Achieve Georgian styling and decorating in a modern home with the help of FrogTape
The recent political party conferences were a gift to UK journalists, with plenty of stories coming out of their pledges and promises. Not all of them good!
One good story that we noticed though, was Sir Keir Starmer’s commitment to create thousands of Georgian-style homes, as part of a drive to build new towns on the UK’s Grey Belt areas.
While exact locations would be allocated through consultation – apparently including the communities impacted – this does seem a positive, genuine effort to tackle the housing crisis, and something which jumped out for us was the promise to focus on “gentle urban development”, emulating five-storey townhouses built during the 18th and 19th centuries.
In a nutshell, he is promising lots of Georgian terraces. Georgian houses are often hailed as some of the most elegant of the architectural styles over the years. They were characterised by their rigid symmetry and often featured partial stucco fronts, with white or cream renders, complemented by neat, simple brickwork and multiple storeys. The townhouse would be tall, with sash windows that reduce in size in upper floors. Being arranged in crescents or rows, they are ideal for building large numbers of homes on less space.
Q: What does this mean for builders? And other suppliers and tradesmen such as decorators?
A: From our point of view, it will be interesting to see how the interiors play out. They will benefit from looking authentic in the details, from the front door all the way through the interior spaces. This provides an opportunity for cross marketing and targeted selling and will require expertise from the decorators, to combine contemporary taste with authentic styling.
Panelled painted front doors
Classic wooden doors were used in Georgian homes, so for a truly authentic look, any new home created in the style should follow the same rule, with classic colours. This also provides an opportunity for those working in retail to upsell a range of products – outdoor paints, door furniture, masking tape and doorstep accessories – mats, plants, bootcleaners.
Wide hallways
Authentic Georgian homes had wide hallways, unlike the later Victorian properties which were built during a period of high demand and typically had much narrower halls and staircases, to save on space. It’s fair to say that a lot of new builds these days are smaller, for the very same reason. If these new builds are being created on smaller sections of Grey Belt, then decorators can provide advice on how to make the hallways look larger – lighter paint, colour drenching, appropriate flooring and plain or spindle banisters to make the most of the light.
Paint colours
Period properties look really good painted in ‘heritage’ style colour paints, which can demand a premium. While modern versions of Georgian style homes may be a little smaller, the darker, richer paints still work very well – rich dark blues, greys and greens. Those darker colours will require a professional finish, which is where a premium masking tape like FrogTape will come in – no paint bleed onto the classic white ceilings in these builds!
Ceiling roses
New build buyers may want to add these if they are not included in the property or may be looking to paint them to suit a personal colour theme. Smaller brushes, the correct paints and adhesives, and thin, delicate surface masking tapes will all need to be on hand to ensure the right kind of finish is created by the decorators, who may also want to add details like cornicing and dado rails, although these should just be used in dining areas, as the original idea was to protect the walls from chairs. A modern take on decorating these is to use similar coloured paints above and below to make the wall look taller.
Decorative fireplaces
Fireplaces are subjective. Original Georgian fireplaces were very ornate but the modern consumer – and housebuilder – may have different tastes. As with the ceiling roses, this may provide an opportunity. Tiles, accessories, ornamental grates and specialist paints should all be considered around fireplaces – they help to really make a home.
Floorboards
Wooden floorboards were a popular feature of Georgian homes, particularly in the kitchen areas. Homeowners or building companies looking for a personal or contemporary touch may be particularly interested in painting them – creating bespoke patterns using FrogTape is something we are seeing all the time, to replicate a tiled effect while maintaining the look and feel of wood.
The Georgian style spans over 100 years so there are several variations, however it’s a solid choice when it comes to new builds: regardless of the size of property, the cost of the build can be kept relatively cheap as Georgian architecture was very square – minimal complex edges and frames means a quicker build with less materials, while still resulting in a classic and timeless designs that remain popular.
It’s the details that will provide the personal touch for buyers, and here is where the decoration can maximise opportunities.
For further information on FrogTape visit Home – Frogtape.
If you would like more information on some of the other brands supplied by Shurtape visit Our Brands | Duck Tape ® and Frog Tape ® | Shurtape UK.
