Don't miss this trend! Fabulous furniture in mixed materials : Annie Elliott Design

I know, Gentle Readers: “mixed materials” isn’t entirely new. We’re used to seeing lucite with glass, metal with wood, mirror and wood…

Dark wood cabinet with mirrored doors behind lattice work — Eglomisé – reverse-painted glass – behind lattice-cut wooden doors. The Anna C abinet from Julian Chichester

And two-toned desks certainly have been around for a while. This one is wood and vellum, with a touch of brass on the pulls:

Brown and cream desk in a cheerful white wallpapered room — The Albert Desk by Julian Chichester, in a room we designed

And here’s a deskd in wood and marble with brass on the legs:

Dark wood desk with a Carrara marble top — The Marmo Writing Table from Woodbridge Furniture

But in sourcing living room furniture for a client recently, I realized two things.

First, there was an abundance of furniture in THREE different materials. This bookcase/cabinet from Holly Hunt is in wood and metal (each has multiple finish options), and it can have an open back, or one in mirror or leather:

White wood, brass, and mirror bookcase with closed cabinets at the bottom — The Avila Bookcase by Holly Hunt…

Close-up of Avila bookcase showing wood, metal, and mirror — …shown here in oak, a dark-finish metal, and smoked mirror

Contemporary dark wood, metal, and mirror bookcase in modern dining room — The Avila in action

And here’s a bed in wood AND brass AND any upholstery you like:

Detail of the Mercer bed — Detail of the Mercer Bed

The second thing I noticed is that the materials themselves were getting interesting.

Here’s an elegant media cabinet in wood, raffia, and brass:

Wood and raffia media console — The Harvey Media Console in wood with raffia paneled doors and brass ferrules on the legs. From Carrier and Company at Century Furniture

And here’s a boldly colored vellum cabinet with brass trim:

Teal blue vellum cabinet with brass trim — The Deneuve Cabinet in high-gloss teal vellum with brass detail, again from Julian Chichester

Detail of teal vellum cabinet — Dramatic, right?!

Finally, a sculptural chair in precious bronze ($$$) with leather or fabric. This looks like mohair to me:

Spindly, sculptural silver metal chair with some mohair upholstery — The Kintla Chair by Caste

I’m oddly drawn to this chair, despite the fact (because of the fact?) that it reminds me of Alberto Giacometti’s profoundly disturbing sculpture, Woman With Her Throat Cut.

Disjointed metal sculpture on the floor: Woman With Her Throat Cut by Alberto Giacometti — Woman With Her Throat Cut, by Alberto Giacometti, 1932. Bronze, like the chair. Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, NYC

No need to settle for boring wooden furniture anymore, eh? ;)

Annie Elliott Design is based in Washington, DC, with additonal offices in St. Michaels, Maryland and Middlebury, Vermont. Annie’s design work and insights have appeared in numerous local and national publications, including HGTV Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Washingtonian Magazine.

Don’t miss this trend! Fabulous furniture in mixed materials