1890s walls and decor

[Tundra]

I'm having trouble finding this. I need examples of as many 1890s decor ideas or paintings or photos as possible (or photos of reproductions of that era) for upper middle class homes. (So, husband works but he's quite wealthy but they don't have a title). I'm not talking about the furniture, I'm meaning wallpapers, paint, did they have panelling, which rooms had it, to which height, etc.

I need it to be English, not American or Australian as tastes were quite different. It's really hard to find this stuff!
Also, photos/paintings/cartoons of room layouts- any rooms. Bedrooms, drawing rooms, dining rooms, studies, nurseries, conservatories, etc... but it must have been taken or drawn or representing the 1890s, in England.

Help! Who's good at google?

[alcar]

Only thing I can think of is finding some catalogues from the era and using those.

[Tundra]

I don't know where I'd find English catalogues from the era. Or how to search for them online. Did they have catalogues with sketches of whole rooms?

[alcar]

I know the old Sears ones did, but that was for over here. I have a 1920s magazine from Britain, but the closest it has to that is the background of people sitting at a piano for sale. The older newspapers might be better, but not sure how much.Googling inns from the period might help, but not sure. The internet is not too useful for specifics of such periods, at least in my experience.

[MichaelB]

... damn, alcar threw me off. I was going to suggest the earliest editions of Better Homes and Gardens for 1920s designs, but then I saw in the thread title you're talking about 1890s. In that case, sorry, I can't help you.

[Serafina]

That's the middle of the Arts & Crafts movement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arts_and_Crafts_movement) - homes could easily have William Morris (or a cheaper alternative) as wallpaper, such as these (http://www.victoriana.com/Wallpaper/williammorris.php). Standen (http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-standen/w-standen-photo_gallery.htm), which I've sent you links about before, is a preserved Arts & Crafts style house.

If the family are quite fashion forward, then the 1890s were the beginning of Art Nouveau (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Nouveau), and there was also the Anglo-Japanese style (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Japanese_style). The V&A Museum in London (http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/periods_styles/19thcentury/index.html) has quite a lot of information about 19th century styles. The museum itself is a mix of Victorian styles, and housed objects from the Great Exhibition, so may have served as an inspiration to decorators.

[MelancholyBliss]

^^ William Morris is the first to come to mind.

[Tundra]

I've never imagined it having William Morris stuff.
This is for my dollhouse...
Maybe one room could have william morris wallpaper...