The Best Ways To Decorate by Mixing Metals

Whether you’re new to the idea of home decorating or have been at it for a while, there are some unspoken rules that people seem to follow. Some of these rules are better than others, such as never painting a room pure white or not putting carpet in the kitchen. Other guidelines, however, are a little more flexible. Take mixing different metallics, for example. It’s not something many people encourage or try, but it can make quite the statement. We’ll show you the best ways to decorate by mixing metals so you can try it out for yourself.

Choose One Dominant and Accent

You can see the mixing of metals a lot in architecture; it helps to break up the look of all that monochromatic material. For your own home, you’ll want to decide on one metal as your most dominant metal. You can then add another contrasting metal as an accent to break it up a little bit. It will give your space a bit more depth than if you only used a single color. You can also use it to draw attention to specific areas by using the accent metal strategically in those places.

Use Different Finishes

Not all metallics use the same finish. One of the best ways to decorate by mixing metals is to use these different finishes in separate parts of the room. For example, if you have a lot of bright silver all over the room, consider accenting a specific area with a more rustic, tarnished version of silver to make it pop even more. Gold also has various finishes—hammered, brushed, polished, antiqued—that can all go together while still adding variety to your design.

Beware of Clustering

When trying to mix metals effectively, another common mistake is to cluster all metals of the same color together, separate from the other metals. You want to avoid doing this as it can give the room a very segmented and disjointed look. Instead, scatter your accent metal lightly among the dominant metal. This technique makes the room feel more cohesive and logical.

Use Darker Metals as Neutrals

To bridge the gap between two very different metal types or colors, you can use a darker metal as a neutral base. Look for metallics with colors such as gunmetal, iron, or dark bronze, and sprinkle these in around the room to add a little more interest to your accented metal colors. Darker metals like these tend to fade into the background and don’t make such a powerful impression on the room’s overall look.