Supposedly the fanciest room in the house was the parlor. This is where victorians held their fancy parties and did a lot of entertaining. The type of fancy room that children weren’t allowed in. I remember a room like this at my grandmas house, her’s wasn’t a parlor but we could NEVER go in there. Too many knick knacks that could get broken. Not to mention a white couch.
The parlor served as a room for elaborate events, and also sad events. In Victorian times, it was perfectly normal for people to pass away in their homes. The parlor is the room that served as the “funeral parlor.” I wonder how many of those took place in this house. Sometimes these houses even had a “coffin corner.” This is for getting the coffin out of the house. Obviously something like this could have been quite large, so why not make a permanent feature in your home to accommodate the coffins coming in and out. (Those victorians they think of everything!) I learned this wonderful fact from a client of mine. We talk old houses and ghosts everytime we chat!
Victorians were fascinated with death. There are many strange victorian rituals that took place in times of death. Post mortem photography was one of them. Photographing the dead was a very normal thing. When they were first taking photographs of the dead, they stood them up on stands and carefully placed them. This was to make it appear as if they were alive of course. They painted on the actual photograph, blush to make their cheeks look rosey and eyes since they would have been closed. ( lets not forget these people are dead as doornails.)
A few years went by and then they started photographing them as if they were just peacefully asleep. The reason they took these photos is because it was their last chance ever in life to have just one photo of their loved ones. Since photography was so new, it was extremely expensive to have done. So they only spent the money during these desperate times. You mostly see children in these sorts of photos. At least they look comfy.
looks like a parlor to me
Queen Anne Victoria was in mourning during her whole reign. Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert died in December of 1861. His death sent Victoria into a deep depression, and she stayed in seclusion for many years, rarely appearing in public. (I’m not mourning but I know how she feels, being in public is hard sometimes!) She mourned him by wearing black for the remaining forty years of her life. This is where the Victorian era came from, and why it’s named this. It was during her reign, when so many of our beautiful homes and elaborate architecture was built. Maybe this is why I wear so much black. I’m secretly a victorian at heart. Makes perfect sense. Usually for me it’s because I like that it hides my flab. Plus I just really like all black. She was clearly a fashionista in all that black if you ask me.
Queen Anne Victoria
So we didn’t really want to give off that “death mourning fancy can’t go in room” in our parlor. I wanted it to appear cozy and comfy. Especially since it has a fireplace. I never grew up with a fireplace and I gotta say it’s one of my favorite things in this house. We use it all the time in fall and winter. Yes of course we had it inspected and everything checked out good to go. It’s technically a coal burning fireplace but we were given the ok to have small fires in it. No rippers people. Its not really to heat the house, it’s more for looks. (Those superficial victorians I tell ya.) There’s even two sets of massive pocket doors that close off this room. They do indeed work and make for great baby gates with tiny children. In victorian days, this would of prevented the children from running in there I suppose. They must of only been allowed when dead. Eek.
We painted this room that moody blue color. Same as the living room. I absolutely love it. The contrast between the white painted wood work (who paints woodwork kill me now) and the dark blue paint is awesome. It also really accuentates the fireplace and makes it pop. It has a massive bookcase from Restoration Hardware, (my favorite store ever) a piano, a beautiful chesterfield couch (also restoration hardware) (and also the most expensive piece of furniture i’ve ever bought but I seriously couldn’t resist it and I plan on dying on it to get my moneys worth) and a beautiful salvaged cabinet from a dear friend of mine. That cabinet just so happened to be free. Hello free cabinet.
I’ve gotta post a before photo because that’s just what I do. These before images are forever burned into my mind, so I have to remind myself how far we’ve come. The first photo I took when we were doing the inspection. The things in these two photos were the previous owners. Where you see the dining room table is our living room. They used the candy cane dining room as their living room. I did like that dining table they had, they didn’t want to part with it though. (believe me I asked.)
photo taken at move in day one.
I can’t say we made our room very fancy at all now that I really think of it. I guess I’m going for more of a library relaxing kind of feel. I do want to put a library in this house someday. I think we’re gonna do that in the office, complete with a hidden bookshelf door. Yes I daydream of cool things like bookshelf hidden passageway doors.
best rug ever compliments of the one and only overstock.com
looking into living room. This doorway also has the pocket doors which do indeed work.
Chandeliers are diamonds for the home. Photo taken from staircase.
The holy grail that I probably should of sold my soul to pay for since it was a million dollars. It’s really hard to take a good photo towards a massive window when it’s sunny.
So there you have it. The room that could have very well been filled with death many times in it’s day. I don’t feel like it’s deathly in there at all. It’s quite cozy.
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