Going Metallic: Accessorizing with Gold and Silver

Glimmer and shimmer with metallic home accessories. The right use and choice of accessories can give an elegant and tasteful glow to a room. Metallics, especially gold and silver, imbibes the room with energy and a sense of glamour and luxury. Mixing and matching gold and silver with different tones and textures can also provide depth and eclectic personality to the room.

However, before we go further, you should also note that the overuse or the wrong use of metallic could result in a tacky or overworked ensemble. So, use metallics with an eye towards balancing these accessories with other decorative elements in the room.

Start with baby steps. If your design aesthetic is more traditional, you can start small and not go whole hog with the metallics. You can begin building your confidence in incorporating metallics into your home by starting with small accessories such as a gold picture frame or throw pillows covered in silver fabric. The small steps can help you see the interplay with the items you introduced and the items that are already in the room. Starting small can help you easily remove elements that don’t work.

Introduce metals into the bedroom. Bring up the romance quotient of your bedroom a knot by combining mirrored dresser tables with a mirror placed in a silver picture frame. Add some soft light to set the mood. The mirrors serve to play with the other colors in the room, as well as the discreet lighting.

Mix them with “softer” colors and textures. Combine the metallics with softer, neutral colors and interesting textures. These will serve to balance out the ensemble and prevent you from going overboard. The textures you can use include wool, mohair or velvet. You can also experiment with natural fibers and wood. For colors, white, gray and navy blue will be good choices as they serve to bring out the metals.

Use framed mirrors to add depth. Mirrors framed in an antique picture frame with silver or gold finish can make small spaces feel more spacious. The mirrors themselves provide an illusion of space and the metallic frames add a sense of depth.

Work with both the top and bottom. You can pull the look of a room together by adding gold or silver details in a chandelier or lighting fixture. Then, you can add a rug with metallic accents. This can provide a sense of balance without overdoing it. To check the overall effect of your additions, walk back to the entrance so that you can look at the room as a while. How well do the elements work together? Do they complement each other? Do they provide an attractive contrast or does the room look like united?

Framed gold accent. Rather than using a frame with a metallic finish, go the opposite this time. Use a white or cream-colored oversized frame to hold graphic metallic gold wallpaper. This can serve as an interesting headboard in the bedroom or as an accent piece in the living room. The frame provides some delineation between the metallic wallpaper and the neutral color of the wall.

Decorate with vintage bottles. For additional accessories, you can spray paint vintage glass bottles with gold or silver. This can be a great vignette on the living room side table.