Love Art Deco? Inspiring Art Deco Bathroom Ideas
This bold style design, most notably known as the flapper style from the 1920s, shakes up conventions by featuring bright but often clashing hues.
What is Art Deco?
Art Deco was born in the 1920s and was a reaction to the excitement of modern developments after World War I. The period was led by fashion; it focused on a modern look that made the most of emerging industrial processes. Rich colors, zigzags and sharply angled and cubistic forms were commonly presented in high-gloss metals, black lacquer, exotic woods, leather and mirrors. Artistic and glamorous, art deco still influences contemporary geometric designs. The style is considered one of the first truly international styles.
What it’s not, however, a free-for-all. If you have too much color, boldness, and architecture, it’ll look like exactly what it is: a tacky mess. The bold and repetitiveness that make art deco style so appealing can also make it tricky — you’ll need to be careful not to trip over the thin line between luxury and tacky.
When it’s done well, art deco broadcasts your bold personality in a style that’s exuberant and suave, with a sophisticated elegance and a forward-thinking mindset.
Want an art deco-inspired bathroom or powder room? Check out the following bath ideas below.
Get the Art Deco Attitude by using lighting to play with mood.
Art Deco is all about the attitude and mood is everything. The style and the fixtures during this era was ahead of its time. Using layered lighting will create a flattering and sultry ambiance.
Try it out: play with different light features until you get the right ambiance. The trick is to find light features that have interesting geometric shapes that resemble the flapper era. Companies like Krugg provide modern lighted mirrors.Check them out here.
Need Ideas? Use hotels as inspiration.
The materials and techniques used during this era led to high production costs. Art deco was used in a lot of public places such as hotels, cruise ships, and restaurants.
This art deco bathroom uses art deco inspiration by way of high gloss, giving the impression of luxury. The sharp lines mimic the skyscraper design made popular in the 1920s and the use of black gives the room an element of drama.
Try it out: The best way to achieve the style is to dive in– choose a few must-haves to anchor the spacer like a color or pattern iconic to the era. Then add artwork, lighting, accents and other elements. Play light against dark, work with different angles and lines, colors and pallets.
Architecture, shapes, geometry!
The Art Deco movement is known for it’s bold geometric shapes and designs. Incorporating a bold wallpaper will bring the flair into your home. Rectilinear and curvilinear forms that instantly catch the eye are iconic and will make your room come alive instantly.
Try it out: Repetitive patterns are visual echoes that help a room find its rhythm. Look closely: the pattern on the floor and clean color palette offers the geometric feel that was iconic during the Gatsby era. Using box-shaped bathroom mirrors replicates the pattern, bringing a cohesiveness to the design.
Be bold! Use color!
Colors associated with art deco are striking and bold with a lot of contrasts. Bright and deep yellows, reds, greens, blues, and pinks mix well were popular in the 1930s and 1940s.
Gold, steel and a variety of expensive materials became more accessible during the 1940s, making it a popular choice for designers to make a huge statement. The bathroom sketch below screams Art Deco– the gold is bold and materials luxurious.
Try it out: Bathroom and kitchen tile in monochromatic black, white combinations or with pops of red, and deep browns were gorgeous in this era. To bring the look to your home choose ceramic or porcelain tile that has a high gloss in contrasting colors. Beautiful mirrors and mirrored finishes will complete the look.
Add an attractive focal point.
Part of the attraction of Art Deco was that allowed people to display their good taste, or in other words, show off their tastes. Pictures and prints rather large or small were all the rage.
This bathroom uses art deco by using the high-tech mirror as a focal point. The sharp lines and muted colors give the bathroom a retro yet modern feel, a mood that was prominent in art deco.
Try it out: Mirrors open up rooms by reflecting light, making the room feel bigger than it is. Play with different sizes of mirrors– the trick is to choose a mirror with clean lines. This lighted mirror provides unique lighting, taking advantage of technology.
Mix and Match!
Production during the art deco period had a dramatic increase. Industries were able to produce materials at an astounding rate, giving the designers at the time to play and mix design with different materials.
The design below epitomizes art deco styling. It imitates the use of bold furniture common during the period; the rich colors and sharp angles were also popular during that era.
Try it out: Using different materials and mimics the use of exotic materials during the time. Using a big mirror serves two purposes: adds light and opens the space. (Tip– get an LED mirror here to take your bathroom experience to the next level.) The trick is to find a combination of sharp, angular patterns and bold, unexpected curves in the materials.
Eye Drama!
The Art Deco movement was all about adding visual drama and bringing it into a cosmopolitan lifestyle. Furniture had distinct lines and was adorned with bold fabrics.
The bold wall color below provide the room with a sense of drama. The shapes are the same, squares repeating on the floor (a pattern structure popular with art deco); yet, the colors pop and are rich, exuding elegance.
Try it out: Find a color, piece of art, or furniture you love. Work on building around that focus, be it a color or piece or pattern so that it stands out on it’s own. You may have to mix some styles and colors until you find the right look.
What’s your take on art deco style? Tell us about it in the comments.
