Bringing little to no romance but a lot of luxury and boldness to any space, art deco is the style that has found its way back to our modern homes, with royalty and grace at its best.
A short form of the French word ‘Arts Décoratifs, ‘ Art Deco has its roots in the 1920s when people in America and Europe started to drift away from earthy, minimalist, and nature-inspired homes to more fine, industrialized, geometrical, and luxurious designs. The art deco interior design managed to live through the ups and down for over three decades until the mid-century modern design stole the throne in the 1950s!
The art deco interior style aka style moderne draws its breath from geometric patterns, recurring motifs, symmetrical placements, bold colors, animal prints, metallic accents, and luxurious fabrics. I have curated an A-Z guide about art deco interior design below, so the next time you decorate your home in art deco, you know where to start and finish.
The Ultimate Guide To Art Deco Interior Design
Motifs & Patterns
Art Deco uses a lot of simple, geometrical, angular, linear, and recurring motifs, think,
- Chevron pattern
- Herringbone pattern
- Geometric fan motifs
- Zigzags
- Triangular shapes
- Arches
- Stepped shapes
- Sunburst shapes
- Zebra pattern
Common Art Deco Materials
The materials that evoke a sense of luxury and richness are usually the most preferred in the art deco style. This is to reflect the richness and luxury that the industries created and how people in the 1920s (and now) bought it, welcomingly! A few luxurious materials that are made to this high-standard style are:
- The rich upholstery fabrics like velvets and leathers.
- Gold and silver metallic accents
- Shimmering glass pieces
- Geometrical-statement mirrors
- Stainless steel
- Luxurious materials like marble and ebony
Colors
The art deco style makes use of bold, vibrant, and noticeable colors, paired with gold, silver, and a few black accents.
Yellows, reds, blues, greens, and pinks are the art deco styles’ favorite picks. And so far as the backdrops are concerned, beiges, off-whites, and creams are the most popular.
Lighting
Understandably, the light fixtures of the art deco style embody the geometric shapes and patterns coupled with the luxury and boldness of the design. They are very angled, sleek, and clean with the least detailing and intricacy.
The common lighting materials would be opal glass, chrome, gold and silver accents, and even stainless steel.
Furniture
Since geometric patterns seem to be the life and blood of art deco, large-sized furniture with clean shapes and lines and limited to no detailing belongs to this interior style! Think large, generously-sized sofas, headboards, chairs, benches, and ottomans, wrapped in luxurious solid-colored velvety upholstery or ones in solid contrasting colors.
Fabrics
Since richness and luxury are the pet names of art deco interior design, luxurious fabrics like velvet, leather, zebra skin, and shark skins are the no-brainers when deciding upon art deco fabrics for your space.
Ensure that you choose them in solid or contrasting colors with preferably no detailed prints or patterns- only geometric ones or none at all.
Flooring
Flooring in geometric patterns like herringbone, sunburst, and chevron is native to the art deco style. You can also consider opting for highly-geometric tiling.
The art deco floors are usually covered by large rugs with (of course) geometric patterns.
Other Considerations
The major consideration, while you are designing an art deco home, is to keep things very organized, clean, simple, symmetrical, and geometric. Opt for only luxury and boldness with no hint of detailing and romanticizing any space.
Think only clean lines, high-shine metal accents, vibrant colors, very neat shapes, sunburst designs, and some zebra patterns to add some mood. A lot of shapes in this design are not surprising.
15 Art Deco Idea To Create A Luxurious Home!
Now, after you know how an art deco interior designed space usually looks, it’s time to get to the point and see how you can (practically) use this design style to make your home look effortlessly luxe!
Keep It Clean
As the art deco spaces scream organization and symmetry, you’re going to make a blunder if you aren’t following those two terms to a T!
Like this art deco-inspired entryway, use very clean accessories and align them so well that nobody can make out if anybody even stays at your home!
Luxury Is The Word!
Luxury is just another word for art deco interior design. And what can make timeless luxury enter the scene more than royal lighting?
Use it to your advantage by having a lot of warm and glamorous lighting in your art deco bathroom, bedroom, living room, dining room, and whatnot.
Try Marble
Luxurious materials like metal and marble feel so art deco. And why use marble on the floor or countertops when it can glorify your walls so well?
