40 Ways To Bring A Dash Of Art Deco Glamour To Your Bedroom

The style elements associated with Art Deco are well suited to create an inner sanctum built around calm, order, and serenity. Not only can an Art Deco bedroom make you feel like you're sleeping where only robber barons, flappers, industry titans, and suffragettes once rested their heads. Its graceful details and emphasis on symmetry put you in touch with simpler times and a bygone era — and with beauty itself.

Art Deco flourished only briefly during the 1920s and '30s as a genre of artistic, architectural, and fashion expression. In part, it was a modernist reaction to the previous naturalism and sloping lines of Art Nouveau. But while other movements have come and gone, the principles of the Art Deco movement continue to reverberate through Western culture. Perhaps, say the historians at The Art Story, it's because of the movement's identifiers: geometry, clean angular lines, luxury, and the one alchemic element that leaves a lasting impression: a near-perfect balance between form and function.

Certainly, it's possible to decorate using Art Deco items here and there as accents, whether the individual pieces are heirlooms or antiques picked up at a flea market. But, if you're interested in recreating what made Art Deco so distinctive and memorable, here are 40 inspirational examples.

Wallpaper was hugely popular during the era, and could makeover a room within a matter of minutes. Note that the molding accents remain boldly well-defined and create a strong simple contrast to the intricate repeated pattern of the wallpaper. That's classic Art Deco.

Here's the view just opposite the bed in the New York City Plaza Hotel's Fitzgerald Suite, named after the period's best-known author, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Take in the calculated clutter of the room, which suggests it's full of someone's priceless collected curios. The rug, door art, photos, and accents are all precisely in the Art Deco wheelhouse.

Anyone looking to incorporate Art Deco style into a bedroom should begin with a look at its most basic components: the walls, floor, and ceiling. Take a look at shows that represent the period: "The Great Gatsby," "Chicago" and "Boardwalk Empire," and you'll see precise sharp lines and a commitment to geometry that doesn't exist elsewhere.

The lines on this vanity are so clean and polished that if you went by description and no image, you might think it was Shaker furniture. But consider the geometry at work here and the craftsman's insistence that even something as unforgiving as wood can be tamed into the perfect structure.

Above, you'll see a poster advertising the 1925 Parisian exposition Internationale Des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (or the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts). Although the poster isn't particularly Art Deco, and some of the influences that created the genre were already in evidence, historians agree that this is where the movement began to coalesce.

At the same time, having authentic pieces here and there — or throughout — can provide a certain pride about your undertaking. This spectacular chandelier above bears all the signifiers associated with the Roaring '20s: balance, opulence, and just a hint of decadence.

And speaking of posters, you'll find one of the best examples of Art Deco illustration — and perfect for wall art — is the sheet music of the day. The radio had just been invented, so one of the most popular ways of enjoying music at the time was to buy sheet music and play it at parties with friends.

Just because Art Deco has its signifiers doesn't mean you shouldn't play with them. Here's a photograph of a room done up in soothing verdant earth tones that could be from 1922 or 2022. There's minimalism at work, and the fixtures telegraph the Jazz Age, all right — but you can also feel the practiced hand of the designer making sure that this room feels as cozy as it does posh.

You might like this teal because it reminds you of foamy oceans and lazy summer afternoons strolling the boardwalk. Maybe you picture yourself in the chorus of the Ziegfeld Follies. Either way, this would be your retreat — a place to imagine following the exploits of Lucky Lindy and Amelia Earhart  — or to read those rave reviews that come by way of Western Union.

When is a fireplace so much more than a fireplace? When you're able to eye a piece like this and see suggestions of a jewel box, a perfume bottle, and the much-prized whiskey flask so identified with Prohibition. It's fanciful, functional, and utterly in tune with the tempo of the times.

Here's another marble wall inspiration. As the movement progressed, lines began to slope again. So while the image above is undeniably Art Deco in both conception and execution, it gives today's restoration enthusiasts options other than the angular perpendicular lines of the earliest part of the movement.

One of the elements that most appeals to the eye about Art Deco is its repetition of pattern. The prevailing mood it sets is one of contemplation and forethought, as if nothing is out of place and everything fits into an order that is at once soothing and reassuring. 

Here's an Art Deco bedroom that has subtly played with design. The gold accents and materials, headboard, and symmetry are clearly inspired by the Roaring '20s, but the soft color palette and muted wallpaper indicate that the designers are making the patterns work for them — not the other way around.

Having period artwork can take your look to the next level. Above are two paintings by Tamera De Lempicka, who arrived at the apex of her fame when music was heating up, gin joints were headed underground, and hemlines were on the rise. 

Much of the Jazz Age celebrated technology. Thanks to Henry Ford's assembly line, automobiles became affordable to many in the middle class, and chrome, mirrors, and glass were everywhere — including in bedroom furniture like this uncanny Art Deco cabinet.

How to get these looks? They're easier than ever, thanks to both advances in manufacturing technology and having the internet at your fingertips to shop. Here's a wallpaper depicting a popular geometric motif.

For whatever reason, Deco designers fell in a deep swoon for the humble scallop. You'll see it everywhere throughout the period, used in metal work, in rugs, on curtains, but most especially in wallpaper.

Don't forget that you're working in three dimensions here. Walls, ceilings, and furnishings may be the first things that draw focus when you enter a room, but there's an Art Deco opportunity right at your feet, where both woodwork and tile contributed to the atmosphere.

There was life before the Jazz Age arrived, and life continues with it a century in the rearview mirror. So objects that were around before then (perhaps the model hands above) certainly could fit into your design plan. Likewise, when you have a serious geometric pattern like the one in the wallpaper here, having playful colored lamps might be just the touch to lighten the mood.

Scallops and screens: Not only did they exist independently during the Roaring '20s, but they were often combined to eye-catching effect. If you find one intact, consider it a good day antiquing.