Planning a masculine home

Design Tips for Using Hardware Finishes in Your Home

25 July 2018

Felicia Carr

Faucets, cabinet handles, antique furniture, lamp stands and metallic decor items all have one thing in common: they require metal finishes to complete their look. If you look around your home, you won't miss one hardware item that's finished with brass, bronze, chrome, nickel, silver or even gold. If you are redecorating, switching up the metal finishes on your hardware and decor items can go a long way in giving your home a fresh new look. But how do you go about it? This article will provide you with a few design tips that will help you choose modern or antique metal finishes that will give your home an elegant look.

Choose dominant and accent metals

When designing with metal finishes, you want to ensure that you don't have too much of various metals in your home. Choose a dominant one that will act as the focal point of the room, and then go for few accents to complement the look. For example, if most of the appliances and fixtures in your kitchen have a stainless steel finish, this is your dominant metal. You don't want to come in heavy with another metal as this will make the space look too busy and unattractive. Instead, use accent finishes such as a silver chandelier, gold-finished decor bowls, or other warm metals to give the room an inviting feel and balance things out. Similarly, if you have bronze hardware or decor in your living room, you can accent them with copper to add warmth and personality to the room.

Keep it subtle

Unless you want an item to standout in the room, it is important to design it subtly so that it blends in with the rest of the decor or hardware. So for example, if you have a brown patterned rug in your living room and want to finish your table's legs, go for subtle metal finishes such as bright chrome or antique brass. These will complement the look and match with your rug. When two metals seem to compete for attention in a room, they should not be used together.

Mix things up

The beauty of using metal finishes in interior design is that you can mix things up without making your space look busy. However, this does not mean that you go for ten different kinds of finishes. Instead, you can mix up the textures to give the space visual appeal. Mix satin and bright finishes with matte, distressed and even polished or hammered ones. You can also use one metal finish such as chrome but in various textures to give your room a personalized feel.

Feeling overwhelmed about choosing metal finishes? Contact an interior designer today for professional help on how to revamp your space.

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