After Victoria's long reign, with its years of mourning, the
Edwardian era was greeted by a people eager for something fresh.
This was an age that saw the advent of Lalique glassware and
Tiffany lighting. Gas and then electric lighting came gradually
into popular use, inspiring bright and cheerful decorative
schemes. Finally it was safe to let the sun shine in. Lighter
colours with simpler patterns incorporating floral motifsand the
new bright white enamel paint that was used on woodwork
contrived to make the Edwardian house a home. Somewhere that
offered sanctuary from the toils of the city, somewhere you
could breathe. Even with recent innovations, the fireplace was
still the main source of heat and the designs from this period
indicate that they were celebrated as such, placed at the heart
of the decorative scheme. Like the Victorians, the Edwardians
were very much caught up in the spirit of revivalism, but unlike
their predecessors their decorations, and of course, their
fireplaces reflected the style of