Art Deco & Dieselpunk home interior

Hello all;

Total rookie dieselpunk newbie here. I did not know dieselpunk existed until yesterday but it fits me perfectly.

Anyways I could use some ideas and suggestions from the experts. So we are looking to be moving to a new house since the family is getting bigger and the house is staying the same size we will be needing a bigger house. What I'm looking to do is go with a Art Deco/dieselpunk theme weather it be one room a few rooms or the whole house is yet to be determined but what are some items I am going to need to pick up to get this type of style in my house? Also where do you find them at? I would love to live in an old warehouse with the exposed brick and metal but since that is not going to happen I need to be able to recreate a art deco/dieselpunk feel in my home, personally I find it rather mellow and soothing. I figure I can start picking things up now so by the time we move to the new house I will have collected a few things to get started with. While I wish I had an unlimited budget thats not the case so I also have to be Mr. Cheap shopper also. Hoping I can do this cheaply or the boss will put the hammer down. LOL!!!!

Thank you in advance!!!

blugoose

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Permalink Reply by Tome Wilson on July 13, 2012 at 3:51pm

If you live in the States, I found a ton of Art Deco items in Home Depot when I was rebuilding my den. Everything from lights to furnace covers was up for sale, and it was the same price as the generic non-Deco stuff, so that's a good place to look.

Your best bet is to shop around, a lot, then get an idea in your head from what's available. If you go shopping piece-meal, then it will reflect that feel when you're done with the room. I try to find one big unique piece that I love, then base the rest of the room off of that. For example, I found a great looking ceiling fan that had wrought-iron leaves in it and gave off an amber-colored light. From there, it was simple to find other lights that matched, and a paint color that would look good in that light. Once we had a paint color, we picked out furniture that played off of the color and matched the overall theme. Once of the big stuff was out of the way, we looked at the budget and shopped around for the non-essential ornamental stuff (picture frames, curtains + rods, etc.).

It's all about getting a specific theme in mind, then running with it. You might get frustrated at points, because what you love is out of your price-range, but if you scope out what's available before buying anything you'll be able to map out your plan of attack instead of being forced to improvise.

Another good tip: focus on one room at a time. If you try to do what I said above on a larger scale, you'll find yourself in a padded room at Arkham faster than you can say "paint chips."

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Permalink Reply by Tome Wilson on July 13, 2012 at 4:48pm

I don't know. Bauhaus decor always reminds me of cheap 1980s lawn chairs and tubular-steel school desks.

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Permalink Reply by blugoose on July 13, 2012 at 10:37pm

Excellent!!!! I now have a reason to go to Home Depot. Trust me sometimes I think a padded room would be simpler, but also less of a challenge.

I like the idea of start with the big items and then work off of that. Kinda what I was thinking of doing so its good to know I was doing something right.

blugoose

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Permalink Reply by Tome Wilson on July 13, 2012 at 11:02pm

Depending on your skill (and bravery) with paint, you can also try making some simple geometric designs on the walls by using painter's tape as your guides. If you're looking for an Art Deco look, a few intersecting squares on the corners of a door or a smaller wall would make great accents and are pretty easy to pull off with a ruler and some patience.

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Permalink Reply by lord_k on July 14, 2012 at 5:57pm

I live 10 minutes' walk away from the White City. I don't like Bauhaus and won't recommend it to any of my friends.

JoHnny de-Lux said:

that's the whole point m8..my gr8 aunt had a place in 'The White City' - Tel Aviv...it's 1930's LA, if only..the Bauhaus concept was very european, it doesn't travel well..if ya got the 'Wossily Chair' from 1925, (see pix), I'll take it off your hands for ya ~

Tome Wilson said:

I don't know. Bauhaus decor always reminds me of cheap 1980s lawn chairs and tubular-steel school desks.

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Permalink Reply by lord_k on July 15, 2012 at 2:54am

Wot is there not to like, BrotherMan..??

When you see about 4,000 similar-styled buildings in a pretty cramped environment, it's frustrating. This style lacks detail, it doesn't fuel your imagination, doesn't display the owner's or architect's individuality. Besides, in the White City everything built in 1930-1940s is labeled 'Bauhaus', no matter what it is - a close copy of Gropius design executed by his disciple or a "me-too-product" of a local architect or Streamline Moderne (that's what I love and we've got a dozen of really good examples) or something completely different built from silicate bricks... In Europe, the Interbellum "International style" buildings are a part of a more complex environment, including older structures and different contemporary styles like Art Deco and Neo-Classicism. It's easier to love the style in the Netherlands than in Israel - IMHO, of course.

Actually, I wrote a special article about it (sorry, some color photos missing - aliens ate my old picture hosting. )

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Permalink Reply by blugoose on July 16, 2012 at 4:32pm

Picked up some pretty slick desk lamps this weekend, and my wife found some nice B/W city scape type photos for the walls, not sure I will use the photos or not but its something to start with.