Neon rooms that pop on Pinterest

Neon’s making a comeback if Pinterest’s 2021 predictions are correct. While we mostly associate neon lighting with nightclubs and seedy strip joints these days, its origins are a much classier affair.

A Frenchman named Georges Claude pioneered neon signage in the early 1900s when long tubes of glass were bent by hand to create decorative logos and signage. These neon signs were used in restaurants and high-end establishments that could afford the expensive modern marvel.

Rombo IV in Mexico City by Taller Aragonés

Across the pond, neon was adopted as the lighting of choice for the country’s booming modern metropolises. It’s thought there were 20,0000 neon advertisements in Manhattan and Brooklyn in the 1930s alone, and the flickering glow became synonymous with American culture, immortalised in the paintings of Edward Hopper and the neon sculptures of Joseph Kosuth.

By the 1970s, when the fabric of US cities shifted, and crime rates and urban-flight spiked, neon took on this association too.

Karl’s restaurant by ASH NYC in Detroit

But neon lighting never entirely went away, especially not in the worlds of fashion, art and design. Even with the rise of low energy LED light bulbs, and interior designers are returning to this historical form to breathe fresh life into their projects. From Bauhaus-inspired geometric shapes to postmodern patterns, this mood board has some of our favourite neon rooms on Pinterest.