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5 Ways to Use Metallic Paint Inside or Outside Your Home

Do you love metallic shades? If so, incorporating them into your home’s paint scheme could be a unique and fun addition to your décor. But how should you use metallics when painting? Here are five ideas anyone can incorporate Pittsburgh metallic paint uses for the right look.

1. Paint an Accent Wall

Metallic shades of wall paint can be used the same way you would use any other bold shade when planning room color palettes. The most common use of such bold choices is to paint an accent wall for decorative interest.

Accent walls tend to be one of the smaller walls in a given area, but some homeowners are more confident painting larger accent walls when the shade is softer, such as a silver or pale gold color. The use of more subtle colors also helps if you want to add an accent wall to a smaller or darker room where bold hues may not be advisable. 

2. Paint Some Trim

As with accent colors, metallic colors work well both indoors and outside as trim colors. Inside, trim often consists of window or door frames, molding, baseboards, medallions, doorknobs, or chair rails. Exterior trim pieces are much more varied and can include doors themselves, window frames, eaves, recessed or extruded architectural elements, and decorative elements. 

The advantage of using metallic colors as trim colors is that you can paint as much or as little as you want. Create a great focal point with a single gold pendant light medallion in the ceiling or a silver front door. Or use it for all your trim pieces and build beautiful contrast to any conservative neutral room. 

3. Overlay With Metallics

If you want a subtler metallic sheen, consider combining metallic paint options with regular paint colors. The base coat of standard wall paint provides the vast majority of the actual color and the top metallic coat adds a finishing touch. You can even opt for paints with additional sparkle elements built into them. 

This two-part technique allows you to tailor the metal shade to your particular decorative style and the colors in your specific palette. It’s also great for anyone who is hesitant to commit to a bright gold, silver, or copper shade. 

4. Use It As a Neutral

If you opt for a softer shade of metallic, you can use it as a sort of fun neutral color for some interior spaces. Metals of different hues match with many different colors all across the color wheel, so you can use the right metallic shade as a base and then use bold colors as the accents.

Metallic neutrals must be carefully chosen, of course, as brighter variations may easily become garish or dated when applied to the extent that most neutrals are used in a home. 

5. Brighten Up a Room

Metallic paints have an advantage that many other colors don’t. They can help reflect both natural and artificial light and brighten up a dark space. This can be a very helpful feature if you have a room with little natural lighting, unusual angles, corners, or a claustrophobic feel. 

Even if you don’t want to cover entire walls with the metal shade, you might add it as a pattern to get the most out of its reflective properties without it becoming too much for the limited space. 

Where to Start

Metallic paint colors provide a plethora of options for any home or a business owner. But care must be taken to use them to their full advantage, such as adding light to a room, without letting them overwhelm the space.

Fagan Painting is ready to help. We will apply our years of experience with all types of Pittsburgh metallic paint uses and techniques to aid you in finding the ideal solutions for your house. Call today to get started. 

Feel free to bring us paint swatches from PPG Paints, Benjamin Moore Paints, and Sherwin Williams Paints.