Our interior designers are often asked if you can mix metals in decorating. Not only can you mix metals in your home décor, but we anticipate mixed metals to be one of the hottest interior design trends of 2019. Here’s what you need to know about the mixed metal trend and how you can implement it in your home decor.
What is the Mixed Metals Trend?
The mixed metals trend involves using a combination of different metal accents (i.e. silver with gold, brass with stainless steel) in a single room. Interior design trends are constantly changing, and while designers used to discourage people from mixing metals, contemporary design now embraces the mixed metal look.
Tips for Mixing Metals in Interior Design
Whether you’re mixing metals in the kitchen, living room, bathroom, or bedroom, here are some interior decorating tips to keep your space from clashing.
Choose a Dominant Metal
Before choosing your furniture and accessories, try choosing a dominant metal to build the room around. One way to choose is by considering your overall interior design style. If, for example, you tend to prefer more contemporary design, you might choose stainless steel as your dominant metal. For more modern looks, you might choose chrome or copper. For a rustic, farmhouse vibe, you might choose brass.
Balance Warm- and Cool- Hued Metals
Once you’ve chosen a dominant metal, it’s time to consider which accent metals to use. To prevent overdoing it, we recommend choosing only one or two accent metals, which you can choose by considering the hues of your metals. Brass, copper, and gold are considered warm metals, while aluminum, stainless steel, and other silver metals are considered cool metals. Cast iron and other types of black metals are considered neutral. If you’ve chosen a cool metal for your dominant metal, you should consider using cool colored accent metals, and vice versa. Neutral metals can be mixed with both.
Match Your Finishes
Whenever you try to incorporate distinct styles in the same room, you need to find a common thread to tie them together. Metals can be treated in a number of ways, which can vastly change their look and feel. Antique-finished metals, for example, are made to look weathered and worn. Polished metals are finished to look like a mirror. Brushed metals are made to look as if they’ve been smoothed over with a paintbrush. When mixing metals, we recommend choosing items with similar finishes, even when they are in different metal families. That way, the distinct metals still match one another in style.
Mixed Metals Furniture Inspiration
At Star Furniture & Mattress, we have a huge selection of furniture, accent pieces, and home décor to use in your bedroom, living room, dining room, and kitchen. If you’re hoping to start mixing metals, these accent pieces are a great place to start.
Sydney Gold Table Lamp
Wyatt Stainless Steel Framed Coffee Table
Stefan Four Door Bronze Credenza
Silver Yvette Mirror
If you’re looking for traditional, transitional, casual, rustic, contemporary or modern furniture in Houston, Austin, San Antonio, or Bryan, Texas, head to a Star Furniture store today. In the meantime, check out our interior design blog to explore everything from the 10 most common interior design mistakes to Feng Shui basics for furniture arrangement.