Wrought Iron Fixtures

Wrought Iron Fixtures Add An Air Of Solidity To Your Home…

“But iron, cold iron, is master of men all.”

Rudyard Kipling.

If you’re looking to accentuate the fixtures and furnishings of your home, wrought iron is an excellent choice of materials. It’s durable, and it goes well with most neutral to light colored walls, and can be made to go with decor ranging from Zen to Southwestern. Wrought iron is an artistic decorative touch to most homes and can be had for reasonable prices. The most common applications for wrought iron in home decorating are in light fixtures, such as wall sconces and chandeliers, and in practical design, such as tables, magazine and book racks, and anything else where a mixture of sturdiness and light lines is desired.

Wrought iron fixtures range from the Gothic (with heavy, sweeping lines, spikes and crenallations) to the airy and baroque. Because of its dark luster and high strength, you can use wrought iron as a contrasting element to many lighting fixtures, or wall adornments that work with light, such as mirror frames and more. One particularly fascinating wrought iron element is the wrought iron ceiling tile; popular at the turn of the 20th century, these can be stamped or forged out in regular patterns with raised and sunken edges, and can be used to put a “tile pattern” on the ceiling of any room in the house.

Because of the high tensile strength of wrought iron, you can afford to do light, airy constructions with it; patterns that seem to be made of willow branches or other natural themes are quite common, as are fluted, almost organic looking structures, forming ripples and bows and curved braces. Nearly all wrought iron goods are hand crafted; the high temperatures needed to work it, and the brittleness of the material in a metallurgical sense mean it’s not suited to being stamped out by machines.

This results in a high degree of artisanship, and buying wrought iron accents for your home is a lot like buying artwork, pick someone whose work you enjoy, consider how it works with your current scheme, and go with it. In particular, because wrought iron tends to be artisan-made, you can often get pieces made to your specification, or special order, sometimes custom made to fit a single room.

Wrought iron accents can work as both indoor and outdoor fixtures, as flush, semi-flush and pendant style lighting, and can be used in any part of the home, from the bathroom to the kitchen, to the back yard. Wrought iron’s dark color and texture gives it the perfect contrasting setting for light fixtures that give a splash of illumination and color to a room. While the traditional use of wrought iron is light fixtures, it’s also useful for other fixtures around the house. When sealed properly, wrought iron won’t rust unless immersed in water, so it’s suitable for towel racks, door knobs and accent marks like handles on cupboards. It’s also useful for baker racks and pot racks in the kitchen, where it adds a certain old world charm to a home; in particular, wrought iron accessories give a good counterpoint to overly modernist kitchen design.

Wrought iron also makes a good basis for furniture, for nearly everything from bar stools to outdoor benches to bedframes. With just a bit of work you can find the wrought iron accent marks to suit your taste and home! For the bedroom, wrought iron bound chests and wrought iron bound dressers can give a “nautical” theme to a room, and give it a very masculine feel. Don’t overlook the potential of wrought iron to make your home more appealing, by giving it that accent that adds a homey touch.