Furniture In Stainless Steel For Bold Looks

For a long time, it has been considered that furniture should be made extensively from wood. In fact, this is the first association most people make when thinking about furniture. Due to the rising cost of wood, and the lower price of plastic paved the way for hybrid furniture. Yet up until a few decades ago, there was one material that wasn't considered essential for furniture - stainless steel.

The Plus Side

When people hear "steel" they imagine bulky, heavy objects that are not in any way suited for moving around. In truth, steel furniture is often quite light, and can even be more lightweight than wood. The secret lies in the fact that hollow rectangular profiles are used instead of just an opaque rectangular block of steel. This allows for the furniture to be sturdy, yet very light.

The most common article of furniture in stainless steel is the classic steel table with glass surface. These are very stylish and have made their way into quite a lot of homes. Stainless steel contains chromium, which not only gives it that shiny, metallic look compared to cast iron, it also makes it more durable when placed outdoors. This is the one true benefit of furniture which uses stainless steel.

Stronger

When manufactured properly, stainless steel has a sturdy structure that can allow a person to feel safer even in the most extreme ways of using furniture. For example, children love to jump on beds, which might turn out to be a disaster for a wooden-framed bed, whereas a bed with a steel frame is not likely to suffer the same fate.

Fire Safe

As mentioned earlier, the resistance to the elements makes stainless steel a good choice for outdoor furniture - from chairs and tables to garden swing seats. In addition to that, stainless steel is also often used in regular furniture for the legs of bulky wardrobes for example. It's a good solution from a mechanical standpoint.In the event of fire, stainless steel furniture will not burn, but that's not an advantage most people think about.

The Drawbacks

The drawbacks of stainless steel furniture come when you have to consider temperature. Metal transfers heat more easily, which means that in a very cold day, a chair or table is likely to feel freezing to the touch. And if you leave steel furniture in direct contact with sunlight, it might be too hot to touch when you come back several hours later. Thankfully, these problems can easily be avoided if you use a cover of some sort - some fabric or maybe some upholstery.

In the end it all depends on the stylistic visions of the person buying the furniture. Some find steel furniture aesthetically pleasing while others don’t, and this could make all the difference sometimes. Still, the trends in steel furniture purchases suggest that more and more people are starting to get fond of the idea of having chars or tables made out of mostly metal. If the trend holds, we're likely to be exposed to a wider variety of such furniture.

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Robert Hastings , the writer, works as an interior designer for five years. He specializes in home interior design with meticulous eye for furniture. His modern designs now include furniture in stainless steel