columns at the corners, equipped with canopies that will protect you from drafts on a cold night. Door leafs and furniture are massive, but acquire lightness and elegance due to the patterned carving pattern. For the manufacture of furniture, dark varieties of wood are usually used, or it is subjected to special processing, giving the desired shades for the interior of the apartment.

Advice: A gothic-style room will take on softness and coziness if you use plenty of soft throw pillows. This will help to smooth out a certain coldness and rigidity of the furniture.

Color stereotypes are not for gothic

Many people think that the interior in the Gothic style implies gloomy, dark tones and monotony of forms. But that's not the case at all. Gothic uses rich colors of reds, browns, blues, greens and yellows. For a skilled designer, it is quite possible to decorate your apartment in white or beige colors, while fully preserving the Gothic style in the interior. The walls should be painted uniformly, without any pattern; velvet or cloth can be used for wall upholstery. Draperies are welcome. They are decorated with bright tapestries on fabric or wood, with the classic image of a shamrock, rose, lily or crucifer. The painting on the ceiling will add an additional bright accent to the design of the room, as well as the gilding or silver that covers the stucco elements.

Details matter

A special place in a room or apartment, the interior of which is decorated in the Gothic style, is occupied by details: jugs, mugs, trays. Forged elements decorate furniture and doors. In rooms decorated in the Gothic style, paintings are almost completely absent; they are replaced by tapestries and illuminated. A fireplace with a wrought iron grate and a pair of massive throne chairs will create a cozy island in your living room, even in the most inclement weather, and cheer you up.

Advice: do not be afraid of forged metal or bronze details in the interior. For example, a forged chandelier made in the characteristic style of the Middle Ages or tall candlesticks will only complement the decor and give a special personality to your apartment.

The whole room can be decorated in the Gothic style, but each room will have a completely individual design, character and mood. A variety of colors and details in the design of the premises allows, using one style, to give variety and novelty to every corner of your house, a separate room or even an entire apartment to turn into a fairytale castle.

One of the few styles that doesn't even need to be introduced.

History of appearance

Legend has it that when, in the 13th century, the Pope of Rome asked Raphael how the construction of St. Peter's was progressing, he dismissively called the building "Gothic": barbaric, devoid of true aesthetics. The famous master then did not suspect that he gave the name to one of the greatest styles in the history of mankind.

Initially (XII-XV centuries), the style existed exclusively in architecture. The Gothic style in the interior appeared much later, in the era of historicism (the end of the 19th century). At this time, the nobility of Great Britain, Germany and other European countries were fascinated by the fashion for building manors in the neo-Gothic style.

Gothic originated in the middle of the XII century in northern France. The first Gothic building appeared in Paris. In 1136-1140, Abbot Sugeria erected two spans of the main nave of the abbey church of Saint-Denis. The abbot believed that the temple is a ship symbolizing the Universe. The light marble columns resemble soaring masts, and the smooth lines under the vaults resemble sails stretched by the wind.

Lighting

The architects of the Middle Ages reached unprecedented heights in the art of using sunlight and diffused light.

Unlike the Romanesque cathedrals, the Gothic ones had many large and brightly stained glass windows. And the windows themselves have been transformed into sparkling stained-glass paintings designed to dazzle parishioners with illustrations of biblical scenes.

Theologians even attributed to stained glass windows the ability to enlighten the human soul and keep from evil.

Designers of those times focus on lighting. It is important for them to save every grain of light so that the stone cathedral becomes airy and weightless.

A perfect example is the lace of the cathedral of the capital of Normandy - Rouen.

On cloudy days, the silhouettes of Gothic cathedrals thought out to the smallest detail, countless turrets, spiers, figures and spikes live in a dim diffused light. It turns out a gloomy and majestic image.


Interior Features

A feature of Gothic buildings is the lancet arch, an invention of the 11th century. It was invented during the construction of the English Cathedral in Dergem. The wall was folded like a tree trunk - with many outgoing branches, one arch rested on the other, the vault stood on the vault's shoulders. Intermediate supports, heavy ceilings that limit the volume of buildings, were no longer required.


The second life of the Gothic style: Neo-Gothic

In the era of historicism in the 40s of the 18th century, interest in Gothic revived in Great Britain. Neo-Gothic became “officially” the national style of Great Britain thanks to the connoisseur and enthusiast of this direction, Augustus Pugin. He rebuilt the building of the British Parliament that burned down in 1834.

Trinity Church was the first neo-Gothic building in the United States.

Gradually, a sub-style of collegiate Gothic, characteristic of student campuses, stood out from the neo-Gothic here.

