Decorating Edinburgh's New Town: Crafting Elegance in Historic Spaces

Introduction

Edinburgh's New Town is known for its beautiful Georgian architecture, orderly streets, and stately stone buildings. Decorating a home in this historic area comes with great design potential, but also special considerations.

This comprehensive guide will explore popular interior design trends and ideas tailored to Edinburgh’s New Town homes.

Brief History of Edinburgh's New Town

Edinburgh's New Town refers to the areas to the north of Old Town that were built in stages starting in the late 1700s through the 1830s. After overcrowding plagued Edinburgh's mediaeval-era Old Town, the New Town was commissioned to provide upscale new housing, retail, and pleasant community spaces.

Key characteristics of architecture in the New Town include:

• Georgian and neoclassical styles with Greco-Roman influences
• Stately facades of sandstone buildings along orderly streets
• Large sash windows to maximise light
• Ornate cornices, ironwork, pillars, and detailing
  
  

Today, New Town remains an extremely desirable area known for its cache, walkability, commercial hub, and simply beautiful architecture. Decorating a home there requires careful consideration to complement the exterior surroundings.

Popular Interior Design Styles for New Town Homes

When decorating New Town dwellings, three interior design aesthetics prove popular for meshing with the exteriors while putting a personal stamp inside:

Traditional Elegance

This style embraces the Georgian roots with characteristics like:

• Dark woods like mahogany for furniture
• Elaborate wallpaper, crown moulding, and trims
• Touches of tartan plaid and leather
• Tufted furniture and chandeliers
• Accent antiques for an established look
  
  

Refined Modern

For a cleaner contemporary twist, New Town homes gracefully incorporate:

• Light grey walls or neutral paint colours
• Sleek lines and minimalist shapes for furnishings
• Textural elements through rugs, pillows and throws
• Pops of colour via artwork and accessories
  
  

Eclectic Classic

Mixing eras and styles strikes an inviting balance with:

• Mid-century Scandinavian wood pieces
• Plush classic furnishings for seating
• Elegant fixtures juxtaposed with rustic touches
• Attribute a sense of history with natural wallcoverings and woven rugs
  
  

The Appeal of Decorating a New Town Home

What draws design enthusiasts to decorate dwellings in Edinburgh's New Town? 

For starters, the architectural elements like large sash windows, moulded ceilings, and period detailing provide built-in character. The grand stone exteriors and winding cobblestone streets also deliver dramatic curb appeal.

Inside, New Town homes possess enviable original details from intricate cornices to marble mantles alongside generous ceiling heights and oversized rooms prime for designing. 

Residents often remark feeling as if they are privileged keepers of history while putting their modern-day stamp through interior finishes.

Getting Inspiration for Decorating Your Home

When tackling decorating a New Town residence, where should you look for additional inspiration? 

With such a specific architectural style and neighbourhood aesthetic, seeking ideas from locals proves helpful. Some inspirational jumping-off points include:

• Touring other neighbourhood homes: New Town holds several annual home tours allowing access inside private residences to glean ideas from how others in the community have decorated.
  
  
• Finding inspiration outdoors: Simply walking New Town streets reveals possible exterior architectural details to carry inside like ironwork designs or fan light window shapes. The ordered greenery of nearby Queen Street Gardens and other ornate landmarks also influence interior motifs.
  
  
• Incorporating traditional Scottish elements: From tartan plaid to Fair Isle knits, emblemising cultural heritage through decorative accessories and textiles connects the interior with Edinburgh's compelling narrative. Brands like Begg Scotland offer such finely crafted additions sourced and made locally in bold plaids and distinct patterns endemic to Scotland.
  
  
• Browsing magazines and websites: Publications like Homes and Interiors Scotland alongside the proliferation of interior design blogs and apps like Houzz deliver inspiration for everything from colour palettes to storage solutions well suited to New Town's structural style.

Choosing a Colour Palette

One of the most impactful yet challenging decor decisions involves selecting an appropriate, cohesive colour palette. When painting the interior of an Edinburgh New Town home, popular elegant paint colours include:

Go-To Neutrals

• Soft greys like Benjamin Moore's Chelsea Gray
• Light taupes such as Sherwin-Williams Accessible Beige
• Warmer hues like Revere Pewter

These muted neutrals allow bolder fabrics and furnishings to shine while seamlessly complementing most wood tones.

