Interior decorator Bobbie Snow O'Neill gives tips for turning an ordinary dining room into a Victorian showplace. Polish the family silver, and use pretty and inexpensive vintage handkerchiefs as napkins (figure A).
Embellish tables with crocheted doilies and embroidered tea towels or a piece of lace run through with ribbon (figure B). Purples and pinks, colors very popular during the Victorian era, look lovely with old lace.
To give new table linens or lace an aged look, dip them in a tea solution (figure C). Leave immersed until the desired shade is achieved.
Decorate the tabletop with pots of African violets (figure D), and add layers of hankies, lace and crocheted doilies to make you feel as though you're back in Grandma's parlor.
Slip a pretty lace panel on an inexpensive tension rod, and hang it at the window for a soft, feminine look (figure E).
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