What is Baroque style interior design?
Baroque interior design refers to the style of decoration used during the Baroque period of architecture, art, and design in the 17th and first half of the 18th century.
What is Baroque style design?
Baroque interior design is the decorative style of the Baroque movement in architecture, art, and design that developed in the 17th and first half of the 18th century in Italy and France.
This extravagant style included layered, formal, and highly decorated interiors that featured elements such as bronze sculptures, intricate tapestries, carved wood mirrors, moldings and paneling, richly painted ceilings, crystal chandeliers, and everything gilded.
History of Baroque style design
The Baroque movement began in Italy around 1600. It then spread to France, throughout Europe, and across the globe. Baroque was the first visual style to have a significant global impact.
Baroque style interior design is part of the broader Baroque visual arts movement that encompassed architecture, art, furniture design, objects, and more, with interior design, architecture, and art working together to create a cohesive visual statement.
The Baroque style was an aesthetic exercise and a sensory display of power, as evidenced by the highly decorative churches and cathedrals that the Catholic Church in Italy built to increase its dominance. In France, Louis XIV used a variation of the Baroque style mixed with French Classicism as a sort of branding strategy of power for the monarchy. His interior designer, Charles Le Brun, took cues from the Sun King's taste for all things gilded and his desire to showcase his immense power, which resulted in the Palace of Versailles, a monument of the Baroque style that still shines today.
What is Baroque interior design
Château de Guarene, Piedmont, Italy DarioEgidi / Getty Images While the Baroque style first appeared in Italy, it culminated in Rococo (also known as Late Baroque or the Rocaille style) which developed in Paris in the 18th century. The ornate and extravagant Rococo style was a reaction to the strict constraints of French Baroque architecture and King Louis XIV's rigid ideas on what constituted art.
Baroque fell out of fashion in the mid-18th century, but appreciation for the style was revived in the 19th century. In the 20th century, famous interior designer Dorothy Draper invented a popular style called Modern Baroque, which was a bold interpretation of the classics using vibrant elements, bright colors, and an updated version of Rococo details, known as Hollywood Regency. In the 21st century, small contemporary revivals of Baroque with monikers such as Modern Romantic continue to occur, even though today, only the most eccentric contemporary interiors would feature a full Baroque style.
What is Baroque interior design
Key characteristics of Baroque style design
The Baroque style is sumptuous, lush, highly ornamental, and theatrical, with a taste for the dramatic and an undeniable sense of grandeur. This aesthetic was designed to stimulate the senses in order to provoke an intense emotional response.
The overall style is characterized by an unapologetic use of brilliance, from sparkling crystal chandeliers to ornately carved mirrors, monumental furniture and decorative elements, as well as gilded finishes on everything from furniture and objects to walls. The French Baroque style may appear to be an explosion of details and decorative elements, but it is distinguished by an underlying focus on symmetry and elegance influenced by French Classicism.
What is Baroque style design
Use of refined materials and techniques such as porcelain, lacquer, and wood marquetry. Baroque interiors often feature dramatic painted ceilings that often create a trompe-l'œil effect, giving the impression of being open to the sky. Use of carved moldings and ornamental details such as stylized natural motifs like leaves, flowers, cherubs, and human and animal figures. Shapes are often curved and spiral to create a sense of movement, such as foliage scrolls.
Modern Baroque style
Modern Baroque style Bourgie lamp by Kartell Kartell Modern Baroque style decorating tips
The Baroque style may seem out of sync with modern decoration, but it remains an influence for contemporary interior designers and decorators, who often take a Baroque-minimalist approach to incorporating the interior design style.
When incorporating Baroque style elements into modern decor, a little goes a long way. A gilded Italian or French Baroque mirror or bed frame can serve as a focal point in an otherwise modern room with neutral finishes and decor, or fit into a more eclectic design scheme.
What is Baroque interior design
To infuse a bit of Baroque style into a modern room, incorporate contemporary pieces that are a playful interpretation of the Baroque style. The famous Bourgie lamp designed for Kartell by Italian designer Ferruccio Laviani in 1994 is made of transparent polycarbonate, inspired by an antique lamp the designer had on his desk. This ultra-contemporary reinterpretation of the Baroque style transcends time and space and is surprisingly versatile.
For a more traditional approach, choose Rococo-style furniture such as curved armchairs covered in velvet, armless chairs, and skirted sofas.
