Interior Design and Decorating Metal Finishes for the Home

As a female interior designer I really struggled getting my head around metals. We hadn't really studied them at college and they were an integral part of interior design.

The different types confused me and I always had to ask my peers, (men of course) what types to use where and what guage etc. I just couldn't pull it all together, perhaps sewing dolls dresses rather than building towers as a child didn't really prepare me for the more complex world of the construction industry! Anyway, to make sure that none of you feel like I did.

Here we cover all aspects of the metals used in the interior design industry.

Yes I did get Chris to write this one, being a male he was definately better prepared! Oh well, at least you get all the information you need to learn about the different types of metals.

Metals - what metals are used for interior design and decorating and introduction to the types of metals.

Ferrous Metals - These contain iron or pig iron in its basic form. These are the ones that usually rust, wrought iron, cast iron.

Steel - There are many types of steels especially in the industrial uses having varying strengths and anti corrosive properties.

Non Ferrous Metals - Included here are Copper, Nickel, Tin, Cadmium, Zinc, Aluminium and Lead. Precious metals are excluded as the likes of silver and gold are usually reserved for art works or plating.

Non Ferrous Metals 1 - definitions of gunmetal, tin, nickel, chromium, zinc, lead, aluminium.

More Interior Decorating Finishes - Menu

Carpet, what ist is made of and how it is constructed, it's appearance pitfalls, types of carpet, underlay, installation types.

Paint, how it is made, what are it's uses, oil based, enamel, acrylic, PVC paint, which paint to use.

Paint manufacture, recognising painting defects, specialist paints

Wallpaper, wallpaper defects, types of wallhangings, adhesives, stone flooring, timber flooring, hard flooring, vinyl flooring

Types of timber, countries of origin - South America,Canada / Usa, Europe, Africa, Pakistan / India / Burma / Sri Lanka / Malaysia / Indonesia, Australia / New Zealand / Pacific Island

Timber / Wood - What it is and how it is used in interior design, Trees and how we get timber, Properties of Timber - flexibility, colur, strength and more. Timber Deviations - grain and figure, Timber Based Boards - different types of boards made from timber. Uses for Timber - flooring, panelling, veneer, Timber Moldings- different types made from timber.

Decorative Painting, Faux Finishes, Decorative Finishes

Different types of fabrics, their definitions, the fibers used in making fabric