27 Stunning Art Deco Nail Designs for Your Next Manicure

If you want to try art-deco nails but still maintain a goth look, a simple black-and-gold style can be a great choice. By keeping most of the nail black and only using minimal gold lines, this look still has a moody, dark-academia feel to it — just with a little burst of glittery sparkle. Leaving some oval-shaped blank space around the cuticle and adding an evil eye detail on the middle finger makes a truly unique manicure with a subtle, witchy accent.

For those looking for an art-deco manicure that’s more eye-catching, playing around with bold, chunky glitter and detailed accents is a great idea. Alternating gold nails with light-pink line work and light-pink nails with gold line work keeps the manicure visually interesting and complex. Adding accent nails with chunky gold glitter takes it up another notch, making it a truly mesmerizing nail style. This look also leaves lots of room for creativity; you could customize each lined design or opt for the same one on each nail.

If tons of detail isn’t your thing but you still want to get in on the art-deco look, more minimal designs are an easy way to try out the trend without going over the top. Choosing a look with a neutral base, white tips, and simple, black line work creating geometric shapes also has the benefit of being an updated twist on the classic French manicure. Adding a touch of glitter within the black lines adds glitz but could be easily left out for those who want a simpler look.

For those who want a manicure with drama and impact, ultra-long nails with art deco motifs are perfect. The longer nail means more space for design work, so you can add tons of detail for a truly attention-grabbing look. Sunburst shapes, straight lines, curved lines, and dots are all great examples of art-deco motifs, and you’ll have space for all of them on these extra-long nails. With this look, you’ll have an amazing manicure, but you might need to check out our tips and tricks that will improve your life if you have long nails. 

While black and gold are a popular color palette for art-deco manicures, you can use any colors you want, and adding bright pops of color can bring a lot of light-hearted, playful fun to your art-deco mani. Alternating bursts of pink and green is an amazing way to create an energizing nail look. Adding a couple of accent nails with a neutral base and simple line work can be a nice touch and add some simple interest to the style, too. 

If you want a metallic art-deco mani but don’t like black and gold, a silver-and-blue style could be the answer. Not only is this a simple and striking color palette, but it can also be a great look for the wintertime or those with a cool skin tone. If you want your mani to look more uniform, going for the same line work on each nail is a good option. For something more fun, you can do different types of line work on each nail to add more intrigue.

If silver and blue aren’t your thing, a shimmery green-and-gold manicure is another great color combo for those who still want a metallic mani without going straight to basic black and gold. Green-and-gold nails with simple line work can be super charming and great for a range of different holidays. Not only could this be a super-festive Christmas manicure, but it could also work well for St. Patrick’s Day. You know what they say about the world and the oyster!

For those who want to get in on the art-deco trend but don’t want to overdo it, trying out one accent nail is a simple way to test it out. If you usually go for simpler manicures, a detailed art-deco look could seem intimidating. Nude or peach, combined with gold and white, can be a feminine and subtle color combination that works great for art-deco designs while still having a flirty and laid-back feel.

If subtlety isn’t your thing, bright pops of multiple different colors might be just what you need in your art-deco manicure. Mixing lots of colors might seem like too much to some, especially if they’re worried about looking tacky. The good news, though, is that using art-deco designs to incorporate lots of different colors can be a fun and sophisticated way to inject color into your manicure while still looking put together. This style should definitely be on your list of maximalist designs for your next manicure. 

At the other end of the spectrum, art-deco nails can be done in an ultra-minimalist way, too. If you like to keep your manicures as simple as possible but still want to introduce some art-deco flavor, going for a nude nail or clear polish and painting the top half of your nail white at a diagonal angle can introduce an art-deco essence into your manicure without having to go all in with a bunch of complicated or busy-looking designs.

Gold is a super-popular color for art-deco manicures. However, that doesn’t mean you have to put gold in your manicure in a traditional way. There are so many options when it comes to playing with the texture of your gold details. For example, opting for two art-deco accent nails and then painting the other ones in clear polish with large gold flakes can be a simple way to add major visual interest. Beyond that, it can also be a great way to try the naked glitter nail trend with a sparkly manicure.

Most may associate art-deco looks with stark, geometric shapes and straight lines, but other shapes can be brought into the mix, too. Green circular shapes accented with black lines on a nude background are a nice, elegant way to create an impactful look with minimal amounts of color and design work. By swapping out green for another color — or maybe even glitter — this style is also highly customizable.

