Walls were kept rather plain and free from decorative plasterwork, but a shimmering or light-reflective paint or wallpaper would have been used - use a soft sheen paint or wallpaper with a similar effect.
When it came to colour schemes many chose bold colours including black, white and silver, but softer shades in ice cream colours - pink, peach and pistachio, buff, pale blue, coffee and beige – were also popular. The Art Deco fashion also influenced silver patterning in many living areas.
Plain polished parquet was popular for floors although linoleum in abstract designs or black and white chequerboard vinyl tiles were also typical. Living area floors were often overlaid with a large rug in geometric patterns. An imposing circular one was often chosen as the centrepiece of a room.
English Oak was fashionable, but because of a shortage of wood, veneer and decorated plywood was greatly used. The living room would often have a carpet, but in larger homes halls may have had paneled walls and parquet floors. In the kitchen, they would have used linoleum or quarry tiles for the floor and plywood and melamine for the units.
Lights featuring female figures holding the ball of the lamp were very 'in' during the late 1920s and good reproductions can be found widely today.
Fireplaces were mainly rectangular with plain tiles. Downstairs, coal fireplaces would be fitted with a tiled surround, often in brown or green with a speckled effect and with a stepped profile typical of art deco.
Lighting was mass-produced from industrial materials such as chrome, glass, opaque and frosted glass, but for a modernist look, look for simple tubes that can be arranged in groups like sculptures.
Look for glass and chrome, which was a brand new and highly popular material at the time. Strong and streamlined shapes for furniture were the norm - and they were mainly in single pieces, as three piece suites didn't come in until the 1930s.
Many historical styles, such as Tudor, Jacobean and Georgian, were influencing domestic homes at the time, and new lifestyle magazines such as Good Housekeeping showed up-to-the-minute home styles.
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