Custom retreats · Art deco

Art deco jewel
box.

Black and white marble, a fan-patterned floor, fluted glass, and polished chrome around a backlit arched mirror. The glamour of a 1930s hotel bathroom, held to a few strong moves so it reads as elegant rather than costumed.

1920s–30s hotel and apartment bathrooms, with the ornament edited down

Call about a bathroom like this

Art deco bathroom with a black-and-white marble geometric floor, white marble walls with a black border, a fluted glass shower screen, polished chrome fixtures, a black lacquered vanity, and a backlit arched mirror glowing softly — Design inspiration

The look

Where it comes from,
and why it works.

Art deco treated the bathroom as a small stage: gleaming surfaces, strong geometry, and a mirror lit like a dressing room. In a compact space those ideas turn a plain room into something you show guests.

The style belongs to the interwar years, when new apartment towers and grand hotels in New York, Chicago, and Miami gave every room a fitted marble bath with chrome taps and a patterned floor. The modern version keeps the marble, the chrome, and the geometry and loses the gilded plasterwork, so it sits comfortably in an ordinary house.

It works because there are only two colors and one shine. Black and white marble in bold shapes, chrome at every touch point, and fluted glass to soften the reflections. The arch of the backlit mirror is the single curve in a room of straight lines, which is why the eye goes straight to it.

Palette

The colors
doing the work.

Five tones carry the room. Everything else is texture.

Calacatta white#f1efe9
Marble black#1f2022
Polished chrome#c9ccd1
Smoke grey#8a8d92
Mirror glow#f6e7c9

Materials

What it’s
made of.

Open the materials library

Natural stone

Calacatta marble

Dramatic and luminous. The wide veins turn a shower wall into a single composition.

Tile

Checkerboard floor

Instant vintage; reads as classic in a period house and as bold in a modern one.

Glass

Fluted and reeded glass

Privacy with light. Adds a fine vertical texture that suits deco and modern rooms alike.

Metal finishes

Polished chrome

Crisp and cool. The finish of art deco and of most vintage revivals.

Natural stone

Soapstone

Velvety and dark; oils to a near black. Ages into a soft, worn look.

Fixtures & finishes

The pieces
you’ll touch every day.

Backlit arched mirror: Concealed warm LED behind the frame washes the marble; the arch is the signature of the room.
Polished chrome cross-handle faucets: Widespread, with porcelain or black indices; chrome is the period-correct finish and the most durable one.
Fluted glass shower screen: A fixed panel with a slim chrome channel at the floor and the wall, blurring the shower without hiding it.
Black lacquered or dark stone vanity: A furniture-style piece on chrome legs or a black plinth, with a soapstone or black marble top.
Chrome sconces with opal glass: Stepped or cylindrical shades flanking the mirror, in addition to the backlight.
Exposed chrome thermostatic shower: Rigid riser and a large round head, deliberately visible against the white marble.

Layout

How the room
is arranged.

A jewel box is a small room made precise. The vanity and its arched mirror take the wall opposite the door so the glow is the first thing you see; the shower is a glass-screened niche beside it, and the toilet is set behind the vanity return or a short marble wall. The floor pattern is centered on the door and the border follows the walls, which makes even an awkward plan look intended.

Light

Daylight
and evening.

Daylight, if there is a window, comes through fluted or frosted glass so it arrives as a soft glow rather than a view. At night the backlit mirror carries the room, the sconces light the face, and a single small downlight in the shower is the only ceiling fixture. All on dimmers; deco is a low-light style.

Is it for you

Best for.

A powder room, a compact guest bath, or a small primary bath in a pre-war apartment, a 1920s house, or any home whose owners love a bit of theater. The look rewards small rooms and needs more restraint in large ones.

What it takes

A custom retreat. The marble floor and full-height marble walls mean the room comes down to the framing, and the shower niche usually needs a new drain and valve wall. Stone or porcelain runs on every surface, floor to ceiling, and the backlit mirror and sconces need dedicated circuits with the wiring placed before the marble goes up.

Talk through your version of it

01
Choose the floor pattern first and draw it to scale. A fan, a chevron, or a bordered checkerboard each want a different room proportion.
02
Use a bordered field rather than pattern everywhere: a black marble border around white walls gives the geometry without the noise.
03
Keep every metal polished chrome. Mixing in brass or nickel reads as indecision in a deco room.
04
Order the backlit mirror with a warm color temperature and a dimmer; a bright cool halo makes the marble look like a hospital.
05
Consider a marble-look porcelain for the shower walls and real marble elsewhere. The two sit side by side well and only one of them etches.

Questions about this look

Good questions.
Honest answers.

Is black and white marble too much for a small bathroom?

Small rooms are where it works best. Strong pattern on the floor and a bordered wall make a compact space feel deliberate, and the polished surfaces double the light. The version that overwhelms is the one that adds gold and color on top.

How much of this can be porcelain?

The floor and the shower can be porcelain with a marble pattern and most people will not tell. Keep real marble on the vanity top and one wall you touch, because the depth of real stone is what sells the room.

Does chrome look dated?

Chrome is the finish that has never left. It is what the originals used, it is the most hard-wearing plating there is, and beside black and white marble it looks like jewelry. Choose fixtures with cross handles and simple cylinders rather than modern minimalist shapes.