Those who love a classic and sophisticated color like Tiffany blue should try using it as a part of their art-deco manicure, as it can make for an incredibly posh look. This is especially true if you don’t want a full art-deco mani but are, instead, looking for a subtle way to bring a ’20s vibe to your look. Using either a pearlescent white or silver shade can make a great color combo. Even better, we think this could make the perfect wedding manicure.

While some might be all about subtlety, others love a touch of drama, and going for all-over designs is an amazing way to bring fun maximalist vibes to your art-deco manicure. Using black as a background for a vibrant silver pattern can be a nice way to have patterned nails that still coordinate with a wide range of colors. Or, you could take it in a different direction and use different base colors for each nail to create an interesting multicolor effect. 

Black and gold are popular colors for art-deco looks, but rich shades of red or burgundy can make for an amazing art-deco manicure, too. If you’re wanting something with a festive, holiday feel, bright red is the way to go. If you’re looking more for a moody manicure to rock all year, a rich burgundy is best. You can also customize this look to suit your skin tone, with gold being best for warmer tones and silver for cooler ones. 

If you want a fun way to rock a rainbow-bright Pride Month manicure, art deco can be a trendy and interesting option. Solid gold makes for a flashy background that still allows all the other colors of your manicure to stand out. Adding extra lines of color to just one accent nail is more laid-back, but if you want to take the look to the max, adding colorful lines to each nail is the way to go.

If bright colors aren’t your thing, there’s no need to worry because there are plenty of ways to take art-deco manicures in a moodier direction. A black manicure with silver scalloped details can be a subtle way to embrace goth style and spooky season on your nails all year — and with some ’20s flair to boot. This is yet another look that can be done as just one accent nail or a full manicure, giving you the ultimate freedom to choose your own fate.

One of the most-popular art-deco looks is to use a black background with some sharp gold designs. A great way to make this trend your own is to simply flip the color palette. Opting for solid gold nails with some black art-deco line work isn’t just playful but also classic. Altogether, this is a great manicure for spring and summer.

If you want a manicure with a sharp look and interesting texture, opting for sleek triangular shapes and a speckled background might be for you. By starting with a clear base with black or gold speckles or flakes, you can add a lot of trendy texture to your mani. Sleek triangular shapes in the center of your nail make for a dynamic look with a lot of impact.

Mixing metals isn’t just trendy when it comes to jewelry; it can also be a great option for your next manicure. This is especially true when you’re looking for something with fall vibes that isn’t one of the obvious options, like burgundy. Thanksgiving nail design ideas are hard to come by, but mixing gold, black, and bronze can give those perfect festive vibes without being cheesy.

If you love the basic art-deco style that consists of a mix of black and gold with simple, bold lines but you want to take it in a more glamorous direction, adding some gold beads can be a fun, maximalist option. If you want to be subtler with it, simply adding them to one nail could be a good choice. If you truly want a standout style, though, add beads to each nail to take your glam to a whole new level.

Black, white, nude, and metallics might be the first colors that come to mind when it comes to art-deco looks. The truth is, though, that you can play around with color as much as you want and still maintain that striking art-deco style. Dark green or olive green with silver details is a playful but sophisticated color combination that can be worn any time of the year and also has some adorable cottagecore vibes. 

Along with beads, gemstones are another eye-catching way to make your art-deco nail look more glam. With red and gold, in particular, you can create a super-bold and feminine look that could look amazing any time of year but would make an especially dazzling Christmastime manicure. As with any other kind of detail work, how far you take it is up to you. You could add gems to each nail, but even having one accent nail could add tons of impact. 

If you love the classic art-deco color palette of gold and black but want to put your own twist on it, mixing up the styles and types of glitter you use can add some texture and interest. Using black as a background, you can apply shimmery gold for line work and then use a bigger, chunkier glitter on an accent nail.

If you want a look that reminds you of French tips but with a pinch of art-deco style, go for some art-deco tips. By painting the tips of your nails white and then accenting them with triangular shapes made of black and gold, you can introduce an extra edge to your manicure while still maintaining that classic French mani feel. Très chic!

Trying a metallic manicure with lots of fine lines and details could seem over the top for some, but for others, it could be a truly gorgeous mani option, especially if they’re into manicures with a retro, maximalist feel. Playing with a simple color palette like black, white, and gold can give you leeway to get extra creative with complex line work and result in a charming manicure that’s both subtle and intricate.

For some, the thought of an art-deco manicure might be appealing, but it could also be overwhelming if they’re doing it themselves. Lots of straight lines mean lots of opportunities for them to go crooked or get sloppy. That’s why going with a black nail and using foil strips or nail stickers to attain the bold, sharp lines you need for an art-deco manicure can be ideal. Not only can it simplify the process, but it can also help ensure all of your lines are crisp.