Thursday, 20 March 2014

I Love Metallics


My name is Tara, and I am an addict.

Metallics. I can’t get enough of them. Whether its clothes, makeup, wallpaper, accessories… I have an immediate affinity with anything that shimmers. It is only recently that the true extent of my addiction has become apparent to me. Looking around my home and in my wardrobe, even my nail polish collection – I am truly a bona fide magpie.
So, instead of looking to rehab I have decided to embrace my obsession because, to be honest, where’s the fun in fighting it? In addition the more I think about it, the more it totally bewilders me that there aren’t more people suffering from this wonderful affliction. We all want to feel like kings in our castle, don’t we? So surely the simplest way to achieve that is to fill our castles to the brim with gorgeously lustrous golds, shimmering silvers and dazzling coppers.
Metallics are a great way of instantly injecting glamour and majesty into a home. They can be both super modern and also quite country and traditional depending on how you incorporate them, so there is room for metallic no matter what your preferred style. Another major plus point is that gold and silver literally go with ANY colour, so no excuses.

There are a huge number of metallic paints available thesedays. From walls to woods to masonry there is a metallic paint / spray out there for whatever your need. If you have caught the metallic bug, try out a few different brands and testers before you commit as there are various finishes available, depending on whether you want it mega mirrored and reflective or more of a muted matt-metallic look.
Look around the room – is there an old item of furniture that could use a bit of a makeover?  Or a blank wall that has been staring at you for ages, desperately in need of transformation? Get the paint out!

It is amazing how any old item can be completely transformed with a bit of metallic paint.
These tree stumps have been galvanised and look how amazing they are as coffee tables! I am seriously considering taking a chainsaw to the tree outside of my window.

A word of warning… metallic paints are not the easiest to work with and tend to need several coats. But hey, we suffer for fashion and beauty so makes sense that we should suffer for décor too, right?
Mirror frames, wooden furniture, table legs, dining chairs, storage chests, even door frames or window sills if you are feeling daring – the possibilities are endless. Just make sure if you are painting anything wooden that you use a layer of lacquer or varnish to protect the finish.
 
 You don’t even need to use paint - these ideas are created using types of metallic sticky-backed plastic. Totally mess-free, and you can peel them off when you fancy a change. A brilliant way to jazz up a hallway. Examples of brands to look for are Dura-Lar and d-c-fix®(search on amazon).
 
 
 
My biggest guilty pleasure is to mix metallics which I know is a supposed “no-no” but I wholly disagree.  Silver, gold & copper all sit beautifully alongside each other, and I think mixing them helps create more of a layered aesthetic. Don’t believe me? Try it out for yourself J