Wall Murals & Wallpaper

Art Deco Interior Design: How to Apply 1920s Glamour to a Contemporary Room

By Golden Era Walls · Interior Design Guide

The challenge with art deco is specificity. It is such a clearly defined style — with such recognisable vocabulary and such an established history — that it can tip from assured into pastiche without careful handling. The difference between an art deco room that reads as genuinely cultivated and one that reads as a theme restaurant comes down to restraint, quality of materials, and the ability to identify which elements of the style are essential and which are merely associative decoration.

Art deco emerged in Paris in the early 1920s and spread globally over the following two decades, reaching its apogee in the great buildings of New York, the ocean liner interiors of the 1930s, and the domestic interior design that filtered down from the grand commissions to the ordinary home. It was the first truly international design style and the last to assume that luxury and rigour were not in conflict. The wallpaper in an art deco room is not decoration applied to an already-finished space — it is part of the designed surface of the room itself.

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Design Insights

Key Considerations

Commit to a Palette

Art deco rooms require a decisive, limited palette — two or three colours chosen with intention and maintained throughout. Deep teal, warm black, forest green, burgundy, and gold are the signature art deco tones. Never choose a neutral or uncommitted colour as the dominant wall tone.

Quality of Material

Art deco's central principle is quality of material over quantity of decoration. A single excellent velvet sofa is more art deco than four cheaper alternatives. The style is fundamentally about the quality of the made object — material as well as visual quality defines the room's success.

Lighting is Non-Negotiable

No art deco interior succeeds with poor lighting. The warm, directional quality of art deco lighting — brass fittings, lamps at human scale, amber glass — is as essential as the wallpaper itself. Overhead fluorescent light destroys the art deco room; warm directed light defines it.

One Exceptional Piece

The art deco interior is built around exceptional objects — a piece of furniture with genuine presence, a light fitting of real quality, a wallpaper that commits fully to its aesthetic position. Surround these with simpler choices rather than trying to make every element equally elaborate.

Pro Tip

The room must have a point of view. Art deco rooms are not the product of choosing the safest available option at every decision point. Each element should be chosen with a specific intention. If you cannot articulate why you chose what you chose, the room will not have the quality you are looking for.

Style Guide

Room Ideas & Inspiration

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The Art Deco Study

The study is the most naturally art deco room because the combination of serious purpose and considered comfort was exactly what art deco interiors aimed for. Dark walls or a substantial botanical, dark wood shelving, a leather chair, and a proper desk lamp deliver the essence.

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The Art Deco Bedroom

Art deco bedrooms were designed for the experience of the person sleeping in them — private luxury in rich colours with a wall design worth waking up to. The art deco bedroom is where the occupant has been specific and deliberate in every choice, prioritising material quality.

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Botanical Art Deco

The peony and the botanical motif were the most commonly depicted forms in art deco interiors. The enlarged, stylised botanical — a design form derived from but not limited to nature — is the art deco principle of conscious decoration at its most domestic and accessible.

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The Exotic Landscape

Art deco was fascinated by exotic landscapes — the desert in moonlight, the tropical garden at dusk, night-blooming flowers of unfamiliar climates. A landscape mural in an art deco bedroom creates the dreamlike quality that the best art deco interiors achieved at their peak.

FAQ

Common Questions

Do I need period furniture to achieve an art deco look?

No. The contemporary art deco interior does not require period furniture or strict historical fidelity. It requires the art deco attitude: the conviction that choosing well, committing fully, and using quality materials are the foundation of any room worth living in. Modern furniture with substantial upholstery and warm materials works perfectly alongside art deco wallpaper.

What colours work best in an art deco interior?

Deep teal, warm black, forest green, burgundy, and gold are the signature art deco tones. The palette should be decisive and limited — two or three colours chosen with intention. Art deco rooms never use neutral or uncommitted tones as their dominant colour; the point of view must be evident in the palette.

Can art deco work in a small room?

Yes, and it often works better in small rooms than large ones. The art deco interior's quality comes from the concentration of good choices rather than the expansion of space. A small study or bedroom with excellent wallpaper, good lighting, and one substantial piece of furniture is a better art deco room than a large space furnished inconsistently.

What wallpaper patterns are most authentic to art deco?

Geometric motifs, abstracted botanical forms (stylised peonies, fan palms, exotic flowers), and bold graphic designs are most authentic to the art deco tradition. The key art deco principle in wallpaper is the abstraction of natural forms into design forms — the flower becomes a formal object rather than a botanical record.

How do I avoid the art deco room looking like a theme restaurant?

Restraint, quality of materials, and a limited palette are the protections against pastiche. Choose one strong art deco element — the wallpaper — and keep the other choices quieter and more expensive. Avoid the full costume: not every element needs to be overtly deco. The art deco principle is designed coherence, not period accuracy.