Just as our fashions in clothing and music change so do styles in design. As the twentieth century has seen many cultural changes reflected in art and media we have also seen its influence on designs for interiors and architecture. As we move into the twenty first century this looks set to continue as more styles are introduced to offer us more choice to express our personalities through our homes.
There have been many different styles to be shown through out the years and some of these include:
Art deco – This style of design became most popular after the First World War when machines made it possible to create sharp edges in products to replace the Art Nouveau curves and pastel colourings. They became widely available to the public via the eventual mass production of these kinds of products. This form of design is widely used with contempary designs and is not too difficult to achieve a great Art Deco look as it is fairly minimal and sharp in shape and colours.
Art Nouveau – This is a completely different style of design in comparison to Art Deco in the way that it gives a more flowing feel to the room and is very decorative with many design ideas being taken from nature. It came about in the Victorian era and was the main form of design that broke the barrier and history of the divide between decorative arts and fine arts. Along with the wall design being flowing and elegant one of the main features to be accompanied with Art Nouveau are accessories one of the main ones being glass objects including lamps.
Bauhaus – This was a style formed not long after the First World War it was based on simplicity and the colours tended to be neutral (white, grey etc) and the main materials used were glass, steel and thin layers of concrete. Any colours that were used tended to be primary colours such as red and used only in splashes.
Tudor – One of the most stereotypical design features on Tudor homes is the outside which tended to be the period white washed walls and the thick timber beams with diagonal support beams. Interior tended to be oak panelled and the window coverings were jewel colours such as sapphire and ruby and were made of materials such as velvet. It was in the 16th century when the in wall fire place was created and there fore meant that people could have either decorated or un-fussy mantel pieces to cover their fire places.
Tuscan – The materials usually used in Tuscan design are clay and terracotta the colours tend to stay more natural with reds, browns and creams being the most widely used. Accessories for these style rooms include painted plates and glass and also iron products such as candle holders.