Neo-Gothic also spread to Germany, where, after the revolution of 1848-1849, medieval architectural monuments, such as the Cologne Cathedral, were actively revived.

In parallel with the restoration of the old Gothic cathedrals, the construction of secular buildings in the neo-Gothic style was going on.

A vivid example is the buildings of the town hall in Munich and Berlin, the unique complex of Hamburg shipyards - Speicherstadt.

In France and Italy, neo-Gothic was perceived rather as a call to restore and preserve already medieval buildings in the Gothic style.

So, in Paris, after the appearance of the novel by Victor Hugo “Notre Dame Cathedral”, the mentioned cathedral became the object of attention of the inhabitants, and in Italy, the largest project of the neo-Gothic movement was the erection of the facade of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence.

One of the key moments in the development of neo-Gothic was the appearance of the Gothic style in the interior.

In 1795, William Beckford began building the imposing Fonthill Abbey estate in Wiltshire, with an octagonal 90-meter tower.

The tower collapsed three times within 30 years, but the Beckford estate still made an indelible impression on contemporaries.

The European nobility eagerly picked up this idea and began to build their estates in the same style. At the same time, the basic principles of medieval architecture were preserved when designing buildings, and the interior was supposed to create the feeling that you are in a knight's castle.


Gothic style in modern design

To create a Gothic style in the interior, you will need:

Spacious room

high ceilings

Plenty of natural light

Gothic style is hardly suitable for decorating small apartments with low ceilings. It can be found in the interior design of country houses, expensive restaurants and hotels stylized as medieval castles.

But even in them, the Gothic style is not used in its original form. Rather, there is a stylization of the interior in the Gothic spirit.


Materials and finishes

For the design of such an interior, only natural materials are used:

  • Initially, oak, walnut, spruce, larch and European cedar were used in Gothic buildings.

    When choosing furniture, you should give preference to things upholstered in brocade or velvet, with a jacquard pattern or a smooth structure. Furniture decorated with carvings and gilding will harmoniously fit in.

    When choosing furniture upholstery, give preference to:

  • blue-black

    cherry

    ruby

    purple

    dark blue

    emerald

    If there is not enough sunlight in the room, choose shades of white, beige and milky as the main tone of the walls. In this case, furniture and accessories made in typical Gothic colors will not create a depressing impression.

    By choosing the right materials and distributing decor elements, you will create a living room in the style of medieval castles or a bedroom in the style of royal chambers.


    Furniture and accessories

    In the Gothic era, new pieces of furniture appeared in the lives of ordinary people. So, for the first time, clothes began to be stored in double-leaf massive wardrobes, household items - in cupboards with high legs, replacing them with the usual chest. Beds with high headboards and upholstered chairs with high backs have become widespread.

    When creating a modern interior in the Gothic style, do not forget about the details:

    chests upholstered in worn leather

    bronze candlesticks

    artificially aged metal in furniture decor elements

    medieval themed tapestries

    mosaics on the windows of a typical oblong pointed shape

    This will help to create the atmosphere of the Middle Ages.


    Interior lighting

    The final touch in the Gothic interior will be lighting: as a rule, it is a massive chandelier with wrought iron candlesticks. It is hung in the center of the room and complemented with lamps and sconces.

    So, to summarize, once again highlighting the main features of the Gothic interior:

    spacious room, high ceilings

    large windows, plenty of natural light

  • straight vertical lines

    the predominance of dark shades in furniture upholstery

    use of natural materials

    medieval style accessories

    To repeat the neo-Gothic interior in full swing is a difficult task. But it can serve as a source of inspiration when decorating an ordinary room. Don't be afraid to experiment with details: sometimes a couple of little things like wrought-iron candlesticks and a canopy above the bed can create the feeling of a medieval castle.

    WikiHow is a wiki, which means that many of our articles are written by multiple authors. When creating this article, 46 people worked on editing and improving it, including anonymously.

    A gothic room can be dark, beautiful and beautiful. Dark colors, black, red, and silver candles, quiet music…or band posters, mysterious artwork, and weird but beautiful jewelry. Whatever the style, whatever the purpose, one of the best ways to decorate a room is to make it gothic. However, you must have some basic skills and your own unique taste, as well as knowledge of the rules, to make the perfect gothic room. Painting the walls black and calling the room very "gothic" will not achieve the desired effect. If you want to make a room gothic, but need help, then this article is for you.

