Decorating Ideas with a British Theme

I've had a fascination with the British red telephone boxes long before I ever spoke to anyone from England or Great Britain. They are a British icon that stands above the rest for me. There are several icons that come to mind when someone mentions England. Some or all of these can be included in a British-themed décor. I've included a few here:

• Big Ben
• Tower Bridge & Tower of London
• Stonehenge
• Houses of Parliament
• Red telephone boxes
• Double-Decker buses
• Beatles
• Rolling Stones
• Grenadier Guards at Buckingham Palace
• The London Eye
• Hampton Court Maze
• White Horses
• Union Flag
• Winston Churchill
• The T.A.R.D.I.S. (Blue Police Box) from Doctor Who

Since marrying an Englishman, I've really considered opening a British-themed restaurant. I think it would be fun decorating the place and then exposing Americans to lots of great British cuisine. My husband hasn't yet been persuaded that the restaurant idea is all that great. I've warned him that that may mean that I'll have to resort to decorating our house instead. I think a red phone box would look lovely in the corner of the family room.

I did manage to find some detailed blueprints to build a T.A.R.D.I.S. I will definitely be building on of those one of these days. Wouldn't it be cool to make a portable one and tote it all around the United States stopping at American icons and taking photographs of it?

One of the best ways to play around with a British theme is to buy vinyl wall decals of British scenes.

Vinyl wall decals are inexpensive and can be moved around from wall to wall. They are perfect for adding a bit of flare to a dull wall.

The Union Flag can make a great decorating item. I will advise you to treat the flag with respect as you should any flag.

The Union Flag switch plate shown here is a great way to incorporate the flag into your British-themed decor.

Many furniture stores and retail stores carry British or English-inspired decorating items.

Shown here is a bookend made from a replica of an English phone box. The phone box seems to be a very popular item to make replicas of. I've seen CD storage boxes made to look like them.

Find a great photograph of the London skyline, Stonehenge, or any of the other great British icons and mat and frame it.

You can create some lovely items with very little expense.

Dedicate an entire wall or an entire room to various photographs of England. For an eye-popping sophisticated display, try using black and white photos matted with brightly colored mats and glossy black frames. You can also pick a mat in a color to coordinate with your room color and mat all of the photos in this color for a blended look.

You could pick a theme and just use photographs with that theme, such as castles, stone henges, hedge mazes, thatched-roof cottages, country scenes, city scenes, tea kettles, etc.

If you're a child of the 50s and 60s you may enjoy decorating your home with Beatles or Rolling Stones memorabilia. Same thing applies here. Pick out some great black and white photos and have fun matting them in crazy colors.

Posters are a great decorating item.  Frame them to keep them looking nice year after year.