Art Deco Living Room Flooring Ideas

Art Deco is one of those design eras that never really disappears. It just comes back with better taste each time. In Australian homes right now, it’s showing up in a way that feels intentional: warmer tones, sculptural furniture, curved edges, and that confident geometry Art Deco does best.

If there’s one place the Art Deco look really lands, it’s the floor. A herringbone, chevron or parquetry pattern gives the room structure before you add anything else. The good news is you don’t need period-correct materials to get the effect. Modern engineered timber made for patterned installs gives you the same visual impact, with a construction that’s designed for real homes.

• Herringbone: the most classic, most forgiving Art Deco pattern. Great in most Australian living rooms.
• Chevron: sharper, more formal, and best when the room has a strong “axis” (fireplace, central artwork, symmetrical layout).
• Parquetry: the most traditional Art Deco look, best when you want a heritage feel with real texture and detail.

For all three: mid-to-warm oak tones and matte/low sheen finishes look the most authentic and liveable.

Art Deco interiors are built on geometry, material richness, and deliberate decisions. On a floor, that comes down to three things.

1. Pattern over plain

Straight-lay boards fade into the background. Pattern reads as a choice. A herringbone or chevron floor makes the room feel designed, even if the rest of the styling is simple.

1. Warm timber tones

Art Deco tends to suit warmth better than icy cool neutrals. In practice, that usually means mid-to-warm oak tones: honey, amber, golden browns. These tones also sit beautifully with brass, marble-look surfaces, warm whites, and deeper paint colours.

1. The right plank proportions

Herringbone and chevron planks are usually narrower than straight-lay boards because the pattern already creates visual detail. When planks get too wide, the rhythm of the pattern can look clunky. That’s why it’s worth choosing products engineered specifically for herringbone or chevron rather than trying to force a standard plank into a pattern.

Both patterns are closely associated with Art Deco, and both work in Australian living rooms. The difference is in how they read from across a room.

Herringbone

Herringbone creates a zigzag where each plank end meets the side of the next. The pattern is asymmetric and produces a sense of movement that draws the eye along the floor.

[Best for:] most living rooms, especially open-plan spaces and relaxed Art Deco styling.

Chevron

Chevron creates a V-shape where planks are cut at an angle and meet precisely at a central point.

[Best for:] rooms with symmetry, strong central features, or a more formal Art Deco interpretation.

For most Australian living rooms, herringbone is the more forgiving choice and the pattern people typically picture when they think Art Deco. Chevron is the more formal option and rewards confident room styling to match its precision.

Parquetry is the broad category that includes patterns like herringbone, chevron, basketweave and square-set designs. If your goal is a true heritage Art Deco feel, parquetry delivers that “old world” detail in a way straight planks can’t.

A practical way to use it in Australian homes is as a feature: the living room, entry zone, or a defined sitting space, while keeping the rest of the home simpler for continuity.

Installation reality: what to plan for

Patterned timber floors are typically direct-stick installations (glued to the subfloor), rather than floated. That usually means:

• the subfloor needs to be flat, smooth and dry
• subfloor prep matters more than it does for straight-lay floating floors
• the install can take longer than straight-lay because the layout is more detailed

What we see in-store: most disappointments come from pattern installs that were rushed. The pattern is the point, so it’s worth planning the layout direction and prep properly from the start.

Art Deco interiors used a wide range of timber tones, from the pale, bleached floors of coastal French estates to the deep, ebony-stained parquetry of grand European apartments. For Australian living rooms, the most liveable Art Deco floor sits in the warm mid-tone range.

Pale, white-washed tones are beautiful but require more maintenance and show wear more readily. Dark tones are dramatic but need careful lighting to avoid making a room feel heavy. Mid-warm tones, the honey, amber, and golden-brown European Oaks that appear across the AST and Quick-Step ranges, work in the broadest range of Australian living rooms and age well over time.

In Summary:

• Warm mid-tones: the easiest to live with and the most flexible across furniture changes
• Very pale tones: beautiful, but show dirt and wear more easily
• Dark tones: dramatic and period-leaning, but need good lighting so the room doesn’t feel heavy

If you want to push toward darker for a more period-accurate or dramatic result, consider a smoked or deep-toned oak rather than a stained product. The smoke treatment enhances the natural grain rather than masking it, which looks more authentic and holds better as the floor ages.

• Want the most classic Art Deco look with the easiest styling? Herringbone.
• Want a sharper, more formal statement? Chevron.
• Want true heritage detail and texture? Parquetry patterns.
• Want the safest colour choice for Australian light? Warm mid-oak in matte/low sheen.

Is herringbone suitable for a living room in an older Australian home?

Yes, often very well. Art Deco design emerged in the interwar period, meaning many Australian homes built between 1920 and 1950 have architectural proportions, ceiling heights, and room sizes that suit a herringbone floor naturally.

How much more does herringbone installation cost than straight-lay?

Installation cost varies by location and installer, but herringbone typically adds between 20 and 40 percent to installation cost compared to straight-lay, due to the additional time, material waste from pattern cuts, and skill required. Get a full quote that includes installation before comparing it to standard flooring options.

Can I use a hybrid product instead of engineered timber for herringbone?

Most hybrid flooring is engineered for straight-lay or staggered installation and is not suited to herringbone or chevron patterns, which require the specific plank dimensions and direct-stick installation that engineered timber products provide. For a herringbone living room floor, engineered timber is the right product category.

How do I care for an engineered timber herringbone floor?

Sweep or dry mop regularly to remove grit, which is the main cause of surface scratches. For deeper cleaning, use a barely damp mop with a manufacturer-approved timber floor cleaner. Avoid steam mops, excess water, and harsh chemical cleaners. Felt pads under furniture legs are important on a herringbone floor, particularly where chair legs sit at angles to the plank direction.