    Steps

      Clean up your room. Gothic and mess not are combined. It is imperative that you remove all noisy, unnecessary items and completely clear the room. A good way to start is to break things down into three parts: the “keep” part, the “throw away” part, and the “maybe” part. Divide all things into three parts and start from there. Remember that you need to clean the room very carefully - dust, wash, vacuum, polish ... whatever you need.

      Decide which style suits you. For a Gothic room, it is not necessary to choose one style, which gives you a little variety and freedom of choice when decorating the room. Before you get down to business, think carefully about the style, effect and result that you are waiting for. Remember that the room still needs to be cozy and you need to create an environment that makes you feel happy and at peace, but that will seem unusual and beautiful to others. You might want to create a fantasy room with silver walls and stars, or a dark room with black walls and scary paintings. There are many other styles you can try, but you can also create your own.

      Paint the walls. One of the easiest ways to create the biggest effect is to repaint the walls. But there is no need to chase stereotypes and immediately buy fifty cans of black paint. Give yourself time to think and decide which color you like. You can create a mural and make an art wall. Colors can be as follows: silver, dark purple, maybe even deep red or blue.

      Think of decorations. Decorations are one of the most important elements of a Gothic style room as they decorate the room and add the desired effect. Some decorations are made in such a way that they match the chosen style, while others appear randomly in it. Look in stores or online for things you like. You can suggest:

      • Candles. Candles always create a great effect because they come in a wide variety of styles. Silvers, blacks and reds all work. Cream or yellow/gold can also create a very romantic setting. Scented candles are also very effective.
      • Candlesticks. Majestic silver candlesticks can be a great addition to any gothic room with or without candles.
      • Plants. Do not imagine at once: green, bright plants in pots. Try to choose other plants, maybe even artificial ones, in beautiful silver, white or dark pots. Plants with white and red flowers will create a very beautiful romantic gothic style. You can get artificial flowers that are much easier to care for, and the selection is huge and suits many styles. You can also pick rose petals like Morticia Addams!
      • Pillows. Black, silver, silver embroidered, crystal white... pillows can create a relaxing, cozy and beautiful atmosphere. Gothic pillows are also easy to find.
    1. Add artwork. Beautiful paintings or other mysterious works can always make a big difference in a room. If you're an artist, get creative and make your own stuff. If not, go shopping and look for something interesting. Masks, mosaics and paintings - all this will suit you.

      Buy sheets for the bed. Swap plain sheets for something darker and more romantic. Ideal black silk or velvet, white, silver or, if you want something brighter, purple, red or blue. Search well and you will definitely find something for yourself. Remember that you want something cozy and easy to care for, and try to stick to creamy colors. You can also purchase a canopy - white braid is ideal.

      Buy a carpet. See what colors suit your room. Try to pick up something unique and interesting, something that will attract attention. Remember that it is worth buying a thing that is not particularly demanding in care, so that after a couple of years it looks decent.

      Buy new furniture. If you like, you can paint the old furniture or just leave it as is. But if you can afford it, why not buy something new? Dark marble or other stones, like wood, are good materials for Gothic furniture. White, black, silver and dark brown are great colors.

    2. Put on some music. Buy a player or stereo and confuse or amaze people with your choice of music. Keep your CDs in plain sight so people can see what kind of music you like.

      • If you can paint the room, but your parents don't approve of the color you choose, then try dark brown, silver, dark purple, blood red, or even white with flashy black designs!
      • Bookshelves are great if you have chosen a relatively classic and romantic style.
      • Dark-colored walls such as dark brown, navy blue and plum can look very pretty, especially when paired with cream and ivory finishes. Ivory painted walls will work well with black and dark decorations.
      • Get black or red light bulbs. Black will create a dark purple lighting in the room, and red - of course, red.
      • Try to make drawings on the walls yourself. Silver stars and cobwebs will look beautiful.

      Warnings

      • Parents can categorically stop your creativity. In this case, try to bypass their instructions. If you are not allowed to paint or hang anything on the walls, buy furniture or turn on music, try covering the furniture with beautiful silk or velvet fabric, buy candles and decorations.
      • First, think about what mood you want to create for the room. Maybe you like just one color, but you might not like it when it covers all the walls and floor. Gothic is an elegant style, but it's important to maintain a sense of intimacy no matter what effect you expect.
      • Black paint can have an unexpected effect and the room will become much smaller. If you decide to paint the walls in a room black, try to put a pattern on them. Black goes great with silver. Try black walls and a silver ceiling, or black with a silver pattern. This combination will make the room a little brighter.

    The Gothic style replaced the Romanesque and became the main architectural style in Western Europe from the 12th century onwards. The interiors of luxurious Gothic castles and mansions still amaze the imagination of their visitors.

