‘Art’ of the Matter
Art Deco is a combination of furniture, lighting, object d’arts, fashion and architecture and is making a serious come back today in home interiors.
Your home is a reflection of your personality and the art deco trend is an ode to that. For the uninitiated, art deco or L’Arts Decoratifs (Decorative arts) is also known as style modern and originated in the 1920’s and 30’s in Europe and in America.
Form Meets Function
The style is often characterized by clean, modern, balanced, geometric lines, overlaid with a sense of the eclectic to create pieces that are luxurious and timeless. “For example, don’t be surprised to find modern man made materials like plastic, resin and metal combined with natural materials like jade, wood and ivory (in the old days) coming together to create a unique coffee table or console. Furthermore, eclectic influences from Africa, Egypt and Mexico resulted in patterns like zig-zag, chevron stripes, animal prints, sunburst shapes in furniture and upholstery,” says Deena Rodriques, Owner, Chairs and Company. Just like the 20’s, this luxurious concept sees its relevance and influence even in the present times. From exteriors of the home to its interiors, the Art Deco theme can easily be incorporated as an overall concept or as accent deco elements.
Materially Speaking
Being an opulent style, Art Deco interiors witness usage of materials that are high-quality, high-shine and luxurious. “From the era of the roaring 20’s materials like wood, tinted glass, silver, jade, ivory and lacquer are mostly used in the Art Deco designs. With advancements over time, affordable and accessible materials like veneers, stainless steel, aluminum and plastics have also been in high-demand. To further enhance the overall feel these materials are generally finished with high-shine polishes,” says Shibani Jain, CEO and Founder, Baaya Designs. Art Deco design can be identified with geometries and symmetries in design. The themes play with shapes and colours that are staggered, repetitive, and fractionated to form a continuum. “Materials include porcelain tiles, plastics, glass, mirrors, chrome, and lacquer. Also steel and aluminium are used to compliment and highlight the décor elements used with opaque glass blocks. Other interesting material that have been used in the conventional art deco themes are stucco, smooth stones in varying colours, concrete and terracotta,” says Vikas Kesarkar, Chief Executive Officer, Lioli Ceramica Pvt. Ltd.
Décor Mantra
Minimalistic yet classy is the key these days to give definition to your lights, which are not too heavy on your budget too and you also have the luxury of changing them as well. “LED lightings are a craze these days which are a very good way to incorporate contemporary elements in the existing space you have. Pendant lights are a very stylish option for corners and if space is limited then minimal lightings are what one needs to go for,” says Ankur Shingal, Founder, Ansavv.Inc. Careful use of metals, like gold, symmetrical patterns that define areas and lines, exotic material and fabrics used all symbolize the Art Deco age that was strong and bold. “The Art Deco magic can be created easily in home interiors with intelligent use of material like steel, mirrors, marble, inlaid wood, glass and other shiny metals. Shiny fabrics, metallic paints, animal print are set to complete the look,” explains Priyank Varshney, Founder, Handikart.co.in. Ashish Gupta, Director, Inliving adds, “high end materials such as ebony, marble and rare woods are often used in making art deco pieces. Perfect contrast is very important in art deco so make sure it should be done properly. Don’t mix and match too much as lesser is more. By incorporating these pieces one can easily get the look of the art deco period.”
Colour Coded
The colours in the concept are usually vibrant and high-contrast colour palettes. Colours include gold accents, black and white, bronze and neutrals. The entire look is that of minimalism construction and lush workmanship, fabrics or colours. Namrata Dutt, Curator/Stylist, maison 15 avers, “we love to see a dove gray, flat silver, brilliant red, soft lilac and emerald green—this is the basic palette. Fan patterns, dashes of chrome and pinches of cubism, as well as leopards and allusions to the pyramids are some elements of this style.” The concept of designer ceilings as part of art deco interiors is now witnessing a sharp upward swing in both popularity and demand as a lifestyle choice. “As per research on interior design colour-related psychology, warmer shades on ceilings such as yellow, orange and red communicate an energetic atmosphere while cooler shades such as turquoise blue create a calming and inviting ambience in home interiors. Designer ceilings can also elevate and create an illusion of space in a narrow room with the aesthetical approach of using large-scale graphic prints, especially the vertical stripes,” opines Sudeep Kolte, Vice President – Sales & Marketing, Saint Gobain India Pvt. Ltd – Gyproc Business. So are you ready for a deco twist – the art way?
This story appeared in HT Estates Mumbai dated Sep 29, 2018 here: