Ralph Lauren Metallic Paint

There’s been a growing trend towards the use of warm toned metallics in home decor. Brass and copper are everywhere from lighting to case goods, hardware to kitchen cabinets. This first post for 2016 is about color of course, but only tangentially about wall color.

Of course chrome and nickel finishes have been the standard for so long. Both have serviced many decorating styles ably. But the warmth of brass and copper is really coming to the fore. These warm toned metallics counter the more clinical influence of cool grays and white, adding richness, depth and color. Forget about their elemental composition and just consider their color ~ gold and pink. Does it get any better than that?

Unlacquered Brass

Unlacquered brass is all over the kitchen. It’s warm toned, aged patina is gorgeous and in an otherwise white, black or grey setting, really changes the overall palette. It creates a beautiful antique look. Polished brass has been showing up gangbusters in lighting. The high shine adds to the glam factor. Mixing polished with unpolished brass is a way to keep the color consistent between your metal objects, but reduces the overall reflectivity in the room. See the polished brass island below with the antique brass light fixtures above it.

Polished brass finish in the home

Tom Dixon Lighting

The black and brass light fixtures by Tom Dixon above help create a seductive ambience in the two toned black and grey room above.

Metallic paint and wallpaper

Of course, a bit of glitz on the walls goes a long way whether applied by a glaze, a paint or a wallpaper. Nothing beats the warm, rose glow of copper though! It works with a host of color palettes for a room: green, pink, grey, navy. The choices are endless.

Copper

Left out in the elements, copper oxidizes and takes on a verdigris patina. With all of the new options for warm metals in home decor there’s no reason to confine yourself to just silver. But if your penchant for the metallic only runs along those lines, tiles are a great way to inject flash. Both the subway and mosaic tiles below take a classic shape and sedate room color palette and turns it on its head by adding the twinkle of metal.

Metallic tiles and copper roofing and sink.