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T he Bridgerton-esque aesthetic is all about beauty and the balance between old and new
Jen Connell's Limerick home
Sacre Coeur French Chair from the French Bedroom Company
Antique Tulips Floral Wallpaper Mural By Marina Stupakova from Wallsauce
Portobello Parade Park Green wallpaper from Divine Savages
Chinese Garden Wallpaper, Brocade lampshade from Mind the Gap
Wallpaper and fabric designed by Diane Hill for Harlequin
Wallpaper and fabric designed by Diane Hill for Harlequin
Neo Regency is the sweetie jar of interiors. It’s a major new look: delicious and addictive. The forecast is for fancy French furniture, marble and marquetry, and serious curtains with tassels and trims. Expect a sugar-rush of gilded mirrors and wall panelling (real or repro depending on your budget), hand-painted chinoiserie wallpaper (definitely repro), and all this in an ice-lolly palate of citrus green, yellow, orange, pink and macaroon blue. Remember to brush your teeth.
T he term ‘Neo Regency’ was coined by the interiors oracle Michelle Ogundehin in an article for Dezeen this March. She described the style as “ridiculously pretty, a word that’s not often used in design circles.” Neo Regency is the polar opposite of the modernist mantra, Form Follows Function. “Ornamentation for the sake of it is everything,” Ogundehin wrote. The glamorous, decadent style has also been called Regencycore or Bridgertoncore. Its main inspiration is the Regency Period of 19th-century England, as filtered through the Netflix TV show of that name. Based on romantic fiction by the modern American novelist Julia Quinn, the first series of Bridgerton was launched in December 2020. It provided comfort and levity during lockdown. The second series followed and a third is currently in the making.
Wisteria Wallpaper from Woodchip and Magnolia
Bridgerton is set in England during the Regency period (1811-1820), when the eldest son of the incapacitated King George III of England became deputy monarch. The Prince Regent was culturally informed, economically irresponsible, and tremendously stylish. His Regency ushered in a new era of extravagance in fashion, architecture, and interiors. It was an end-of-the-world party, enjoyed by the upper classes against a backdrop of widespread poverty and the ongoing Napoleonic Wars. Ogundehin sees parallels between this period and our own troubled times.
“When the world is in extreme turmoil, creativity flowers. Those possessed of an artistic temperament, such as the Prince Regent, rail against the zeitgeist and drive it somewhere new.”
Neo Regency is not a recreation of the historic aesthetic. It’s a modern fantasy. But then, the Regency style was always fantastical. Very few people actually attended the upper-class balls and tea parties of “the Ton” though many heard the stories and snatched glimpses of frivolity and finery. Again, there are parallels with today’s celebrity culture. It would have done well on TikTok.
Neo Regency is an aesthetic that you can certainly create at home. A little bit of styling will go a long way. The set design team on Bridgerton have already done the work in bringing the style up to 21st-century speed. In an interview for Architectural Digest, Bridgerton’s production designer Will Hughes-Jones described how the marble and marquetry effect on the console tables was created by their graphic designer and printed on vinyl.
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Film sets are full of cheats. They have to be because of their scale. At home, we can go one better. Modern chinoiserie wallpaper or upholstery can be combined with one or two genuine antiques. “Everyone is talking about the influence of Bridgerton,” says Jen Connell, creative director and interiors enthusiast. “The drama of the TV series brings the interiors to life. They’re traditional, but amplified with saturated colours, and so pretty it’s almost surreal. Seeing the characters interacting within that context really captures your imagination.”
Connell, who has recently moved into a 1780s home in County Limerick, feels that the rise of Neo Regency offers a decorative opportunity for people living in period homes. “It really is an opportunity for leaning into an older style.”
Her most recent addition is a chinoiserie French bombe commode that she bought from Ashbrook Antiques in County Tipperary. Like all antiques, it’s a one-off item, but expects to pay around €1,500 for something similar. “It doesn’t really serve a purpose but it was just so special that we invested. Originally we had it in the hallway but then we moved it into the living room so we could look at it every day. Her other main extravagance was a handmade Regency-style bed. “It was such a scary investment — the most I’d paid for anything ever!” A king-sized Palais de Versailles Sacré Coeur bed with a gilded frame with pink velvet upholstery currently costs €2,670 from the French Bedroom Company. Having confessed to these major purchases, Connell admits that the giant Chinese pattern fan above the bed cost €15 in a Dublin flea market. She also keeps an eye on Done Deal where her Downton Abbey-style dressing table set her back €400. “It justifies the big purchases when you can get a bargain. It’s a massive piece of furniture and all it needed was a polish.”
Artist Diane Hill with her collection for Harlequin
Getting Neo Regency right is about creating a balance between old and new. “Sometimes it’s about a specific piece, but sometimes it’s about creating a mood,” Connell says. “I love the petite French chairs but they’re no good for watching television. Our sofas are from DFS. One of them is the Halo sofa in a caramel coloured leather that ages beautifully. We have that paired with a pair of deep-buttoned velvet ottomans. The paint in her bedroom is Palm House Fountain from Colourtrend, a greenish grey. “It’s green, but not too green. I wanted it to look like it’s always been that colour and that shade has the smoky tinge you often get in old houses, even though the paint is new.”
Meanwhile, across the water, the British artist Diane Hill has just released a collection of chinoiserie wallpaper and interiors fabric with Harlequin. Excellent timing. The designs reflect the 18th-century appetite for Chinese-style decoration, hand-painted on silk wall coverings. Historically, they were prohibitively expensive. Now, that appetite is re-kindled by Bridgerton and the Diane Hill x Harlequin range is there to feed it with wallpaper that starts at €121 per roll from Wallpaper Direct. It’s lovely stuff. The influences and patterns are 18th-century, but the palette and scale are modern with amplified colours and larger motifs that sidestep the fussiness of period décor. It’s a testimony to the transformative powers of digital production.
- Jen Connell will be at the DFS Interior Inspiration Design Centre at the Permanent TSB Ideal Home Show from October 21-23. See also @jenconnell.home, ashbrookantiques.ie, frenchbedroomcompany.co.uk, wallpaperdirect.com, and dianehill.co.uk
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