11 Interior Design Classics – Gentlemen’s Home Decor

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Like one’s clothing choices, interior design can be intensely personal. However, unlike clothing, which you can change every day, interior design is a bit more permanent. So, let’s discuss how you can incorporate classic interior design in your space!

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“Classic interior design” can actually mean a wide variety of things, ranging from more traditional styles–like English Country Home–to more modern aesthetics, like Bauhaus and Midcentury Modern. These days, you don’t even have to commit to appointing your space in just one style. Raphael and Teresa’s interior design, for example, leans heavily toward traditional aesthetics, but even they don’t stick to just one school of design. You can experiment with multiple styles at the same time to find a blend that’s unique to you.

If you look at modern home retailers, furniture companies, and design firms, it’s clear that traditional design is not the most popular style today. Current trends lean more towards simplified modern and midcentury-inspired styles featuring neutral tones and some light patterning.

Ralph-Lauren-home-collection
Ralph Lauren home collection

It may be harder these days to find traditional design resources in the mainstream, but this doesn’t mean that it’s not worth pursuing. Just the opposite, in fact, because while everyone else is scrambling and fighting over a Room & Board sofa for 90% off the retail price, you can find a traditional Persian rug for just 10% of that retail price.

Today, we’ll be looking specifically at more traditional design classics, but we have another post covering more modern design classics.

Traditional Design Classics

“Traditional design” as it’s used today is most chiefly inspired by 18th and 19th century European home decor. This style was formal and sumptuous, embracing color, pattern, curved lines, and details aplenty. In other words, it’s really the opposite of minimalist style and it’s often described by adherents as being “elegant.”

In terms of furniture, traditional materials like wood and marble are often used, and upholstery will use plush, heavy fabrics like velvet and silk, as well as leather. Colors used can range from being bold and rich with reds, browns, and greens all the way to pastels. However, the style generally doesn’t take advantage of more neutral color shades. And from rugs to walls to curtains, an abundance of patterns are seen everywhere in this style.

Dramatic design elements can take a traditional look and make it modern
Dramatic design elements can take a traditional look and make it modern

We wanted to come up with a list of interior design classics that you can use to appoint your own space that won’t disappoint you in the long run. There are many classics out there, of course, but we think that this curated list of 11 choices will suit gentlemen who, like us, don’t want to be in a space that will seem hopelessly dated in 10 years’ time. Colors, patterns, finishes, and even the size of different furniture pieces can wax and wane over time but we think that this particular list of classics will never go out of style.

The Potential Costs of Interior Design

Before we jump into the list, let’s take a moment to briefly talk about the potential costs of interior design. Classically styled pieces that are purchased new can often be large, expensive, and costly to move. As such, you’ll often need quite a bit of space to accommodate some of these pieces. We would recommend that you buy vintage or second-hand when looking for pieces like this, as you’ll often be able to find a range of sizes and the cost will obviously be much lower.

The English Country Home aesthetic, for example, is based on the assumption that you’ve got a large amount of space and a relatively large budget–but with some creativity, you can find pieces in this school of design that would even work well in something like a 5th-floor walk-up studio apartment.

Sanguine-colored walls
A sitting room in an English home.

Interior Design Classics

1. Chesterfield Sofa

This piece was invented by the Fourth Earl of Chesterfield, Lord Philip Dormer Stanhope, who lived from 1694 to 1770. The Earl of Chesterfield was a politician, but he was also apparently something of a trendsetter. Given that he asked a local craftsman to create a sofa that allowed a man to sit upright without wrinkling his clothes, he was definitely a man after our own hearts!

Sigmund Freud was another famous owner of a Chesterfield sofa, and today it’s a staple in clubhouses, old-fashioned libraries, and offices. It’s characterized by deep-buttoned upholstery and nailhead trim, which adds three-dimensional interest to a room (since the rounded tufts and deep nailhead create visual peaks and valleys throughout the piece).

SRS Chesterfield Champagne
Sven Raphael Schneider enjoying a glass of champagne on a Chesterfield sofa.

