Some people actually equate victorian design with "creepy" or morbid feelings or images. I happen to love victorian, edwardian and other turn of the century design so much I have chosen to decorate this way. I think the victorian look is common in "Scary" old mansions because of hollywood's image they've portryed to us. here are some good examples of how to accessorize resulting in a clean yet antique look. these images are taken from martha's halloween section of her website; a source of inspiration for my own gothic home. The trick for using these ideas is not to let it scream "halloween!!" I think there's a very very find line.
remove the faux spiders and webs and all you have are some pretty antique candle holders, a few beautiful convex mirrors; a simple mantle vignette. to really goth it up you could add a silhouette of a family member, some taxidermy (one of my favorite accessories) or some Spanish moss draping over the side for effect.
Here again, a very simple victorian/edwardian mantle, remove whatever is under those cloche's that Martha thinks are "halloween-y" and add some pots with moss, maybe a crocodile head taxidermy, or some other preserved piece of nature and you've cleaned it up. the silhouettes? so cute cute cute.
I love this (martha again, folks. she just rocks). remove the halloween candles and add whichever color you prefer, I like solid black. the bat diagram on the wall here is so cool, I love checking out ebay for vintage scientific or medical charts, they all have that wonderful aged color to them and are done by talented artists of the time.
Try adding a splash of goth into your home, don't be afraid :)
