Up until a few years ago, I only ever wore silver. And I only used silver-colored metal in my home. Brass or yellow gold, in my jewelry or decor, was off-limits. But then something changed. I started to mix the metals of my jewelry, beginning with brass and rose gold. That slowly crept into my decor, but I still mainly stuck to a silver palette. Until we bought our house. I started stripping the white paint off of the door hardware (I went into more detail here), and decided I quite liked the vintage brass.

Since the door hardware featured brass, I started to work it into the rest of my decor. And then any limitations I had about mixing metals gradually went out the window. At the same time, I think the rest of the world has also been gleefully ignoring the old rules. Maybe it started with the popularity of copper, which kind of forced you to mix it with other metals, because it wasn’t so easy to find copper fixtures for everything. The same goes for rose gold jewelry, too. Everybody decided that there was no reason to keep your metals separate, and I agree.
Stacking rings | Nixon watch | Bar cart | Metal storage basket | Etro spring 2016 RTW | Cocktail shaker | Clare Vivier pouch
For literally years I’ve been wanting a bar cart, and when this one went on sale (plus I had a birthday discount), I snatched it up in the polished nickel finish. After I put it together, I started styling it up with all of my bar accessories, and I realized it was going to be a metal-mixing bonanza. The part of me that likes to overthink everything wondered if I was making a mistake, but the rest of me decided to go for it.

Aside from the cart itself, almost everything is vintage or at least a couple of years old. (That constellation globe, from the 1950s, was mixing metals before it was cool.)

I love how it turned out. So, in fashion and decor, screw the old rules about mixing metals!