Last month we looked at the effortless beauty of brass in interior design. This month, we want to shine a light on the cool-toned alternative to brass – nickel. Nickel has been an enduringly popular choice throughout the history of interior design, which makes it ideal for your period property renovation.
The choice between wood, brass, nickel or a combination of these is not always an easy one. It might be the first choice you make in your colour palette, and then all other choices will be informed by this one. It could also be the final choice you have to make, working with what is already there.
In this guide, we’re looking at the history of nickel in interior design, how you can select the right nickel door knobs for your home, and some common questions we hear from customers to help you to make a final decision.
Nickel is perhaps most associated with the Art Deco era. Bright nickel offers a shiny, almost mirrored finish which helps to amplify light in a space. When the base metal is a cool metal, like chrome, it is much starker and cooler. All of our nickel door knobs have brass as the base metal, creating a much warmer finish.
Before nickel was the finish of choice for interiors, pewter was far more common. However, the high lead content in pewter makes it difficult to work with today. Pewter is an alloy of tin and lead.
Following the decline of pewter, nickel became more popular. Nickel is a naturally occurring metallic element. It was gradually replaced by chrome-plating around the 1920s.
In the Victorian era, the industrial revolution continued its forward march and home decor that was once only available to the mega rich became accessible to more middle class families. This allowed families to start thinking about interior design choices based on more than just availability and practicality.
Nickel is an enduringly popular choice as it is both hard-wearing and versatile. It can be left to develop a natural patina, or you can simply polish your door knobs to a brilliant shine.
Thinking about adding nickel door knobs to your next interior design project? These are some of our customer’s favourite items
This beautifully simple and stylish choice was popularised during the Georgian era, making them the ideal choice for your Georgian home renovation. This reeded design features raised ridges on the handle and the rose plate. This is created from an original salvaged design, so you can enjoy all of the convenience of a modern door knob with the characteristic Georgian style.
The nickel rose plate pairs perfectly with the dark wood of this beehive design. This is a popular Victorian design that offers the perfect contrast of light and dark. The beehive design is iconic of the era, and also serves a very practical purpose; it helps the user to get a better grip when turning the handle. This hand-turned design is modelled on an original salvaged design, so they are completely exclusive to us.
The beehive design looks beautiful when reproduced in a solid brass with nickel coating. This Victorian-era design comes with matching rose plates that will look beautiful against a natural wood grain or a painted door. You could also pair this design with a rim lock to ensure privacy in spaces like the bathroom.
No door would be complete without the perfect accessories. An escutcheon helps to conceal non-aesthetic features, such as an exposed lock. Matching nickel escutcheons are available in teardrop, round or oval shapes. You could also choose an ebonised beehive teardrop design, which would pair perfectly with the ebonised beehive door knob.
Nickel is an excellent choice for door handles as it is stylish, versatile and easy to maintain. It’s also incredibly durable, so you needn’t worry about damage to your door knobs. You can leave the nickel to tarnish and develop a darker patina, or you can keep it polished to a mirror-like shine.
You don’t need any special products to clean your door handles. If you’d like to clean them to a glistening shine, simply wipe away any traces of fingerprints using a soft, microfiber cloth.
Nickel is an incredibly versatile choice for your home. It’s a cool-toned metal, but it can be left to develop a patina which helps to give it a warmer glow. Rather than thinking about this in terms of warm tones or cool tones, it’s easier to remember that nickel reflects what is around it while also amplifying light.
We love nickel paired with darker matt colours to achieve that sophisticated Victorian-era style. For example, nickel accessories against a matt black or forest green would be a timeless classic.
You can also decorate with shades of neutrals including pristine white, ivory, taupe or sand. It also pairs beautifully with Edwardian-era shades of sage, navy, lavender or pastel blue.
The best thing to remember about interior design rules is that they are there to be broken. Your home should be a reflection of your tastes and your style, so you should absolutely mix metals if you like. An easy way to maintain the balance is to choose one dominant colour and then add in an accent colour. Try to stick to 2-3 metals at most and create balance between warm hued and cool hued metals.
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