With King Charles III’s coronation coming up on 6th May, our attention is once again on everything royal.
The coronation coverage will range from a live broadcast of the event itself and a unique coronation concert taking place at Windsor Castle to special editions of The One Show, Songs of Praise and EastEnders.
The increased focus on the royals has also spilled over into the shows recently dominating our televisions. The storylines are gripping – but the sumptuous interiors are another thing that makes these shows so watchable.
Royal-inspired interiors, also known as royalcore or regencycore, are predicted to be continually popular throughout 2023. From The Crown and the smash-hit success Bridgerton to real-life royalty Harry and Meghan’s revealing documentary, we can’t get enough of gorgeous, royal-inspired interiors.
Interior decorating tool provider Harris Brushes has put together a guide on how to incorporate royal touches into your own interior design. It’s time to embrace what has become known as Royalcore!
The Crown
Netflix’s The Crown is one of the most popular royal dramas, with season five of the show watched by over 1.1 million viewers in the UK on its launch day.
The interiors on The Crown are characterised by their rich, jewel tones and golden detailing. Sweeping views of huge rooms featuring gorgeous paintings in gilt frames and heavy pieces of furniture with sumptuous accents dominate the screen.
Heavy red or patterned drapes swamp windows, presumably to keep out inquisitive royal watchers. Curved arches feature beautiful detailing, and expensive accessories, including chandeliers and large rugs, complete the look.
Get the look
Try painting larger rooms in deep blues and forest greens. As these colours can make rooms look smaller, areas with limited space will benefit from a feature wall painted in these rich colours, with the rest of the room decorated in subtle creams or light greys.
Gold inlays on doors and walls give rooms an expensive feel. A similar look can be achieved off-screen by mastering how to cut in paint and outlining room features with gold or silver lines. Painting along skirting boards or around window frames offers a modern take on this look.
You can add pops of colour with delicate, brass lighting fixtures with bright shades and sumptuous rugs. Try a brass lampshade for a more modern take on this trend. Swap modern blinds for heavy, royal drapes in deep reds or blues. Utilise any interesting building features by refreshing cornices or doorway arches with a fresh coat of white or cream paint.
Bridgerton
Season two of Bridgerton became the most popular English-language series on Netflix in 2022, with over 600 million hours viewed. One year later, it still holds fourth spot in terms of popularity!
Pastel patterned wallpaper and sweeping staircases epitomise Bridgerton’s gossip-obsessed world. Delicate cornicing, wide fireplaces with subtle gold detailing and neat, wooden well-stocked bookcases decorate the set.
The often-steamy scenes are offset by the innocent atmosphere crafted by the subtle furniture and sugar-sweet colour choices.
Golden inlays and cornicing are again a big feature of the design, denoting expense and royalty. The traditionally male spaces feature deeper jewel tones and masculine leather furniture. Spaces dominated by women, however, tend to feature sugar pink and pastel blue colours, complete with more delicate fabric furniture and huge sprays of flowers. But deep reds and purples are used to symbolise feminine power and attraction.
Get the look
Try adding some sweet patterned wallpaper to larger rooms in pastel tones. Philippa Pawson, Marketing Director at Harris, warns: “overly patterned walls can make rooms feel smaller, particularly if natural light is limited. For smaller spaces, keep complicated patterns to one feature wall or limit patterns to lampshades and chair fabrics, leaving walls a solid pastel colour.”
Unless you live in a palace, chances are you won’t have a sweeping double staircase in your home! Try painting wooden staircases in a calming cream and adding gold or silver accents to balustrades for a modern take on this look. Carpeted staircases will benefit from a heavily patterned carpet in bold shades of purple and red.
Capture the innocent atmosphere of Bridgerton’s interiors by adding floaty pastel chiffon curtains around your bed or painting your bookcase in a sugar-sweet shade. Combine these features with a number of tan leather chairs to bring some masculine influences into the space.
Harry & Meghan
Soon after its release, Harry & Meghan became the second most-successful Netflix documentary ever. The series held this title as recently as January 2023!
The interior design choices inside Harry and Meghan’s family home remain a mystery. But the $33 million mansion they chose to film their Netflix documentary reveals a lot about the design interests of real-life, modern royals.
Floaty, chiffon curtains frame large, curved windows. You can see large plants throughout the home, bringing the outside in and providing a pop of natural colour within the otherwise neutral space.
Creams, tans and whites dominate the room, with the walls, carpets and furniture sticking to the same colour palette. This gives the room a light, airy feel, contrasting the heavy subjects discussed in the documentary.
Photographs released of the home after the documentary aired show the dark, wood ceiling, offsetting the neutral tones and bringing a sense of confidence and interest to the room. Large, patterned rugs decorate the floor and the small pops of red in the patterns reference the traditional, regal red tones seen in The Crown and Bridgerton. A large, modern chandelier completes the look.
Get the look
Select modern accessories in neutral tones, such as cream lampshades with silver bases and abstract white end-tables.
Philippa Pawson, Marketing Director at Harris, has some advice to achieve a balance in your colour palette: “Paint your walls in cool whites or light greys and contrast with deep, chocolate brown furniture. Or try painting your ceiling in a deeper shade for a more adventurous look.”
Source some large, freestanding plants and install them in white or grey plant pots. Choose green, leafy plants to stick with the look curated on the documentary or choose blooms in your favourite colours to bring some of your personality into the room – extra points if this happens to be a royal colour, such as purple or red!
If you have high-enough ceilings, select a hanging chandelier. A modern version with tiered golden metal features will enhance the laidback atmosphere, while a more traditional style with hanging glass crystals will bring a more vintage feel. If space is an issue, try a floor lamp with a decorative lampshade to create a similar effect.
Follow these simple tips to nail the royalcore interior design trend, just in time for the coronation.
Top image: Unsplash