    The most prominent representatives of the Gothic style are temples and religious buildings of the Middle Ages. However, they are not inferior to the interiors of many civil buildings of that time.

    In those days, religious buildings sought to build as high as possible, from where the fashion for vaulted ceilings. Since such ceilings require stable support, Gothic structures have a large number of arches. The sharpness and height of the lancet arch requires a different thrust force of the supporting structures. Thus, the higher and sharper the arch, the less it bursts the load-bearing walls.

    The gaps between the arches and columns were completely filled windows, often decorated with stained-glass windows. Such windows were a source of a lot of light in a Gothic temple or palace, despite the stained glass windows.

    The main characteristics of the Gothic style

    Gothic buildings are characterized by a large interior space, majestic fireplaces, numerous spiers. The main distinguishing features of the Gothic style include: aspiration upwards, external lightness and expressiveness. In general, the room in the Gothic style is quite spacious, decorated windows with stained glass, It has intersecting details in the interior, uneven, ribbed ceiling, many arches, balconies.

    Of the bright details of the Gothic style, it is worth noting forged objects and details, stone carvings, portals, beam-shaped columns, lace patterns, vaults and flying buttresses. Gothic in the interior can be described as the personification of unearthly beauty, mystery, majesty.

    Colors in the Gothic interior

    Since the Gothic style was formed in the Middle Ages, when preference was given to dark colors, then modern Gothic interiors do not differ in particular brightness of color. The most popular gothic colors are dark green, carnation pink, black, dark red, ruby, purple, beige, ocher and purple.

    As a rule, in any Gothic interior you can find silver and gold colors, which are designed to emphasize the luxury of the room. It is impossible not to note the special atmosphere created by frescoes and stained-glass windows, which harmoniously fit into the color scheme of the room.

    Materials for creating an interior in the Gothic style

    The Gothic interior uses t only natural finishing materials. Basically, it is marble, cobblestone, limestone, tiled mosaic, majolica stone, wood of various species, iron and bronze. In a word, these are all the materials that were available in the Middle Ages.

    The walls can be decorated with stylized wood panels, various murals, tapestries, panels. Usually all plots are drawn up on religious themes.

    To finish the floor, boards and stone are used, on top of which carpets are laid.

    As mentioned earlier, the ceiling in the Gothic interior has the shape of a vault, which is supported by columns. Modern Gothic interiors also use beam and rafter ceilings. The design allows for various paintings, stucco molding, and the formation of tiers.

    Furniture in a Gothic interior

    The Gothic style is characterized by high two-door wardrobes with 4-9 panels, high-backed chairs, high sideboards, high-backed beds. In general, the interior should have features reminiscent of the medieval furnishings of churches and castles. Adherents of the early Gothic are advised to pay attention to the massive furniture in dark shades.

    It is worth noting that in any room in the Gothic style, traditional furniture is box which can also be used as a seat, table or bed. In the old days, chests were often placed on top of each other, thus creating a semblance of a closet.

    The interior in the late Gothic style is characterized by the presence fireplaces, bookcases and sideboards with stained glass windows. The late Gothic period is considered the starting point when stained glass began to gain particular popularity. The most popular motif is gothic rose which has been used throughout. The gothic style table is characterized by a far protruding tabletop, as well as a deep drawer.

    A bed in the Gothic style must necessarily have a canopy and a large wooden frame. The bedroom can also have a massive chest of drawers with mirrors that acts as a dressing table.

    In general, furniture in the Gothic style is characterized by massiveness, a large number of panels with patterns, elaborate hinges on the doors, as well as metal stripes as decoration.

    Lighting, textiles and accessories in the Gothic interior

    The interior in the early Gothic style is characterized by windows framed with lead. In this case, curtains were not used at all. The Middle Ages are characterized by wide curtains for the entire length of the window, as well as woven curtains. During the late Gothic period gained popularity curtains made of massive velvet fabrics with an ornament in the form of lancet patterns. For the manufacture of cornices used wood or iron.

    In bedrooms, the most common textiles are canopies and bedspreads, often handmade carpets.

    As for lighting, Gothic interiors are characterized massive chandeliers, consisting of a hoop, metal chains and a bowl for candles. In some cases, they used wooden chandeliers. During the late Gothic period, chandeliers began to be decorated with various details in the form of leaves, flowers and other things. Medieval prototypes of modern floor lamps were often used - standing metal lamps. In the daytime, light entered the room through the windows in the walls and in the ceiling.

