Mixing Metals: 3 Rules of Thumb
Is there a secret to mixing metals in your space? If you’ve ever wondered, “Can I get this brass light fixture when all of my pulls are brushed nickel?” This post will help you learn the three secrets to mixing metal in home decor.
What do I mean by metals? Metals are anything in your house that’s metal. It’s your doorknobs, pulls, and faucets. Sometimes metals can be your picture frames and window sills. There are three main rules of thumb for mixing these things well. At the end, I’m going to tell you the one thing you definitely shouldn’t do.
Do you have to mix them at all? You absolutely don’t. If you like a minimal, sort of clean aesthetic, you can use just one metal. If you like the look of a more layered, textured room, then it’s just fine to mix metals. It can add interest to the space as long as you follow these three basic rules of thumb.
Three Secrets to Mixing Metals
1. Everything With the Same Function in One Finish
Don’t do this
The first rule is to keep things that are one function in the same metal. For example, you don’t want faucets in the same room, like a showerhead and a faucet, that are different metals. You want to keep all of your plumbing fixtures in one metal.
Along those same lines, you want to keep all of your drawers and pulls the same metal. Also, you want to keep all of your light fixtures the same metal.
2. Use One Primary Metal, Other Metals Secondary
The second rule is to pick a dominant metal and a secondary metal. That is, if you have one metal that’s in most of the places in the room, and then let’s say you just pick some light fixtures that are a different metal.
That’s true with colors too. You don’t want to see things that are exactly 50/50. Your eye likes to see something that’s more dominant. To learn more about dominant colors, see this post where I explain it: How Many Colors Should Go In Your Color Palette?
2. Choose Metals with High Contrast
The third rule is, if you’re going to mix metals, try to use metals that contrast each other. You might want to choose chrome and black, or you might want to choose brushed nickel and brass. There’s no denying that you chose the different metals on purpose. If you choose two metals that are close, it almost looks like you were trying to match but didn’t quite get there.
Is one metal better than two? It depends on your aesthetic. Here are some more minimalist style rooms that have all one metal finish.
Example 1. Here is an all-metal bathroom that’s all brass,
Example 2. Here’s a kitchen mix of brass and stainless.
Example 3. Here’s a bedroom that has a mix of silver and black.
The Mixing Metal Mistake
The one thing you don’t want to do with metals is succumb to the trend. The manufacturers are definitely going to make sure that a new metal is trending after a few years because they want to sell more fixtures.
Don’t decide that, “Oh, everybody has black fixtures; I need black.” If black doesn’t go with your home and it doesn’t go with your color palette, keep what you have, There’s one thing you can count on… whatever fixture is trending is not going to be trending in three years.
