The Victorian Flooring Ideas & Style Guide

Mixing pastel shades brings a playful edge to rooms like a bathroom that could otherwise be a little dull and clinical. It’s important to branch out into different textures to showcase your pastels, for example, a painted wood unit, a plastered wall, and tiles. They can be contrasting pastels but as they’re different textures they won’t look too heavy.

Using matt black as an accent will help ground the look and create a common theme amongst all the colours, not only that but it keeps the look modern unless you’re looking for vintage twee.

A variety of different shapes and formats will also keep the look modern. The triangles of the Darlington tile on the floor contrast nicely with the oblong tiles on the wall, drawing your eye up the room and providing height.

Our favourite pastels to mix are mint green, blush pink and lemon as these complement each other well and have a timeless feel to them.

Tonal pastels are a great way to create harmony within a space. We love the fresh spring tones of sky blues, grey-toned lavender and baby blue mixed with clean whites and antiqued brass.

The classic approach to a monochrome look in Victorian design is to allow your black-and-white theme to be the dominant colour scheme with a handful of other elements mixed in. For a traditional feel, we love mixing natural textures such as jute, metal, and glass.

To give a room a timeless feel in a classical setting, rather than creating a pastiche to its original time period, mix and match items from different eras. For example, a Victorian block side table with an Art Deco-inspired light fitting successfully combines tasteful features from two very different time periods.

For a more contemporary feeling space, try a tonal palette alongside monochrome flooring. Here, we’ve used a dark green paint contrasting with a much lighter shade of the same hue. By using a light colour in the forefront and a darker colour in the background, you make a space feel bigger, which is ideal if you’ve got a porch area that then leads into a hallway. This design may not be in a traditional 19th-century style, but the Victorian tiling remains one of the most dramatic features in the room.

To upscale an intricate pattern floor further, add a border of marble. The Serac option here is a cool-toned grey that works well with a variety of different schemes. Continue the luxe feel with black furniture – either metal or lacquered depending on your taste (and budget!)

Terracotta works brilliantly as part of an intricate pattern alongside muted tones, as you can see with the Osterley tile here. It helps make a Victorian pattern feel more modern and can tie into other elements of colour in the space. For the full look, pair the terracotta tiles with a diamond border. You can pair it with coloured pieces of furniture and accessories, or use it outside to complement the exposed brick of your home's walls.

For some texture, introduce some greenery, burnished metal and ceramic alongside your Victorian flooring. If you’re going for a modern country look, opt for a traditional Belfast sink but keep your taps and fixtures contemporary.