Wrought iron metal hardware and studs create a gothic feel.
Gothic is decorating style with ancient roots and a modern feel. Its popularity derives from the fiction of Bram Stoker and Anne Rice who have brought the tales of vampires into the present day. Like the fabled vampires, it recalls colors, images and objects from this past period with its sense of myth and peril. To make your bedroom look Gothic, incorporate the styles and symbols that recall the days of castles, dungeons and cathedrals. Use color and light to create a dark and ominous mood.
Instructions
1. Use dark and rich colors. Black is the primary Gothic color, used to create a sense of gloom and foreboding. To avoid becoming overwhelming and depressing, black is mixed with colors like steel gray, red, maroon, violet, cream and silver: colors prevalent during the medieval period. Use blood red for bedspreads, pillows and rugs. Start with black walls, but lighten the effect with gray trim. Add dark gray, red or maroon window coverings.
2. Decorate with medieval textures. Wood, metal, rough woven fabrics, tapestry, leather and fur become part of the Gothic medieval feel of the room. Choose wood furniture with straight lines and rough texture, rather delicate carvings and smooth refinements. Metal hardware on dressers should look like wrought iron, recalling the work of ancient craftsmen using rough tools used during that period to create the utensils of everyday life. Add heavy-textured draperies for your Gothic bedroom and hang the draperies to pool on the floor beneath the window.
3. Choose large, heavy furniture pieces for your Gothic bedroom. Dark woods help enhance the ominous character of the room. A wrought iron or canopy bed draped in dark colors work well as a focal point. Add metal finishes in black or silver with a rough-worked look. Large, wooden chests figure largely in Gothic decor, as well as cabinetry to store modern appliances.
4. Close curtains and draperies to limit natural light, enhancing the dark mood of the room. Lighting for Gothic bedrooms should be muted and subtle. Simple, wrought iron metal in black and silver add to the medieval tone. Wrought iron chandeliers add additional light.
5. Add stone gargoyles, stained glass, medieval coats-of-arms, armor, Gothic-arched metalwork and mirrors to reflect candlelight and add to the Gothic mood. Hang paintings that depict medieval scenes and mythic images, like castles, wizards, dragons and graveyards. Candelabras and single candle-holders placed on furniture help to create the dark, Old World feel.
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