Period furniture can transform a room, but what to buy? Alison Jones takes expert advice on the sought-after Art Deco and Georgian styles.

You have just invested in a new home, perhaps a chic modern townhouse or an apartment in the converted interior of an old factory – and you are faced with four bare walls and a floor to fill.

Rather than join the human centipede trawling round the IKEA maze, head for the antique dealer’s door instead.

Furniture buyers are looking at the not so distant past for bold and beautiful pieces that work surprisingly well in a 21st century interior.

Phil Varma, a specialist in Art Deco, says his clients are rediscovering the style that would have been the height of fashion in their grandparents’, or even great grandparents’, day.

Phil, of London-based Le Style 25, believes it has endured, and is finding new fans because of its elegant looks that still manage to appear fresh and contemporary.

“I think the reason that its popularity has steadily increased is that it has very simple, clean lines that work well with what people are doing now. The term minimalism is a bit old hat but it does sit well with that sort of look.

“I put a lot of Art Deco furniture into new builds and properties that have been refurbished and that is where it can come into its own. It has always had a following but I think it is as popular now as it has ever been.”

To give people an idea of an Art Deco room, he is setting up a sitting room at the Antiques for Everyone event at the NEC this weekend (July 21–24).

It will sit next to a Georgian-style dining room which is being put together by Robbie Timms of S&S Timms Antiques, whose stock spans centuries rather than the couple of decades that Phil is principally focused on.

Art Deco rocked the design world when it was first unveiled at an exposition of modern industrial and decorative arts in Paris in 1925. The term was a shortening of Arts Decoratifs and was not really widely used until the mid ‘60s, following a book on the subject by British author Bevis Hillier.

A confluence of influences, it was as much a product of the burgeoning machine age as it was Howard Carter and co scratching around in Egyptian graves. It swept aside the stuffiness of Edwardian interiors and even the flowing curves and floral flourishes of Art Nouveau, replacing it with geometric shapes, emerging technology and designs based on objects that had last seen the light of day when the boy king Tutankhamun’s tomb was sealed back in 1323 BC.

Phil sees Art Deco as a way that artists and designers shook off the gloom of the First World War and the Depression.

“It reflected an optimism in society in general. There had to be a certain amount of that for people to actually want to own furniture like this and furnish their homes with things that were very different.

“Nowadays one changes furniture quite frequently. In those days people didn’t. So to have something so completely new and for it to be taken up so widely, it had to really strike a chord.”

France and designer-makers Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann and Eugene Printz, architect Louis Sue and artist Andre Mare led the way. Soon the new direction was embraced by London companies like Hille and Epstein – commercial producers who could make items more accessible to the general public.

“The furniture produced in the 1920s was quite elaborate but with a very – for the time – modern slant, so the lines become quite dramatic.

“As the style progressed it became much more pared down, very simple forms, very minimal amount of decoration. You also had the advent of modernism and the two styles often intermingled.

“The materials used were always very good. There were sumptuous upholsteries, metal inlays, exotic veneers which really hadn’t been seen before.”

Before Art Deco houses were more likely to be filled with the dark stained oak furniture and dark mahoganies of the Edwardian era or the decor might have followed the Arts and Crafts movement, a fore-runner to Art Nouveau.

“Suddenly you had bright yellow woods being used and these interesting simple shapes,” says Phil. “Plywood, which can be kind of frowned upon nowadays, was a new material and they were really kind of revelling in its abilities. You had chairs with very curved backs, tables raised up on curved supports, stuff that at the time was almost unthinkable.”

Phil discovered his passion for the period when he started dealing in antiques 25 years ago.

“When I started I knew nothing about anything and after six months or so I kind of realised that everything I bought was Art Deco. You buy things that you like. I think the key to this as a job is actually handling things that you get a kick out of. I have got quite a few pieces in my own home.”

For anyone considering adopting the Art Deco look, he advises they be selective and team with modern pieces.

“Rather than creating a museum or pastiche of the ‘30s, mostly my clients buy two or three focal pieces. If it was for a dining room you could get a really good dining suite and then perhaps a cocktail cabinet.

“You can pay anything from a couple of thousand up to ten thousand for a very good dining room set, and a similar price for lounge sets.

Artwork from the ‘30s could offer a slightly more affordable option.