Inspired Interiors Versailles

Tall stained-glass windows and buttresses may not fit in the modern home, but arched doorways, arched mirrors and other arched structures are achievable. Plus, they're a break from the ordinary and can make the space feel more significant.

This design invokes the intricate stone medallion from the floor of the Royal Chapel with a modern circular area rug, whose shape complements the arches and other curved elements within the room. Modern stone medallions are also available and may suit your design more closely – don’t discount them, as they make a huge impact. Inspired by the medley of colors on the Royal Chapel's floor, a grey-green paint color (emulating the Chapel's Verde Alpi stones) was selected, which pops against the slab of Arabescato marble. Verde Alpi is also represented in the obelisk base of the brass-topped accent table. The brass top, paired with the honey-gold yellow paint visible in the hall, reverberates the gold embellishments prevalent in the chapel and throughout the Palace. To balance the assortment of bright colors, Blue de Savoie, a beautiful light blue-grey marble, offers a neutral foundation.

This design includes abstract natural stone sculptures carved from Rosso De Francia, a stone used extensively in Versailles, for an elegant statement that nods at King Louis XIV's legacy.

The floor tile in the Grand Trianon, a checkerboard of black and white marble tile, was a concept borrowed from antiquity, and is still considered a classic today. From Ancient Grecian pottery to Roman mosaic floors to the floors of the Grand Trianon itself, the simple, elegant black and white checkerboard pattern has withstood the test of time.

Today, checkerboard floors feel classic and clean, luxe but not overstated. This design uses Artistic Tile’s Estate Collection in a beautiful combination of Odessa Black Belgian bluestone and Bianco Carrara Italian marble in an 18 x 18 field tile checkerboard. Both stones have a slightly antiqued and undulated surface with soft, hand-chiseled or straight edges. The effect is once more, high style, a minimalist aesthetic with a limited, harmonious palette, counterbalanced by the high contrast of the black and white floor.

A word on the color palette – drawn from the colors used in The Grand Trianon: red and pink – in the form of Rosso Francia marble pillars set against the lush greenery of the surrounding gardens creates an aesthetic balance. This composition combines color complements: deep greens with subtle rose or coral hues. A similar balance can be found in a combination of deep blues with yellow, gold or brass. This can be done with tile, paint, furniture or décor.

The height of fashion in its day, the Palace of Versailles stands today as a monument to high style, remarkable detail, and as perhaps the high-water mark for spare-no-expense rich ornamentation in interior design.

What once was striking in its boldness today feels overwrought, but modern designers continue to draw inspiration from the colors, combinations, materials, and design ideals originating in or encapsulated in the Grand Style of Versailles. The following are a set of concepts inspired by iconic spaces in the Palace of Versailles, each incorporating and modernizing design elements in complex, fresh, and unique ways.

The painted mural on the Hall’s vaulted ceiling visually tells stories of French victories for all who walk through it. Though stunning and still broadly admired, ceiling murals are beyond the reach of most, and in most cases, feel somewhat dated today, as modern interior design favors less ornamentation. This room’s arched half walls are painted in a two solid colors, to retain a more minimalist aesthetic, while adding a pleasing variety. The Breccia De Vendome stone slab featured on the fireplace nods at the ceiling mural in the Hall of Mirrors, with gold tones and complexity that conjure the ceiling’s intricate lines and details, but in a far simpler, restrained expression. Breccia De Vendome can also be found in the Hall of Mirrors in smaller formats.

Any room that combines so many colors calls for a light neutral stone tile to balance it. Bianco Carrara marble makes a perfectly consistent and neutral foundation on the floor and is reflected on the ceiling to encompass and visually lengthen the space.

On the back feature-wall, 9 x 18 antiqued Charleston Mirror tile is applied in vertical columns, in a layout inspired by the 357 mirrors lining the hall of mirrors in Versailles. At the time, the King’s decision to flaunt so many mirrors was a show of wealth and French manufacturing skill. Today, mirror tile is appealing more its inherent beauty and is available in frosted or antiqued finishes that emphasize its aesthetic intent and amplify its impact on a design. Mirror tile helps diversify textures within a space and is an elegant choice for feature walls and backsplashes.

A modern application of this design does not need to be half as busy: Consider mixing the marbles used on your floors, wall panels, and even in your furniture and decor. In the Guard Room, the wood planks covered the floor, with several varieties of marble applied in various areas. In our modern concept, we included the wood panel as an accent, with a primary focus on marble, which we find elegant and impressive in larger applications. Grand Antique creates an impressive black and white stage for the room, with the lovely Bleu de Savoie lining the wall and archway, and a Rosso Francia coffee table adds a splash of color that offsets the deep blue of the sofa. The statue is mounted on a gold and white stone stand and carved from Bianco Carrara, and a chevron wood panel lines the adjacent wall.

The gold accents throughout our concept space evoke the gilded details in the Queen's Guard Room. Achieve a similar aesthetic by deploying some of the many light fixtures, liners, clocks, picture frames and other decorative details that are available today in different metals and metallic finishes. Although not always entirely made of metal, these accent pieces can still convey the luxurious alchemy/metallurgy aesthetic.

It’s possible to capture the essence of an elaborately decorated space in a way that’s subtle, sophisticated, and modern, yet draws upon the quintessential elements that render an interior design aesthetically pleasing, or groundbreaking, or special. These concepts attempt to extract some of the more understated elements of the most famous spaces within the Palace of Versailles and the surrounding grounds, incorporating them into ultra-modern designs that feel balanced, are achievable, and that pay homage to the source of their inspiration. Don't hesitate to incorporate color and variety in your next design, as these materials, palettes, and design elements are timeless.