If you've followed my work for any length of time — the client projects, my own apartments, the rug collections — you've heard me use the phrase New Regency. It's the shorthand I use for the way I design: classical bones, saturated color, collected antiques, and just enough glamour to make a room feel like an occasion. This is the complete guide to what New Regency means, where it comes from, and how to bring it home, with links to my deeper guides on every element of the look.
What Is New Regency Style?
New Regency is a contemporary evolution of two historical moments. The first is the original Regency era of early 19th-century England — a period defined by architectural symmetry, classical references, rich color, and an almost theatrical sense of refinement. The second is Hollywood Regency, the 1930s-through-60s American reinterpretation that traded restraint for glamour: lacquer, brass, mirror, and star power.
New Regency takes the discipline of the first and the confidence of the second, then loosens both with a modern, lived-in sensibility. Rooms are layered rather than staged. Antiques sit beside contemporary art. Color is committed, not cautious. Nothing is precious, but everything is considered. For the full history of how this revival took shape, start with my guide to the Regency revival in modern interiors.
The Hollywood Regency Inheritance
You can't talk about New Regency without crediting Hollywood. Designers like Dorothy Draper, Billy Haines, and later Tony Duquette built a language of glamour — high-gloss surfaces, bold contrast, sculptural lighting — that still reads as luxurious today. My Hollywood Regency style guide breaks down how to get that look now, and if you want to see how those principles create rooms that outlast trends, read my guide to creating timeless spaces with Hollywood Regency décor.
The New Regency difference is editing. Where Hollywood Regency can tip into set design, New Regency keeps one foot in the everyday — the glamour is real, but so is the sofa you can actually nap on.
The Five Pillars of New Regency
1. Committed color. Regency rooms were never beige. Deep greens, inky blues, terracotta, blush, and lacquered paint give rooms their sense of occasion. My guide to Regency color palettes for modern interiors covers the exact hues and how to use them without overwhelming a space — and when you're ready for the style's ultimate gesture, my guide to lacquered walls and high gloss rooms shows the finish that turns color into architecture.
2. Furniture with lineage. Klismos chairs, demilune consoles, X-benches, and pedestal tables all trace back to the Regency playbook — and they mix beautifully with contemporary upholstery. Learn the forms and how to source them in my guide to Regency furniture and how to use it today, then see my approach to mixing modern and vintage so the room reads collected rather than costumed.
3. Layered pattern and texture. A New Regency room is grounded by a handmade rug — the pattern-forward foundation everything else sits on. The hand-knotted Iconium Collection brings the traditional depth, while the Panthera leopard rug supplies the wink of Hollywood — leopard being the great Regency neutral.
4. Sculptural lighting and accessories. Lamps, mirrors, and objets are where the style earns its personality. My Regencycore accessories guide covers the finishing layer, and the KFD table lamp collection — pleated shades very much included — was designed with exactly these rooms in mind.
5. Rooms that work for real life. The style extends past the living room: see how the look translates to hardworking spaces in the New Regency kitchen.
Why It Lasts
Trends cycle; proportion, symmetry, and quality materials don't. New Regency belongs to the family of timeless interior design styles precisely because its foundations are two centuries old. A room built this way doesn't expire when the algorithm moves on — it just gets more interesting as you add to it.
If you'd like help bringing the look into your own home, you can read more about my design work, browse the original rug designs that anchor these rooms, or get in touch about a project.
