Tastes of Culture

In the world of art, everything old is now new again. This has been true for Art Deco for years. In fact this theme started back in the 20’s or 30’s and it is being brought back to life today. The way it works is simple, the Art Deco highlights and draws out the style from art during that most popular period; Cubism and Futurism. Cubism was a movement during the avant-garde art movement that was overseen by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. They were very famous artists at the time. The way Cubist artwork worked is that they broke up objects displayed in their paintings and put them back together in an abstract form. The futurism art originate in Italy and held an emphasis on the industry as well as the technology part and how it was influencing the world. So how can you put this in your home?

Some popular themes that fun through Art Deco pieces are zigzags and geometric shapes in bold patterns. Materials that are common in this type of decor are aluminum, lacquered wood with inlay, and stainless steel. Bold colors are a must to truly pick up this feel in a room. Using neutrals for the walls will give you a nice clean palette to add your splashes of color to. Thin stenciling on the wall in corners or near the ceiling will make a nice accent to the neutral walls. Rag rolling and stippling were also common painting techniques during that era and would do much to enhance this look.

If your flooring is hardwood flooring you can still create this look of Art Deco. When it was popular before the most common flooring was linoleum. But today linoleum is not so popular. Using an area rug in your home will help you create this look quickly because area rugs have the bold geometric shapes and colors you need. Try placing one large area rug in the center of your room and accent it with smaller rugs around the room is one good way to do the floors so it matches the Art Deco.

Art Deco furniture usually has light-colored visible woodwork, noticeably rounded corners, and makes use of a variety of fabrics and materials including velvet and leather. Expensive window treatments are not necessary since most windows of that era features very plain curtains or no window treatments at all. A plain cornice box above the window may be all you need to capture the Art Deco effect around a window. A few unframed mirrors on the wall give the room a nice touch and make the room appear larger. Take it a step further by purchasing colored glass mirrors.

During the Art Deco period the lighting was created using glass and chrome. Today you can use the same look by purchasing fan and bowl shaped lighting fixtures at your local hardware store. You can use lamps but look for shades that have fringe around the bottom and a model on the base.

You can have Art Deco in your home with careful planning and a strict budget.