While some furniture can be flatter, a Chesterfield will definitely help to add more dimension to a room. This piece is especially great in that you can make it what you want, using colors like black or going with distressed leather for a man cave or library, and going with something like white or gray linen for a more formal living room.

If a Chesterfield sofa is too big for your space, you could consider a chair in the same style. This transitions us nicely into our next pick.

2. Wingback Chair

This was a piece that was originally designed to keep its occupant warm, because the wings and upholstered back would trap the warm air of a fireplace and block drafts; it would often sit in the home facing the fireplace. These were first introduced in England in the 1600s, but they didn’t really become popular until the 1720s. The basic design has essentially remained unchanged ever since, and today, wingback chairs are a staple for libraries, living rooms, or hearth rooms.

They can be styled like a Chesterfield, and they’re often tufted as well. They’re great for a space that’s directly opposite the entrance of a room or against a wall, because they naturally draw the eye upward with their tall frame. As long time viewers of our channel will have noticed, we have two small wingback chairs in our studio.

Longtime viewers are probably familiar with this wingback chair that Preston is sitting on.
Longtime viewers are probably familiar with the wingback chairs in our studio!

3. Grand Piano

Though it’s doubtless a luxury purchase, a piano is still a staple of classic interior design. In fact, a true grand piano really is almost as much a design piece as it is an instrument. The modern piano was invented around the year 1700 by Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco, the keeper of instruments for the Medici family. In terms of design, pianos are an excellent element to fill large or awkward spaces, bay windows, or empty areas that you aren’t sure what to do with (like an entryway or corner, for example).

Propping the lid open will help to again draw the eye upward and thus make your space look larger overall. With the lid closed,  you can use a piano as a table of sorts to display floral arrangements, family photos, artwork, and so on–although the particularly music-minded among us probably wouldn’t want to set things on top of a grand piano.

A grand piano with the lid open will draw the eyes upward thus creating an illusion of a bigger space.
A grand piano with the lid open will draw the eyes upward, thus creating an illusion of a bigger space.

Even though the popular perception of a grand piano is of something that’s an incredibly expensive purchase, this doesn’t always have to be the case. If the brand, in particular, isn’t important for you, you can find a model for something like $5,000 from a dealer. 

For reference here, a new eight-foot Chesterfield sofa from RH (formerly Restoration Hardware) is just about the same price. In fact, we’ve also seen them on Craigslist for just a few hundred dollars from people who desperately want to get them out of their houses! So, don’t be intimidated by the price of a grand piano (and a baby grand, in particular).

You can find an affordable secondhand grand piano on Craigslist if it's just for decorative purposes.
You can find an affordable secondhand grand piano on Craigslist if it’s just for decorative purposes.

If you’re in it just for the looks, it can be a relatively affordable purchase. Of course, if you’d like to get an actual working instrument of good quality, that’s an entirely different ballgame, and probably something that could be covered in a future post.

4. Curated Bookshelf

In traditional design, bookshelves were really an intrinsic part of a room, built into spaces like walls, corners, and alcoves. So even though you may not have built-in bookshelves, buying a shelving unit that looks like a piece of furniture can help to replicate this built-in look. In particular, look for pieces that feature crown molding around the top and the base.

Traditional bookshelves were often constructed either from wood that directly matched that of the house, or painted. Therefore, painting your shelves the same color as the walls and trim will help them to look as though they “belong” in your space in a more traditional way.

Curated bookshelves are typically design-oriented rather than being functional.
Curated bookshelves are typically design-oriented rather than being functional (though these shelves serve both purposes!)

What do we mean by “curated,” then? Essentially what it means is appointing the contents of the shelves in a design-oriented way first, rather than directly for functionality. In other words, you’re not using the shelves primarily as a method of storage, but rather as a focal point and design element.

The most traditional look would, of course, involve tightly fitted leather-bound books that fill the entire capacity of the shelf. The more modern approach, meanwhile, is to avoid filling the entirety of the shelf or even half of its space, to avoid looking crowded or overstuffed. You could fill the space partially with books, either vertically or horizontally stacked, and then add various artworks, objet d’art, knick-knacks, framed photos, statuary sculptures, floral arrangements, and so on, depending on your own personal feel.

