Originally, Art Deco made its first appearance in France and spread around the world as a design movement that encompassed everything related to the arts and cultures. As a style, it embodies glamour, ostentatious, and there’s a bold depth to the designs that give it a unique aesthetic that’s otherwise hard to find in other interior styles.
It reached the heights of its popularity in the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s, influencing everything from architecture—the most obvious being the Empire State Building—in jewellery—my personal favourite being Charles Rennie Mackintosh—design and typography, and of course, interiors. Born out of a desire to give the look of sophistication, glamour, and wealth, we’re not surprised the style has stuck around for as long as it has.
What is Art Deco?
The details of the style strived to represent modernism after emerging from the more whimsical and intricate patterns and ambience of Art Nouveau. You could see this through the fixtures in buildings and the streamlined forms of the furniture, while artists embodied this through the use of bold colours and contrast in patterns by intertwining cubism and modernism together in their artwork.
If you’re dazzled by the elegant designs, streamlined geometric shapes and bold colours, Art Deco is one of the more interesting styles to incorporate inside your home and can easily be adapted to suit your taste.
Characteristics of Art Deco interiors
- Motif designs. There’s a stunning array of motifs to choose from when looking for patterns to incorporate inside an art deco inspired home. From fan shapes inspired by performers on stage to geometric lines in bold rich colours, Art Deco motifs have a beautiful strong look.
- Mirror, chrome, and glass. Everywhere. Art Deco interiors in inherently luxurious and is synonymous with the use of chrome and glass t accentuating the style. While silver may not be to everyone’s tastes, gold tones and the use of brass more often than not made an appearance.
- Mix ‘n’ matching interiors. It’s said that Art Deco is a style that’s been influenced by being aesthetically pleasing and decorative—in contrast to Scandinavian, Mid Century Modern, and Japandi interiors, there’s no real philosophical reasons behind the style’s design. It’s for this reason that makes Art Deco malleable to suit your taste, that’s to say you could choose to go all out or select a couple of pieces that interlace Art Deco into your home without it dominating everything else.
- Wooden elements. Art Deco furniture would often come with a polished and luxurious finish, with a touch of metallic accents to create a contract between the two. It’s because of these contracts that make Art Deco what is it—striking the perfect balance between elegance and strength. In more recent times, adaptation to Art Deco has led to a modern take on wooden elements, where there’s less gloss applied and lighter tones of wood used.
- Contrasting colours. You’ll notice that Art Deco doesn’t necessarily come with a fixed colour palette, instead, there’s an array of colours to choose from and combinations to be made. From bold and bright to moody and deep, balanced out by softer nude shades.
