The Return of Victorian Furniture

Don't look now, but the Victorians are back.

Every generation, says Bay Area interior designer Brandon Neff, has a fling with Victorian style and fashion, and this seems to be year for it. From pedestal sinks to ornately carved furniture, we're back in love with Queen Victoria's industrious people.

And it's not just home decor. You can visit the era suggested by the PBS drama "Downton Abbey" (it's actually set in the Edwardian period)...

So polish up that silver tea pot, decorate your parlor with vintage wall paper and dust off the wicker furniture. Here are six simple ways to use Victorian style in your own home:

Arm chair

Comfort and style went hand-in-hand in the Victorian home, but the decorative value definitely took precedent. Brandon Neff says Victorians loved furniture with "curves, plush fabrics, patterned draperies and glossy woods." A pair of arm chairs and an ornately woven rug can reverse the hands of time.

Table lamps

Electricity was introduced into homes during the late Victorian era, and like everything else, it took on an elaborate style. The Industrial Revolution meant more people could afford to look like they were in the upper class, even when they weren't, Neff says. And those highly decorative items the Victorians were so fond of are now 21st-century home decorating staples.

Writing desk

Penning a note to your true love couldn't be accomplished on anything as dull as a standard desk. "The Victorians loved many different styles, drawing motifs from Gothic, Roman, Regency and Orientalism styles," Neff says. "Their interiors were truly eclectic. Chinoiserie, for example, a style derived from exaggerated Oriental influences and French Rococo, was used in many Victorian homes as a romantic interior counterpoint to the industrialized environment just outside ..."

Read the full article & see the other Victorian era home decor items here at MercuryNews.com