Characterful Accents

For accent walls, entryways, and dining rooms, posh colours like these build upon neutral foundations:

• Deep emerald greens (Farrow & Ball's Studio Green)
• Lush blue tones from navy to teal
• Regal reds and purples like damson and amaranth
• Rich metallics such as gold, silver, or bronze
  
  

Selecting Flooring and Finishes

Flooring proves foundational to decor flow in New Town interiors. Options include:

• Hardwoods like oak or American black walnut add ageless warmth
• Stone surfaces like tile, concrete, or grouted slate nod to the masonry outdoors
• Wool area rugs over existing surfaces contribute dimension and sound absorption.

Wallpaper makes a dramatic impact in New Town decor. Many residences incorporate wallpaper in entryways, libraries, or dining rooms for visual depth. Look for styles like:

• Damasks: Complex woven patterns popular in Georgian times
• Chinoiserie: Vignettes mixing Asian and European motifs
• Modern geometrics: Angles and shapes referencing architectural details
  
  

Finally, ornamental trims and textures finesse New Town homes via:

• Crown mouldings, ceiling rosettes, and accent medallions
• Columns, pilasters, niches and arched detailing
• Heavy window treatments like curtains sashed with tiebacks
  
  

Creating a Cohesive Look Throughout

When designing New Town interiors, a polished cohesive feel reigns supreme from the decor flow between rooms to coordinated furnishings that collectively tie the home's narrative together. Several tactics help cultivate this effect:

• Repeat paint colours in multiple areas like the main neutral throughout then accent walls to distinguish certain spaces
• Use varied textiles and window treatments to link rooms through complementary patterns and colour palettes
• Incorporate cohesive sets of furniture for a tailor-made feel across living areas
• Echo motifs through framed artwork, statues, and featured collectibles
  
  

Incorporating Architectural Details

New Town's exquisite exterior architecture remains an endless font of inspiration for interior finishings and features. Some elements to consider including:

Windows as Focal Points

The expansive sash windows signature to New Town architecture allow ample light. Dress them to match their impact with:

• Elegant curtains, layered panels and roman shades
• Curtain poles and finials that complement the era
• Window seats, shutters and area rugs to frame views
  
  

Statement Lighting

From the Georgian penchant for candle lit chandeliers to taking cues from Gothic architecture, New Town invites bold lighting choices through:

• Iron candelabras and tiered crystal chandeliers
• Ornate torchères, sconces and table lamps
• Recessed lighting to spotlight motifs and furnishings
  
  

Textural Touches

New Town architecture strikes a refined yet slightly austere initial impression on the exterior. Adding sumptuous textural layers inside helps a space feel warm and collected through:

• Area rugs in wool, mohair or lambswool
• Throws, pillows and pouffes across seating and beds
• Gallery walls mixing artwork, plates, photos and tapestries
• Accessories of glass, ceramic and marble
  
  

Statement Hardware

Finally, select door knobs, pulls, and light switch plates provide small touches with big visual impact. New Town homes suit commanding blacks, bronzes, subdued brasses, or antiqued metals across these hardware details.

Displaying Art, Accessories and Collections

Artwork, accessories, and curated objects breathe life into New Town homes. Some refined display suggestions include:

Local Photography and Paintings

Sourcing original works showcasing New Town iconography or Edinburgh's allure supports local artists while paying homage to your unique setting.

Bookshelves

Built-in, standalone, and even freestanding ladder options hold books while honouring the heritage of literature and education in Edinburgh.

Accessory Styling

Groupings of objects like stacks of cocktail table books alongside vases and small sculptures make mantels, consoles and credenzas doubly functional.

Memorabilia Displays

For travels near and far, frame or display one-of-a-kind souvenirs in groupings, narrow shelves, or cases instead of tucking away.

Additional New Town Decor Ideas and Inspiration

For those renovating or seeking full-service design guidance for New Town homes, several acclaimed local interior design experts include:

• Ampersand Interiors
• Inspired Interiors Edinburgh
• Jeffreys Interiors
  
  

Neighbourhood home tours also provide in-person inspiration plus community camaraderie with events like the annual New Town House Tour each September.

Top online destinations to spark additional New Town interior design creativity feature:

• The Skirted Roundtable interior design podcast and blog
• Scottish Interiors blog and instagram page

The diverse architectural landscape of Edinburgh offers a unique canvas for interior decorating.

By blending modern and traditional elements, embracing local art and culture, and prioritising sustainable practices, homeowners can create living spaces that reflect both their personal style and the rich heritage of Edinburgh’s New Town.

Borthwick Decorators (Edinburgh) Ltd have over 50 years experience decorating properties in the elegant streets of Edinburgh’s New Town. Our expertise in traditional and contemporary styles, combined with a commitment to quality and sustainability, equips us to bring your vision to life.