This art deco breakfast nook is the go-grab-it idea when you are open to experimenting with materials as luxurious as marble and using it as a backsplash in your kitchen and even your kitchen counters to tie it together!
Geometric Patterns Are A No-Brainer!
Talking about art deco pretty much means talking about geometry and symmetry. You’re lucky if you have some geometric patterns on your wall like herringbone or shiplap. And others, just declare yourself luckier after getting a wallpaper with geometric lines for your art deco decor!
RELATED: 23 Serene Shiplap Bedroom Wall Ideas You’ll Save!
Keep Everything Organized!
You already know that keeping everything clean and organized is the ultimate hack to create (and maintain) an art deco space. So even when you are choosing furniture, remember that you don’t fall flat for very detailed pieces. The simpler and sharper it looks, the better.
Mirrors Are A Must!
Talking about luxury and not talking about mirrors is quite offbeat. And working up a luxurious interior style and not working with mirrors is offbeat-er.
So, with no brain involved, get a pretty mirror that glorifies the entire space, makes it look glam, is in perfect shape, and screams luxury, all the time.
RELATED: 17+ Bedroom Mirror Ideas That Are Crazy & Fun!
Mix-N-Match Styles!
Although art deco is a full-fledged bold and confident style in itself, mixing and matching two styles isn’t that bad!
This living room has some industrial interior undertones, but the perfect symmetry, clean lines, and the royal solid upholstery are enough to add in the art deco flair, just effortlessly.
Use Gold Accents For A Luxe Look
If you like to make your art deco interiors as royal as they might have been in the 1920s, then gold is the go-to.
Add gold accents to ‘royalify’ your art deco spaces by using them as wall art pieces, wall finishes, rugs, and even lighting and furniture frames, like this luxurious home bar idea. It’ll add just the perfect amount of glamour and kingliness- the words the art deco interior design stands for!
Zebra Patterns Are Go-To
As summery and bold as they are, the zebra patterns are an inseparable part of the style in question. Add it to your pillow covers, use it for rugs and flooring, or maybe introduce bedding in the pattern. It’s the sure shot to claim you have an art deco home even when everything else screams otherwise.
You can also try playing around with materials like shark skin and zebra skin for leather. They are as royal!
Keep Things Solid
From the quilt to the navy blue wall, nothing in this art deco bedroom has any prints and patterns. Why not mimic the same style in your home without having to mess about finding the perfect ‘art deco’ prints, when the solids can do the job?
Pair it with just the right geometric lighting fixtures and metallic accents so you don’t make it bland, by chance.
Use The Trendy Arches
Arches are ‘the’ trend. And if you aren’t using them enough in your arches-friendly art deco decor, you’re losing on a lot of modernity and glam!
Like this art deco bathroom, stock up on some pretty art deco accessories like a sleek arched mirror, a clean pink counter, and perfectly symmetrical light fixtures. And if you pair everything with the geometric-patterned floor tiling, you are bound to nail the style!
Watch The Tiling!
Add bold-colored tiling to your kitchen to nail the colors of the style just perfectly! This kitchen uses the ideal geometric patterns as the backsplash and the same dark teal color for its cabinet to tie the look together.
Remember to throw in some luxury with brass and gold accents and a rustic flair with wood, if you would!
Jewel Tones For A Royal Flair
I can’t stress enough how art deco is a total sucker for jewel tones like deep mustard, dark green, teal, maroon, pinks, and blues- the bold tones.
So, boldly and fearlessly, use bold colors in your art deco interior design with no second thoughts. After all, these colors are the ultimate truths when it comes to this kingly design.
Laaarge Furniture Pieces
Since we are talking kingliness here already, let your furniture be kingly or generously sized too, just like this dark green room. Large headboards, large sofas, huge accent chairs, big tables, and liberally sized benches are all the rage in this style. So make yourself comfortable, and sleep on your bed-sized loveseats!
RELATED: 21 Modern Dark Green Bedrooms That Are Nowhere Close To Boring!
Play With The backsplash
Whatever backsplash you use for your kitchens and bathrooms- tiling or otherwise, ensuring some geometric patterns in there is the smartest trick to ensure you get the hang of the design everywhere!
So, take some inspiration from this art deco kitchen and use bold tones, metallic finishes, minimal decor, and finally and surely some geometric patterns, to top it off.
