What is steampunk?

Section IV of 9

Steampunk decor and the home

Four guides to a steampunk room: the lighting, the clocks, the walls and floors, and the furniture and ornaments. Tap the numbers on the drawing to see what each part of the room needs.

4 guides About 52 minutes of reading

An Edison bulb glowing inside a glass jar lamp in a dark room

A steampunk room

Tap the room

Eight parts of a steampunk sitting room, each with the one line from the guide that covers it. Tap a number.

  1. Deep, warm colours make brass, copper and wood glow: dark green, deep red, navy, chocolate brown, charcoal or a dark mustard. Decorating a Room in Steampunk Style

  2. Copper and black iron pipe with red valve wheels and brass gauges, fixed along a wall as pure decoration, carrying nothing. Decorating a Room in Steampunk Style

  3. A large wall clock works best as the one big thing on its wall, where the eye falls on entering the room. Steampunk Clocks

  4. Maps are the perfect steampunk picture, because they speak of travel and exploration. Decorating a Room in Steampunk Style

  5. Several smaller lights at different heights, not one light in the middle of the ceiling. Steampunk Lamps and Lighting

  6. The Chesterfield: large, tightly stuffed, often leather, with arms the same height as its back. Steampunk Furniture, Shelves and Ornaments

  7. A travelling trunk makes a coffee table that looks as if it has crossed the world. Steampunk Furniture, Shelves and Ornaments

  8. Dark boards with a rug in the middle are the simplest Victorian floor there is. Decorating a Room in Steampunk Style

Section IV

Every home and decor guide

In the order they are best read. Each one is long enough to answer the question properly, with every fact checked and its source listed at the foot.

  1. 24Steampunk Lamps and LightingSteampunk lamps and lighting: why warm light matters, the Edison bulb, pipe, cage and jar lamps, ceiling, wall and floor lights, LED filament bulbs and colour, and wiring a lamp safely.About 13 min
  2. 25Steampunk ClocksSteampunk clocks explained: skeleton clocks with open gears, wall, mantel and table clocks, railway time and the station clock, clockwork or battery, making your own, and where to hang one.About 14 min
  3. 26Decorating a Room in Steampunk StyleDecorating a room in steampunk style: walls, wallpaper and brick, floors and rugs, pipes and gauges on show, light, the Victorian study, maps and collections, and a whole room on a budget.About 12 min
  4. 27Steampunk Furniture, Shelves and OrnamentsSteampunk furniture, shelves and ornaments: Victorian pieces, leather chairs and the Chesterfield, pipe shelves, trunks and curiosity cabinets, globes and instruments, bell jars, and safe restoring.About 13 min
A crowd of old alarm clocks, faces of every size
A heap of brass and steel gears
A brass compass on an old map

More for the house

Beyond the room

Four guides from the next section that belong in a steampunk home.

Cogs and gearsHow gears mesh, and how to use real ones on a shelf or a wall. Cogs, Gears and MachinesWallpaper and backgroundsPatterns and colours for walls, and backgrounds for phones and computers. Steampunk Wallpaper, Backgrounds and FontsArt and artistsEngravings, technical drawings and steampunk art. Steampunk Art and ArtistsRobots and creaturesAutomatons, clockwork insects and mechanical animals. Steampunk Robots, Animals and Insects
A clock on a brick pillar with its gears open to view behind the hands The next section, V Art and making Steampunk art and artists, how to draw it, robots and creatures, cogs and gears, props. Go to the section

Everything on Steampunks

The contents

Nine sections and fifty-three guides.

  1. IWhat steampunk isThe meaning, the look, where it came from, and how it differs from Gothic and Victorian.
  2. IIFashion and costumeWomen's and men's outfits, a costume on a budget, Halloween, a steampunk wedding.
  3. IIIHats, goggles and accessoriesGoggles, top hats, masks, corsets, waistcoats, coats, watches, jewellery, boots.
  4. IVHome and decorYou are here. Lamps and lighting, clocks, furniture and ornaments, and a whole room in the style.
  5. VArt and makingSteampunk art and artists, how to draw it, robots and creatures, cogs and gears, props.
  6. VIFilms, TV, games, books and musicThe films, the animation, the games, Minecraft builds, the books and the music.
  7. VIISteampunk events in the UKWhere steampunks gather, with the dates from each organiser's own site.
  8. VIIIAirships and machinesSteampunk airships, and the real ones that went before them.
  9. IXThe Victorian world behind itVictorian fashion, London, architecture and the Gothic Revival.
Search the guides Find a film The airship ruler Build an outfit
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