If you live in a Victorian house, you’ll probably understand the dilemma my clients faced. A home as beautiful as their exquisite place in the country has to be treated with respect. That means furniture that is in keeping with the style and tone of the building itself, yet modern enough to express their personal taste and fit in with their lifestyle. Black Pear Bespoke were delighted to be asked to take on this unique project. Here’s a little insight into how we created bespoke furniture for a Victorian house in the country.
Bespoke furniture for a Victorian House: The Brief
Our client’s brief was refreshingly specific. They wanted high-quality, fitted furniture with lots of period detailing. We loved the concept they had in mind – pieces that would make the house their own, whilst honouring its period features.
Three pieces were commissioned:
- A bar: Incorporating an in-counter wine cooler, drinks fridge and dishwasher. There was also wine storage, cupboards for glasses, and integrated lighting.
- A bookcase: With integrated lighting and cupboards below, featuring fluted pilasters and bespoke cornice detailing.
- A linen cupboard: With cornice and pilasters featuring bullseye roundel detail.
Victorian Style Furniture: Materials and Design
As you can see from the above brief, a lot of modern items needed to fit seamlessly into the Victorian style furniture our clients commissioned. We talked a lot about the materials we could use, based on the client’s taste, but also what would fit with the building itself. At Black Pear Bespoke, we build sustainable furniture that fits a client’s brief without being damaging environmentally. Aiming for a vintage style is easy for us, since problematic materials that we naturally avoid like chipboard and plastic laminate simply weren’t around in Victorian times!
The Bar
To ensure that the bar looked in keeping with the period as well as housing all the modern features our clients wanted, we needed to get the materials absolutely right. The counter was created using dark veined quartz with a moulded edge. Hard-wearing quartz is a delight to use in a kitchen because it offers a classy finish that creates a real wow-factor.
This was paired with an antique mirror, and brass glass-holders and fittings. The wine storage area was created from walnut wood. The finishing touch was to hand-paint selected areas of the structure in Farrow & ball paint.
Bookcase
This is no ordinary bookcase. Its dark stained walnut colour and Victorian style design make it the stand-out feature of the room it’s in. Our client’s fantastic collection of books looks stunning stacked on the shelves. A granite counter makes the item more useful, since our clients have placed a comfortable chair next to the bookcase to create an inviting reading area.
Linen Cupboard
Like the bookcase, this isn’t the sort of linen cupboard you might see in your mind’s eye. Instead, it’s a ceiling-height, fitted structure with six doors. Three wardrobe-style, tall doors and three smaller cupboards above head height. Inside the cupboards sit a selection of sturdy shelves that make organising laundry a pleasure!
The bespoke design allowed our clients to select period handles and Black Pear Bespoke created some feature detailing to either side of the structure. The linen cupboard is a traditional framed construction in solid hardwood with ash interior.
Cedar wood slatted shelves were used to give a lovely aroma to the linen. To finish, it was hand-painted in Farrow & ball paint.
Client Testimonial
One of our favourite parts of creating stunning bespoke furniture at Black Pear Bespoke is hearing how much it means to the people whose homes we transform. Huge thanks to our clients for this fantastic testimonial, we really appreciate you taking the time to let us know that you loved the way the project turned out.
Working with Nick Munn at Black Pear Bespoke has been a pleasure. We are in the process of refurbishing our period property and asked Nick to design some key items of built in cabinetry for our home. Nick produced wonderful, well presented designs that were exactly the style that we were looking for, and perfectly met the brief that we had discussed. Our project was well managed from beginning to end, with excellent communication and a quick hassle-free installation process. Our furniture was made on time and on budget, it looks exceptional, with wonderful quality and attention to detail. We would certainly recommend Black Pear Bespoke and hope to work with them again in the future.
Commission your own bespoke Victorian furniture
Whether you’re ready to embark on a big project like our clients, or just want to have a chat about what could work for your property, we’d love to hear from you. Our free, no-obligation consultation might just give you some ideas about how to make your Victorian house the home you’ve been dreaming of.
You can get in touch by telephone to 07788443293, e-mail blackpearbespoke@gmail.com or simply call in to our workshop at Pinkett Street, Worcester. WR3 7EB.
