Nostell Priory

Finally, we went to a National Trust place on my family's little holiday; and I'm not hiding the fact that I'm a bit of a National Trust nut over here! I know I say this a lot - but this time I really do mean it - to date, this is the best NT place I've ever visited. The lighting and shadow effects there are fantastic, drawing your eyes to details you wouldn't otherwise have notices. The interior has plenty of stunning art and an Oriental twist, displayed most prominently in the chinoiserie-styled State Bedroom (which sadly I couldn't photograph, it being so dark inside).
The State Bedroom is so grand and opulent, with a huge canopy bed, golden silk everywhere, and a ceiling carved with angels playing a violin. I wish I could have shown it here, but my exposure on my camera isn't that great.

Beautiful dress details. Historical interior design and fashion paintings have really encouraged me to like bright, unusual colours that I otherwise wouldn't  have considered for dresses and wallpaper shades.

A lot of religious paintings.

The way they set things up at Nostell Priory is also engaging. They make it look like somebody actually lives there, rather than like a museum of sorts where everything is on display. You could just reach out and touch the items, though of course I wouldn't even try.

More exotic colours and gowns.

Another Oriental bedroom. The pairing of gold and green is rather interesting.

I'm taking a lot of pictures of this style of painting recently. I think it's Baroque? I'm hoping to have a go at copying the design sometime so I can get better at painting - maybe in the future I could do some painting in the home, to incorporate this style.

On the way out, I also heard a fascinating story about a servant girl called Nancy, who died in an elevator accident in the home. Stories like that always make me wonder if ghosts exist, especially in such historical homes.