Rusted steel is generally seen as a worn, stain-inducing industrial material. But it has been used in interiors, whether entire floors of Corten steel or mirrors in sealed rusted steel frames. The material is at once warm (the rusty hue and rough texture) and cool (the hard surface and cold steel)...
• 1 This isn't even rust or steel, but a pretty darn accurate steel-look porcelain tile from Tile City
• 2 Sun Globe of bronze and rust patina finish by Caldern Studio
• 3 Amsterdam Mirror from Wildflower Organics has a waxed rusted metal frame
• 4 Another steel-look tile from Suffolk Stone and Ceramics
• 5 The floor of this Fritz Hansen showroom in Milan is made of Corten steel.
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Comments (4)
I love rusted steel. And foggy old mirrors. Yeah, I'm the cheerful sort.
When we redid our kitchen last year we went to an architectural metals place and bought a 10-inch-wide, 1/2-inch-thick piece of raw steel to top a half-height wall between our kitchen and dining room. We had originally gotten a piece of steel from a place near us that builds trailers and such but that piece was a bit too rusty (it had been stored outdoors). Fortunately the original piece was cut to the wrong size (their fault) and we were able to return it and get a piece that was still raw but not too rusty (we did clean it with a steel cup brush on an angle grinder). We also built a bookcase and a rolling cart using steel angle irons as uprights (and IKEA butcher block as the shelves).
I actually make paintings of rusted steel. I bend the edges of the steel to make the shape of a gallery style canvas, and paint organic shapes onto the steel using acrylics. Usually I let the rust show me what to paint, and I enhance the markings already there.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=163192&l=a2ee380a79&id=780430693
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=163210&l=336a1da4b3&id=780430693
Beautiful...truly wabi sabi.