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.

Here's a bedroom that subtly hints at Art Deco influences, particularly in its headboard, lamps, curtains and overall message of comfy luxury. The sofa's sloping lines (which did become a part of Art Deco as the '30s wore on) and muted color choices soften the visual appeal.

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.

Remember, this period was marked by opulence and excess, and you simply couldn't go too far overboard back then. Notice that all the fixtures are appended over a wall of exposed brick, resembling a Harlem Renaissance boudoir.

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.

You're looking at "Muse with Violin," created by Rose Iron Works in Cleveland to demonstrate their design skill and iron-crafting mastery. Screens were ever-present at the time, but few are as dazzling as this piece, first shown to the public in 1930.

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.

Think in terms of bold colors and repeating patterns, as this design demonstrates. Remember that these days it's possible to design your own wallpaper these days, so think: is there a family monogram, crest, or pattern you enjoy seeing repeated? It could be the perfect component for your creation.

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.

It's hard to tell from this hypnotic image whether you're looking at a photo of metal work or a computer-generated piece of artwork. That's the beauty of recreating the Jazz Age a hundred years later. You don't have to use ivory or animal skins as they did then, and you certainly don't have to rely on only what was available at the time to create the look you're after.

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.

Here's an excellent example of Art Deco tamed and brought to heel. All the elements are there, but the colors are subdued. The effect is less bold, less jarring, and more refined and stately.

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.

If you're looking to recapture that speakeasy atmosphere when the Cotton Club drew revelers to Harlem, keep an eye out for the trinkets you'll occasionally encounter from those days of yore. Cigarette cases and lighters, grooming products, and photo frames are just a few items you'll find. The ones above are set dressing from the HBO series "Boardwalk Empire," which followed an Atlantic City bootlegger through Prohibition.

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.

By way of contrast, here's a bedroom that Einstein himself might have enjoyed. Here's where elements like wallpaper, precision, and calligraphy all come together to create what looks sublimely architectural and as evocative of the moment as "Rhapsody In Blue."

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.

While there are plenty of ways to get the effect of intricate stonework without the expense, be careful. If the result looks cheap, it will also look fake — which runs counter to the luxe Art Deco ambiance you're trying to achieve.

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.

The drama is in the details. Although the events of the Jazz Age preceded most people alive today, many of those objects are still around and in pristine condition, too.

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.

Remember the phrase, "If you have to ask, you can't afford it"? Here's a bedroom fit for an heiress or tycoon. The mural, the matching window and bed screens, the custom bed — all make you wonder who lives here, and why can't you?

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.

Think of your redecoration like making a roux or a spaghetti sauce. Some people like their flavors bolder, as in the photo above. As the person responsible for the final result, how heavily or lightly you lean into Art Deco is up to you. The wood walls and detailing make this space unique.

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. 

It's rare to find a desk like the one above without a nick or missing piece these days, but there are a couple of workarounds to consider. One is to find an artisan who's willing to recreate the one of your dreams (which will likely be pricey, but less so than finding an original in perfect condition). The other is to hunt down one you love and have it restored by professionals.

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.

Likewise, everything had to look expensive, right down to calligraphy. So if you're incorporating elements that involve any written words, you have a look through sites that depict 1920s and 1930s typefaces. You'll find unexpected inspiration there.

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. 

While Art Deco does depend to some degree on a sense of the ornate, it is possible to evoke the style without going all in. Take the example above, which uses a headboard to command most of the attention, while the floor is so subtle in pattern and color that the perfect bedframe seems almost to hover.

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.

It's easy to imagine that this is where celebrities would toss their top hats and tiaras after a night of "slumming" (as they called it) on the town. The marble wall says posh; the headboard softens the look, and the screens, lamps, and end tables depict the high life well lived.

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.

By now, your eye is likely picking up on the identifiers that make Art Deco readily apparent. Here it's in the cushioned headboard, the rug with its geometric pattern that complements the wall design, and the identical nightstands and lamps.

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.

Notice how few of these rooms are what you'd call small. They're often expansive spaces evocative of what you'd find in a four-star hotel. And not only are they large, but often they're dominated by large pieces — in this instance, the oversized bed and chandelier, offset by the comparatively modest vanity in its recessed wall space.

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's something brooding and masculine about the color palate and severe lines in this uncompromisingly Art Deco bedroom. The geometrics, complemented by the rug, the ornate lamps, and the black, white, and brown tones ... it's the "Citizen Kane" of bedrooms.

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.

While much of Art Deco is about showing off and overkill, you can pull back. The wall art dominates the room here like a watchful eye. The purple and lavender soften the hard geometrics of the wall colors, and the cream nightstands and lamps provide a welcome warmth.

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.