High quality design materials can make even most simple design look fancy and extend longevity of interior until you decide to refurbish next time.
How to choose design materials and finishes?
Choice will be mainly influenced by the style, but even here there will be lots of variables.
It is an interior designer, who creates the concept to balance the practicality and aesthetics mixing materials together. And creation of concept depends on project owners vision and desired style.
Plenty of interior design materials exists and with new technologies nowadays even more innovative are created daily. However there are main materials used for centuries that also evolved with new technologies.
Core interior design materials categories for their practical and decorative purposes are:
Natural Stone- marble, limestone, granite, slate and others- provide a real connection to earth symbolizing honest quality.
Marble is the most luxurious stone used in fascinating designs for its beauty and durability. In combination with metallic and glass elements provides most posh look for the villa or palace.
Granite is another great design material being scratchproof, stainproof, heatproof and waterproof often used for kitchen countertops and vanity countertops due to easy maintenance.
Wood- another material having unique factor of lending a naturally warm feel and connecting us to nature.
The most popular wood types used in interior are:
oak, beech, pine, cherry, alder, maple, walnut, poplar, birch, mahogany and teak.
Each of these woods has unique look and properties- colors, texture and grain patterns.
Depending on the purpose of use wood may be used as a raw material just with special treatment for longevity and against damage to achieve very rustic natural design.
Or in a type of wooden panels, tiles, mosaics, wooden veneers and composite alternatives.
It is well known hard wood floor can last for years if looked after properly and is a good investment in a long term for a healthier living. Wood is used as a major element of design concept in such interior styles as Rustic, Industrial, Bohemian Chic, Mid Century, Coastal, Scandinavian.
Metal- giving interior sense of modernity, grounding and solidity. Metal finishes can be very practical and at the same time supremely decorative as different type of metals have different visual qualities.
Metals classify to
ferrous: cast iron, wrought iron and steel
non-ferrous: copper, tin, aluminum, lead and zinc
And accordingly to their specifications are used for certain designs.
Cast iron- mostly used for pipping and fitting, spiral stairs and sanitary fittings. Stainless steel in a very trendy designs- often in kitchen.
Copper, tin, aluminum- are more decorative.
Metal is used in all the styles of design depending on its finish helps to achieve or rustic or very elegant look.
For example shiny brass used for surfaces creates very luxurious combinations with marble.
Glass – is a unique material that can be used on its own, not only as transparent material for windows. In interior application, toughened or tempered glass should be used, made safer by heat treating, which makes it five times stronger.
For the decorations tinted, frosted, clear and reflective can be chosen.
Algedra uses unique glass decorations when designing interiors created for each space individually that makes it exclusive to every project.
As well design materials are divided into natural and artificial. Use of artificial substitute of a natural stone or wood often gives opportunity to create similar look on a lower budget.
It is easy to get lost in variety when selecting design materials for your interior and best idea would be to trust this task to interior designer, who knows combination of each material to achieve the desired vision.