You can partially fill your bookshelf with different artworks, books, photos, etc.
You can partially fill your bookshelf with different artworks, books, photos, etc.

5. Oil Paintings

Though there are countless ways to fill your wall space these days, at the height of the English Country Home, paintings were nearly the only choice. So today, portrait and landscape paintings that are heavily framed will instantly make your space look more polished and formal.

The contents of the painting itself don’t necessarily need to be strictly traditional, of course, as a traditionally styled frame (like a gilt frame) will go a long way to making the entire piece seem more traditional overall. Even a piece of modern art in one of these types of frames will still look somewhat traditional. And again, this is another category where new, gallery-purchased art can run for an impossibly high price tag, but you can certainly find original and reproduction pieces at estate sales and online for a fraction of those costs.

oil paintings
Adding some oil paintings will make your space look more formal.

6. Classically Styled Mirrors

Another traditional design element that’s both beautiful and practical–and closely related to our previous pick–is a classically styled mirror. Mirrors will help to open up space and make it feel bigger because they reflect light back into the room, and the frame can provide another traditional design element.

A classically styled mirror gives an illusion of a bigger space because of it's reflection.
A classically styled mirror gives an illusion of a larger space because of its reflection.

7. Pool Table

Billiards, in their various forms, have been a leisurely pastime for gentlemen for centuries. In fact, King Louis XI of France had the first known indoor billiards table, and the game has been evolving ever since. Pool, more specifically, has been around in its current form since about the mid-1800s.

If you have the space for it, a pool table is a traditional centerpiece for a gaming room, library, or spare room. Pool tables are another piece that can be quite expensive new, but given that they are so large and cumbersome to move, you can often find them for a fraction of the price if you’re looking second-hand. In fact, some people are so happy to get rid of them that they can even occasionally be found for free! Moving might be a challenge, but ultimately, their loss will be your gain.

Vintage pool table
Vintage pool table

8. Taxidermy

This item is the only one on this list that might be slightly controversial. We’ll start here by saying that taxidermy is definitely not for everyone; either you love the concept or you hate it. We’ll go on the record here by saying that we don’t believe that animals should be killed solely with the purpose to create taxidermy, nor do we think that endangered or exotic animals should be displayed like this in a home.

Where Gentleman’s Gazette headquarters is located in Minnesota, most taxidermy comes from legally hunted animals like deer and pheasant. What’s more, state fishery and hunting boards, and even private organizations, often have animal conservation at the core of what they do. With all that being said, then: once it is preserved, a taxidermied animal can last almost indefinitely as a piece of decor.

Pheasant taxidermy
Pheasant taxidermy.

In general, this kind of decoration is wall-, shelf-, or surface-mounted. It’s primarily something that can be found at antique and vintage stores, as well as at estate sales. It definitely provides a more ruggedly masculine look, but it can be used in small doses to further enhance an overall traditional theme.

9. Oriental Rugs

These are among the best design pieces you can add to your home for a traditional look, since wall-to-wall carpet or other flooring alternatives were created mostly in the 20th century. At retail prices, they can be incredibly expensive–and that’s because many of them are painstakingly created by hand over a period of months, or sometimes even years. But just like many items on our list, they can be particularly cost-effective when purchased second-hand, as a quality oriental rug can last for decades and will be quite resilient to any wear and tear. 

Adding an Oriental rug will give a traditional touch to your home.
Adding an Oriental rug will give a traditional touch to your home.

10. Drapery

Window coverings can definitely make a statement about your personal style. Traditionally, window coverings were used to keep out cold air and light, but today they’re almost always used purely for decorative purposes. They’re also an excellent way to introduce color and pattern into the design of a room while being relatively inexpensive compared to many of the other items on our list.

We’re not talking about the horrible, poofy designs of the 1980s here. Rather, classic drapery is sweeping, bold, and elegant–and as we’ve mentioned with a few other pieces, it can draw the eye upward, making a space look taller and airier.

This simple yet elegant drapery adds an airy touch to any space.
This simple yet elegant drapery adds an airy touch to the space.

