Finishing and Fitting out the Queenslander

A decorative bedroom 1900s (John Oxley Library)

The many different styles of the basic Queenslander comprise a distinctive form of domestic architecture. This has, in turn, given rise to a distinctive lifestyle, which has changed over the years.

The Queensland house in Victorian times was a material thing – papered, panelled and polished, furnished, ornamented and equipped. In times of prosperity and social mobility, it was a symbol of the success of the master of the house, of his respectability and that of his family.

By the 1890s, Queensland houses exhibited many of the features of Victorian ideas of domestic living at their most developed extent, adapted for the local environment.

Queensland houses followed Sydney fashions in their fitting out. Generally fashions arrived in Queensland later than Sydney. Thus wallpaper was gaining ground in Queensland in the 1890s, while losing it elsewhere. Vertical boarding (often white or green) was in evidence, and furniture tended to be lighter, with more wicker.

In interior decoration, a great deal of effort was put into the rooms which might be seen by visitors. At the same time, these rooms were gendered spaces, associated with either the wife or the husband.