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It draws from various influences during
the modernism era, and Fauvism, Cubism
and Bauhaus styles are amongst the themes
that played an important role. The move was
a transition to more minimal, geometric,
clean lines, with sharp angles and bold curves.
It epitomises the ‘roaring twenties’, a time of
technological and commercial advancement,
and often highlights graphics representing
speed, trains, travel and discovery with
Egyptian and Mayan motifs often featuring in
designs.
The style was globally successful, and has
had several resurgences since, in the 60s and
the 80s in particular, and it has never really
gone out of style, but it’s enjoying another fresh
comeback today.
You’ll be aware of some of the influences on
some of our Glasgow architecture – notably in
the Beresford Building on Sauchiehall Street,
Kelvin Court on Great Western Road, and the
wonderful old Odeon cinema building on
Renfield Street. The style is bold and striking
in architecture representing great elegance
and opulence, and it looks great in many forms
inside our homes too.
Whether you add the odd touch here and
there, or you go full steam ahead on a Deco
redecoration, it’s easy to add that ‘flapper’s
flair’ to your home.
I personally love the ambience of the style,
as a great fan of Agatha Christie when I was
growing up, I associate the era with escaping
into stories of Hercule Poirot’s shiny home
with minimal fuss and black and white shiny
tiles. Think velvet upright armless chairs,
shiny floors and thick rugs, golden accessories,
marble and glass furniture with sharp lines
juxtaposed with bold curves and colours.
The full authentic look is beautiful to look
at but has its limitations in liveability and
comfort, particularly unrealistic is the merging
of marble or glass furniture, with boisterous
kids. So, depending on your lifestyle and home,
it’s a style that you can infuse with modern life
as much, or as little as you like. The style has a
timeless feel to it and the graphic advertising
posters look great as small touches in frames on
the wall. Gold metal bar trolleys epitomise the
era and the solid marble look can be effectively
brought into through accessories such as
lamps or sculptures. The bold black and white
colourings are indicative for floors and walls,
but you can soften the look into warm pallettes
of pinks and golds balanced with shiny polished
warm, wooden floors and soft fabrics.
There’s also a great range of furniture and
accessories available that effectively mix
modern design with touches of the art deco
glamour, so you could find a new item of
modern furniture with gold metal feet for
example to give a sense of the opulence of the
era, without needing to conform exactly to the
authenticity of the time. You can have great fun
selecting key themes or pulling out features
that you like best in the style and merging them
with the realistic needs of your family and
lifestyle to either create a full-blown art deco
interior or simply a tasteful nod to the style and
movement that you want to portray.
And don’t be afraid to mix and match.
As long as you think carefully about the look
and feel that you want to create, there’s no
reason why you can’t have a few touches of
different styles merged with the needs of a
modern home. Make sure that it’s not a mishmash
mess, but that you select a few items that
complement each other and balance them
together in a room. For example, the art deco
style closely followed art nouveau and there
were likely homes at the time that had touches
of both. All of these styles and movements pull
in influences from various artists and designers
of their time, feel confident to do the same in
your home.
Both items
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