Drapery will go a long way toward making a room look more finished, and it will also tie together other traditional style elements; while most traditionally designed spaces may or may not have contained some of the elements listed above, they almost always contained drapery. When in doubt, going with a solid will be the most conservative choice, but we would encourage you to work with patterns if it’s compatible with your space. 

11. Palm Trees

During the Victorian Era at the end of the 19th century, traditional style added a plant for the first time: the palm tree. In the 1840s, the Kew Gardens built the world’s largest greenhouse and started collecting palm trees, which at that time only grew in the tropics. This inspired the wealthy elite to begin collecting palm trees, and influential American financier Jay Gould, for example, had more than 300 palms in his collection in the 1880s.

Palms came to symbolize wealth and luxury, so they became a coveted interior design element. Today, the palm tree, whether living or faux, is still an elegant addition to any home. As we’ve said with many of the other items on this list, a palm tree can also help to draw the eye upward and make space look larger.

The green leaves of the palm tree will add freshness to any room.
The green leaves of the palm tree will add color and freshness to any room.

The green leaves will help to add color and freshness to a room, and they’re great for filling awkward spaces like corners. We’re not suggesting you develop a collection of 300 palms, of course, but maybe start with one and see how you like it!

Conclusion

Classic interior design can make your space look elegant and timeless. Although traditional decor is perhaps best suited for larger spaces, concepts like expanding the dimension of a room and incorporating some personality can be adapted to items for modern, smaller homes, and can be worth pursuing.

Note: This post is an update to our previous guide, which emphasizes English home interiors.

Also, if you want some more inspiration checkout the video home tours of Quintessence.

What concepts of classic interior design do you admire the most? Share with us in the comments section!

Outfit Rundown

I’m wearing a traditionally casual outfit that could be worn around the house in a way that would harmonize with some of the interior design classics we listed today. The centerpiece of course, is my vintage silk dressing gown in a red color that also features some relatively bold patterning to continue my color theme throughout the outfit.
I’ve paired the dressing gown with a pink shirt some brown trousers that contain a red undertone and some moccasin-styled loafers in suede that also have some warmth to their color.

Preston dons a casual outfit that could be worn in the house
Preston dons a casual outfit that could be worn in the house
Monkey Fist Knot Cufflinks - 925 Sterling Silver Rose Gold Plated

Fort Belvedere

Monkey Fist Knot Cufflinks – 925 Sterling Silver Rose Gold Plated

Shadow Stripe Ribbed Socks Grey and Burgundy Red Fil d'Ecosse Cotton - Fort Belvedere

Fort Belvedere

Shadow Stripe Ribbed Socks Grey and Burgundy Red Fil d'Ecosse Cotton

Ascot in Buff, Red, Blue, Orange Macclesfield Neats Micropattern - Fort Belvedere

Fort Belvedere

Ascot in Buff, Red, Blue, Orange Macclesfield Neats Micropattern

The rest of my outfit today is made up of elements from the Fort Belvedere shop. The first of these that I’ll mention are my cufflinks which are rose gold plated sterling silver models in a monkey’s fist knot design.
I’m also wearing shadow striped socks in gray and burgundy red and an ascot that features a Macclesfield neats pattern in buff red, blue, and orange. Of course, you can find the cufflinks, socks, and ascot as well as a wide array of other menswear accessories in the Fort Belvedere Shop.

Reader Comments

  1. This is instructive for people like me who live in cramped spaces but daydream of one day living in a space sufficiently large to accommodate things like chesterfields and wing chairs.

    7:20 Cri-STO-fori, not Cri-sto-FO-ri. ME-di-ci, not Me-DI-ci

    11:24 The censorship monkey was a surprise. Would YouTube block the video if a nipple in a panting appeared? I suppose one doesn’t want to take the chance.

    18:30 The pairing of red with pink—a bold red outer garment with a pale pink shirt—is one of those combinations that seem in the abstract as if they should work but in fact do not. At least, I find it distressing to the eye.

  2. Seven,Having a place for a “grand piano” maybe ok if you have the space, however you should consider that some people don’t have the room for a full grand piano, but may have the space for a “baby grand or a “upright grand” that would fit nicely in the space and still give the room a nice style that the owner would want. The cost could be less than buying a “full grand piano. I had my great aunts’ upright grand before “katrina” tore it to pieces in a small living room.

