We finally made it to week 10 and you know what the means!? This is my final post on the series’ Most Popular Design Trends For This Decade. I created a 10 week series to help you find answers in your decorating needs. Also to assist you in narrowing down what interior design trend suits you the best. I hope by now you have already decided which decorating style you are a fan of. If you missed my other articles in the series please check them out here:
Most Popular Design Trends For This Decade
Transitional Design and What Is It?
What Defines Contemporary Design?
Scandinavian Interior Design and Decor
French Country Interior Design
Get The Hollywood Regency Look
To round things up, this concluding week is all about Art Deco, short for Arts Décoratifs. This design is characterized by rich colors, bold geometry, and decadent detail work. Having reached the height of its popularity through the 1920s to the 1940s, the look still embodies allure, luxury, and order with proportional designs in animated shapes.
Art Deco first appeared in France and takes its name from the 1925 ‘Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes’. Which translates to “International Exhibition of Decorative and Modern Arts”. This interior design style quickly became popular and was accepted worldwide. The Art Deco movement could be found not just in interior design but in fine art as well as, furniture, fashion, jewelry, textiles and architecture (think of the Chrysler Building and the Rockerfeller Centre). Its popularity continued throughout the Great Depression of the 1930s.
What Is Art Deco?
Art Deco was inspired by the advances in modern technology of the 1920s, which can be seen in the smooth lines, geometric shapes and a clear preference for symmetry. This style has a natural luxuriousness about it, which is accentuated by the use of silver, crystal, ivory, jade, lacquer, and a variety of expensive materials which spoke directly to the wealthy. Not only is it an elegant and glamorous style, it is also about making a huge statement.
Materials
Certain materials resurface again and again in art deco interior designs: stainless steel, mirrors, chrome, glass, lacquer, inlaid wood, and even exotic skins like shark and zebra. Other expensive materials such as ebony, marble, and rare woods were used to accent furniture.
Common Themes
There are several themes that occur regularly in Art Deco design. They include:
- Chevrons, zigzags, pyramids and curves
- Repeating geometric patterns
- Nudes
- Trapezoids
- Highly stylized patterns taken from leaves, branches, and feathers
- Stylized animal patterns
- Sunbursts
- Jagged, pointed edges inspired by skyscrapers (as seen in the Chrysler building)
- Reflective surfaces and the use of mirrors
- Bold colors with sharp contrasts, though black and white and neutrals were also popular
- Luxurious materials such as exotic woods, inlays, gold, and chrome
- “No frills” interiors—no fluff, soft florals, plaids, or lace
I’ve enjoyed your series, Kim! Yesterday our daughter asked where we got our bedroom eagle lamps. Her voice wasn’t impressed. I told her they were a wedding gift 51 years ago when Early American design was popular. She was shocked that people would buy other people things like lamps or bedspreads—that gift was a red, white, and blue eagle—without asking what color or style they wanted. We had no gift registries in those days! How times have changed!