    The design of the Gothic interior is characterized by weapons, heraldic attributes, and various details reminiscent of the knightly era. To create an atmosphere of mystery, you can use figures and images in the form of chimeras, dragons, witches and other mystical representatives. In rooms with two or more floors are used spiral wrought iron stairs. Create an atmosphere of mystery mirrors in massive frames, goblets and candlesticks made of metal, fireplaces, ivory decorative elements.

    In general, the Gothic interior requires a lot of space, so it is advisable to design it in private homes.

    The culmination of the development of medieval European art is the restrained mystical Gothic, which replaced the magnificent luxury of the Romanesque style. Bright mosaic stained-glass windows, needles of spiers directed upwards, the radiance of gilding, expression, a symphony of a harmonious combination of light, glass and stone - this is how you can figuratively characterize it in the interior. The term appeared in sunny Italy during the Renaissance. So ironically the Romans called the primitivism of the barbarian culture of the Middle Ages fading into oblivion. At first, this word was used in literature, when the author wanted, with some degree of irony, to designate distorted Latin in the text. Later, this term began to refer to a certain architecture, which in a nutshell can be called eerily majestic.

    It is not so easy to reproduce the Gothic style in modern dwellings, but some of its elements are quite often used when creating projects for country houses.

    During the construction of Gothic buildings and their decoration, expensive natural materials are used:

    • stone;
    • marble;
    • oak, pine, spruce, walnut, cedar and juniper wood.

    The decor of a Gothic house always implies the presence, so it is decorated with:

    • tiled mosaic;
    • multi-colored stained-glass windows;
    • figured painted or gold-plated stucco;
    • chests covered with genuine leather;
    • an abundance of bronze and metal fittings.

    Color solution

    Saturated colors are an integral part of the Gothic style. The color scheme of a Gothic room is usually based on concentrated red, brown, yellow and blue tones. Stylistic accents are made in gold and silver. And for introducing contrasting elements into the interior, purple, ruby, green or blue-black colors are great.

    The main attributes are a forged spiral staircase, a fireplace with a forged grate and colorful artistic stained-glass windows. Multi-colored art stained-glass windows with built-in internal lighting can become a spectacular decoration of the walls. Depictions of the Gothic rose, lily, shamrock, vine leaves or cruciferous on stained glass windows or applied to fabric, wood or stone surfaces are characteristic features of the Gothic.

    In the era of dawn, easel painting and book miniatures were actively developed. Therefore, typical craft items here are such as:

    • woodcarving;
    • stone carving;
    • ceramics;
    • glass products;
    • hardware;
    • miniature ivory sculptures.

    Furniture

    The room must have tall sideboards and double-leaf wardrobes with panels, palace beds and chairs with high backs, imitating the architectural fragments of knight's castles and majestic medieval churches.

    A separate place in the Gothic interior is given to chests, which, if necessary, can serve as tables, beds and benches. It is customary to put chests one on top of the other, decorating the resulting structure with lancet vaults, in order to obtain an impromptu wardrobe in this way.

    The Gothic table should have a fairly deep drawer and a significantly protruding tabletop, the base of which is two supports. And under the folding tabletop, many tiny drawers and compartments should be hidden from prying eyes.

    Massive Gothic furniture, as a rule, is made of dark wood, decorated with exquisite carvings and various wrought iron elements.

    The ceiling in a Gothic room should be high enough, because Gothic is, first of all, skyward-looking architecture. If required by the design on the ceiling, an imitation of carved beam ceilings is made.

    The walls, as a rule, are finished with wooden panels or decorative stone, decorated with bright Gothic paintings, multi-colored tiled mosaics and old tapestries.

    Of course, the presence of huge high windows, for which the walls are only a small frame, multi-colored stained-glass windows, the play of natural light and a large stained-glass rose window above the entrance to the room creates a unique "face" of the Gothic style. Stained glass windows, made in the form of lancet arches, are considered the most recognizable feature of the Gothic style. Doors should be oak and paneled.

    A photo

    As you can see, contrary to popular belief, Gothic is not a synonym for gloom and severity, on the contrary, it can be bright and light, spiritualized, irrational, aspiring to spiritual heights. Gothic stylization turns an ordinary apartment into a mysterious castle, in which the kitchen becomes the laboratory of an alchemist magician, the dining room becomes a magnificent banquet hall, and an ordinary bedroom becomes a luxurious bedchamber.

    If you have dreamed of living in a beautiful castle since childhood, let your imagination run wild and boldly start design experiments.

    Video

    We offer you to familiarize yourself with the video material about the history of the creation of the Gothic style.