  3. It is now time to elevated your interest and activities to a new level. Please start a gentleman Club. The members would be patrons. I am sure that you have supporters like myself. Nice membership card plus $35. Annual fee. Enroll me as member#1

  4. Not inappropriate that on a men’s style site, Sven is drinking champagne to the health of a peacock.

  5. What a delightful presentation. And so refreshing! In todayโ€™s world of grey t-shirts, flip-flops, cargo shorts, uninspired stainless steel and white interiors, bare walls, and just plain plain-ness, not to mention sloppiness, your video was an utter joy to watch. Although admittedly modest, the decor of our home has literally all of the wonderfully traditional elements of your videoโ€”even including a palm treeโ€”with the exceptions of the piano, pool table, and taxidermy (no problem with taxidermy, we simply have not gone down that route). I could not help but chuckle as I sat in my chesterfield-style wing chair watching Preston elaborate on the delicious elements of classic, traditional decor, ever so in line with our own taste. Again, how refreshing! Thank you, Gentlemanโ€™s Gazette!

  6. Liked everything except the dead stuffed animals . would prefer a couple of borzois (live) roaming around or laying under the grand piano .

  7. As with most of your visual suggestions, nothing says interior design for men like Victorian (my favorite era). Of course the original robber barrons like Carnegie and Frick could afford the best from that era, it could still suggest ideas for the more modest income if shopping is done with expedience.
    The warm woods and soft tufted leathers cannot be surpassed. Just put in a general image search for Victorian Interiors for some really beautiful examples. You may yearn for the days of handlebar moustaches and bowler hats.

  8. All of the ethical conundrums involved with taxidermy notwithstanding, it should be noted that even secondhand pieces from antique store or flea markets could get one in legal trouble. In some places it’s illegal to possess some animals, or even their remains, no matter how old. An example of this is the bald eagle in the United States.

  9. While I would agree with most of this post ( indeed, most of the illustrated examples could have been taken in my own home) I strongly disagree with the bit on the piano, grand or otherwise. Placing a piano you cannot play as a “decorative piece” is dishonest preening, and thereby the very antithesis of gentlemanly. It is kitsch.

    1. 100% agreed. Also, if you have a shelf full of books you have never opened, it shows the same pretentious grasp for admiration. If you’re going to proudly display a book, you had better be able to discuss what’s in it and what you thought of it. A gentleman reads. Profusely. I have several full bookshelves (at home and in my office). It may have been a while since I’ve read a few of them, but I know what’s in every single one of them.

  10. I would have enjoyed seeing some examples of classic wallpaper designs, which seem to be an under used accent in today’s homes. Included in an additional interior design article in the future perhaps?

  11. Your style is classic and we have some of the classic style in our home. Unfortunately the millenniums do not like this style and at 74 years old we will not be around to see this style return to everyday living.
    I would like to compliment your participation in the Youtube video on menโ€™s clothing. I thought it was excellent. Thank You, Barry

  12. A bit much, though classy in the right home. I guess I’m too much of a minimalist, and don’t see the allure of packing a room full of things to show how classy I am. And no, I’m not a millennium. If it occupies valuable space in a room to be a concrete representation of a part of “you”, you’d better have earned the right to display it. If it’s taxidermy, you had better be the one who shot it. If it’s a musical instrument, you’d better be able to play it decently. As one of the better quotes from pop culture illuminates, “Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken”. If it’s a bit of hunting/fishing tackle, it had better be worn slick by you. If it’s a piece of art, it had better be something particularly important to you, and not just another painting taking up space on the wall. It’s hard to appreciate the taste and style of a man when you don’t know what to look at, while also being in danger of tripping over his antique ottoman. Less is more.

    Just sayin’.

  13. Nice interiors! But mostly aspirations and rather impractical for modern living. And I truly believe, minimalism is also as โ€œGentlemanlyโ€ as luxury and grandeur . Gentlemen may be a little show-off too but snobbery is a big no-no.
    Like the grand piano!
    I would rather have a small collection of what I truly love rather than a large grand-collection for display.

Comments are closed.