Parrots in the Parlour

In this current age, there are more fashion styles for homes than ever before, whilst I don’t have all of them in my home (and boy I have a few!) I admire most tastes in décor. One that has always fascinated me, but never made its way into my home however is art deco. That is all about to change however, as I’m planning a huge project in a room with a nod to this style at the forefront of my plans.

We all love a bit of olden days glamour, and the mystique of the early part of the last century, and most especially the roaring ‘20s and all that surrounded the underworld at that time was summed up in the tale of ‘The Great Gatsby’, the 1920’s novel by F.Scott Fitzgerald, more recently reinvigorated in the blockbuster film , by the great Director Baz Luhman (He who knows how to style a film!) in which this look was brought to life in full colour glory and embraced to the max. I love a good film, but I’m more likely to be hooked when they have a stunning backdrop! – This a time when anyone who was anyone wanted to shorten the length of their skirts, dance, drink alcohol, and live the American dream. Of course a lot of this was either illegal or immoral back then (thankfully not now, otherwise most of us, me included, would be well and truly in trouble!)

However, I’m not here to judge there (or your) levels of skill or depravity on the dance floor and drinking scene! I’m here to talk about the décor of the time, and whoa, did they know how to do glam!

You only have to look at programs like Downtown Abbey or the Films based around this era, to see they did rich, opulent and lots of shape and form. Colours were dark and rich, and strong and glitzy. Think velvet, feathers, brass, mirrors, tassels, with bold gold, silver, and black and sumptuous pinks, coppers and whites, and the great news is, we can all put a taste of all or any of those in small or large doses into our home décor.

Black and Gold

These 2 colours combined, say wow , striking, lush, warm and rich – try to find angled shapes, in particular fan shapes, heres some great pieces that will add small dashes of the bygone era.

What about this stunning wallpaper from graham and brown, absolutely right for the these, and in case you don’t want to go too bold, use of the paneled cream bottom to the wall, keeps it elegant , but equally, just adding the paper to one wall, of even lining the back of a bookcase will bring a flash of the stunning look to your home.

These 2 colours combined, say wow , striking, lush, warm and rich – try to find angled shapes, in particular fan shapes, heres some great pieces that will add small dashes of the bygone era. These lamps and wings from Melody Maison, and the tables from Windsor browne certainly hit the colour trend.

And what about floor coverings, well a pale cream ultra deep n thick carpet would suit this scheme perfectly, but if you have pets or children (or a penchant for red wine!) perhaps a dark colour would be more forgiving. This black and gold rug is just perfect from irugs.co.uk, and at £159, it aint gonna get no-one in trouble with the mob! (please only read this last line in a thick New York accent, otherwise, you will just assume Ive gone mad!)

Trellis Rug – irugs.co.uk

Fan Style Wall Mirror from http://www.melodymaison.co.uk

But its not all about the black!

So what about if black just isn’t your bag, no worries, cream, teal, off white, gold , silver, amber and powder pink are just the ticket

Look at this gorgeous pink and gold rug from Amara.com , so beautiful

And these velvet rounded back sofas are just perfect for this look, room for you and Mr Gatsby!

and what about these gorgeous cushions from zara home cushions to top it off

Other perfect pieces of furniture to finish this look are Metal and Mirrored furniture pieces, silver and gold furniture and of course mirrors themselves are a must, think luxurious, think angled edges. Look at this gold edges side table with foxed glass , and the geometric surround mirror is just screaming 20’s

Alexandra Mirror Range – Two Drawer Bedside Table Melody Maison

Large Silver Sunburst Art Deco Wall Mirror 61cm x 61cm Melody Maison

Small Silver Round Side Table – Melody Maison

But no Gatsby style look would be complete without a hint of what made it the most  fascinating of eras, the cocktails! So if you do one thing, grab yourself a gold drinks trolley This little lovely from Atkin and Thyme is all the rage right now, but equally second hand ones are all over ebay for as little as £40. No room for that? go for   a mirrored gold drinks tray, gold/mirrored preferably, and some 20s styles drinks accessories and go a bit mad

5A Fifth Avenue Pack of 4 Gold Ombre Martini Glasses – From Dunelm

Manhattan Cocktail Shaker – From M&S

Ice Bucket & Tongs – From M&S

Mirrored Tray From Melody Maison

Or for the truly decadent statement glasses, designed by Germany glass company Ritzenhoff and available in this country from dark decor specialists rockett st George. At £19.50 each, they are investment pieces, but how beautiful (picture me groaning ever so slightly at the beauty of these!) I Have these on my Christmas wish list (not sure anyone’s listening mind!!?)

The Roaring 20s Christmas!

Well its nearly that time of year, so how can I resist dropping in a bit of Crimbly chat!

This look is s easy to work for Christmas decor and Table decor, think feather and pearls, and mirrored glass. I am having a Gatsby themed Christmas table this year, ( I am also making all my guests dress up (they don’t know this yet, so Im going have to get onto that bombshell this weekend!) We tend to do glamorous attire anyway, but never had an actual dress theme, so Im getting my own back for all the years Ive hosted Christmas Day, and styled Christmas lunch for 25plus people, they now have to BE part of the theme! so Ill let you know how that’s going nearer the time)

In the meantime, heres some my pinterest inspiration that Im basing my table on , all of these are easy to recreate, and you can use a lot of things you already own, just add some glitter, diamontes,  pearls or feathers to anything and dashes of the key Gatsby colours and you’re away!

Gold Glitter Mirrored Plate http://www.melodymaison.co.uk/gold-glitter-mirrored-plate.html

Picture found on pinterest – credit to – http://deborahselleck.com.au

Picture found on pinterest – credit to http://weddbook.com

Picutre found on Pinterest

And finally, if you want to add a bit of Gatsby to your Tree decorations this year, here’s some lovely bits from Debenhams that are perfect

Heaven Sends – Set of 3 silver glass Christmas tree baubles

Gisela Graham – Embellished Christmas tree bauble – From Debenhams

Shop more… Home Christmas decorations Home Collection Home Collection – Iridescent glass art deco large Christmas bauble – From Debenhams

So, what are you waiting for,  go channel your inner Gatsby!

Thanks for reading, sorry I’ve been away from the blog so long, Melody Maison and Windsor Browne are very time consuming as this time of year!

And, BTW, Please check out my insta page, as I do try to get on there every couple of days with pics of my own home,

And don’t forget to carry on sending in your inspiring pictures of your home to our facebook page , or email them to customerservices@melodymaison.co.uk ,  as we love seeing those and always try to publish them on our website

Wishing you well

Anna x