Designing an Art Deco Dining Room

Strip out any wallpaper that might be in your dining room and cover the walls with cream-colored paint. This paint should have a high gloss, so it shines in the bright sunshine. If you have hardwood floors, leave them bare, or better yet, have them refinished so they'll also have a bright shine. The Deco style is about austerity of color, but most surfaces should be polished and shiny. Replace the light fixture in your dining room with a large, Deco-influenced light fixture. Look for fixtures made of chrome with black accents. Or, look for dropped fixtures that have geometric glass coverings.

Your dining room table will fill much of your dining room, and it's important to get this right. Scour antique shops and online auction shops for the right piece of furniture. Look for tables made of deep, dark wood polished to a high shine. The table may have rounded corners. The table may have minor details, such as inlays of a different color of wood on the legs, but the table shouldn't have any curled or flowery details. Ideally, the table will also have a ring of metal around the edge. Matching chairs are ideal, especially if the seats are covered in a geometric print. Float your table and chairs in the middle of the room, placed on a rug with a geometric print, preferably in black and white.

The martini culture was incredibly popular during the 1930s. Look for antique sideboards of black lacquer with silver handles. Arrange martini glasses and a martini shaker on top of this sideboard, and complete the look with a statue of a nude figure. Nudes were incredibly popular during the Art Deco period, so your statue will be right at home in your transformed dining room. One wall should hold a large, unframed, circular mirror. This touch of silver will pull out the stripe of metal on your table and the silver on your sideboard. Hang black-and-white photographs on the other walls in thin, black frames. Art photography from the era would be ideal to use here.

Your plates and serving dishes should be either black or silver. While you may be tempted to add a punch of color, doing so might spoil the look completely. Allow your food and beverages to add the color to the room. Allow yourself only one decorative piece for the table. It might be an animal statue, a nude figure or a plain glass vase. It should be bold, to be sure, but it should also stand alone without competing with other knick-knacks.