Art Deco Paint Colours

If your interiors are in need of an overhaul and you’re a big fan of bold aesthetics, Art Deco design is something to consider. Otherwise known as the Decorative Arts, this celebrated design approach is synonymous with the Roaring Twenties and continues to prove popular. 

Hallmarks of the Art Deco era include geometric motifs, abstract motifs, and highly stylized decorative pieces. If you’re aiming for luxury with your next decorating project, Art Deco offers endless inspiration. 

While material choices, soft furnishings, and ornamental objects are all important to achieving the Art Deco aesthetic, selecting the right colour palette is just as important. Saturated tones were the flavour of the day, with intense reds, vibrant greens, and rich blues all signatures of this classic interior design trend. Bold monochromes are also key, while metallics like silver and gold can add that final flourish to an Art Deco interior. 

Ready to realise your dreams of an Art Deco-inspired home? You’ll find plenty of period-appropriate paint colours in our extensive range.

What is Art Deco?

Art Deco is a design approach that first originated in the 1910s in France. It quickly caught on, with the trend gaining favour in Europe and North America throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Art Deco could be found everywhere, impacting every aspect of interior design and heavily influencing architecture. 

This highly stylized design style is defined by geometric shapes, repeated patterns, and man-made materials. Many of these elements are still used by interior designers today. Colours are also important, with a typical Art Deco colour palette featuring bold, saturated hues. 

The austerity of the 1940s saw Art Deco becoming less popular with the masses. It was largely supplanted by Streamline Moderne, with this new trend shifting focus to more functional design. Nonetheless, Art Deco influences can be found everywhere today. If you’re keen to welcome the spirit of the Roaring Twenties into your home, an Art Deco palette is the way to go. 

Colours Commonly Seen in Art Deco Colour Schemes

Keen to embrace the Art Deco style in your home? You’ll need to load your palette with the right paint colours. Whether you’re looking for bold hues to saturate your spaces and create feature walls, or are searching for more muted tones to create balance, you’ll find ample choice in our online range. 

While bold colours are integral to Art Deco palettes, more muted shades are sometimes needed to offset more intense hues. If you’re decorating a living space or dining room and need to add warmth to your space, beige shades are an ideal choice. 

If you’re after a soft beige to bring balance to a more daring colour scheme, think about using something like Moroccan Moonlight. This veiled beige is shaded and easy on the eye, making it a fuss-free pairing with all manner of primary colours. What’s more, red undertones make it an incredibly warm addition to a room palette. 

Beige can also work well as part of a more luxurious colour scheme. This millennial beige works well alongside sophisticated Art Deco palettes loaded with topaz hues and turquoise tones, with its silvery undertones adding an elegant accent to your interiors. A hint of grey gives it a subtle contemporary character, making it an ideal option if you’re creating a more eclectic colour scheme bringing together influences from across the eras.

Deep and moody blues are another brilliant choice for an Art Deco colour palette. Perfect for flooding a room with atmospheric energy, intense blues are an ideal pick for feature walls. While some blues can prove too cool for living spaces, more dramatic shades can prove a welcome backdrop for intimate spaces. 

If you’re looking for a luxurious shade for a living room, think about using something like Blue Cloud. With its twilight hues, this blue-purple paint colour is deliciously deep and creates an inviting ambience. While it might look too daring for a smaller space, a neutral base makes it surprisingly versatile, pairing well with other colours besides cool grey. 

Another option is Blue Zephyr. This concord blue-purple is another hue with plenty of depth, making it perfect for those rooms where you want to make a statement. In a small space, it’s a superb choice for a feature wall, but can also be used as an all-wall colour in dining rooms. 

Green is another staple of the Art Deco era. Ideal if you’re looking to incorporate some high-end luxury into your interiors, greens bring organic energy to your spaces, with more sumptuous shades turning even the drabbest space into an interior design marvel. 

Gearing up for a designer dining room makeover? Why not add Caribbean Holiday to your paint palette? This turquoise aqua has a distinct tropical quality that will revitalise any interior. What’s more, it’s surprisingly warm for a green, making it a good choice for those spaces where you’re always entertaining. 

Alternatively, go with a green like Vining Ivy. This shaded Caribbean aqua has plenty of depth, while its turquoise undertones pair well with all manner of Art Deco accents. If you want your room palette to really sing, think about bringing in some other jewel tones to accentuate that glorious turquoise. 

Oranges aren’t an obvious choice when creating an Art Deco palette, but they’re the perfect colour family for invigorating your interiors. Rather than overload your space with saturated citrus tones, dial it back with understated hues that will bring a low-level energy to your home. 

If intense oranges aren’t your thing, why not go with something more understated like Cool Cantaloupe? This peachy orange might seem fairly restrained, but it’s fresh and uplifting enough that it will breathe new life into a more subdued colour scheme. 

Another option is Tantalizing Tan. Once again, this carrot orange is fairly muted, but peach undertones add some much-needed fruity character. On its own, it’ll make a small space feel bright and airy, although it can also bring balance to interiors decked out in more saturated tones. 

If you’re looking to create a more sophisticated Art Deco-inspired space, jewel tones make a terrific addition to your palette. The perfect pairing to man-made materials and luxurious decorative pieces, jewel shades also make a stunning accent to more conventional Art Deco colours. 

To add depth to a colour scheme, go with a shade like Blue Jewel. This periwinkle blue-purple has an alluring intensity, making it an obvious choice for feature walls. If you want to incorporate it into a more complex colour scheme, pair it with cool off-whites infused with grey or blue undertones. 

If blues aren’t your preference, try Empire Jewel. This viridian turquoise green is a vibrant choice, making it a superb option for anchoring an Art Deco colour scheme. If you’re using it as a primary colour, use warm greys as an accent colour then pepper your space with gold and metallics.