10 Chrome Decorating Ideas That Add Cool Contrast to Your Home

In this kitchen, designer Corey Damen Jenkins used a lot of gold and yellow hues alongside the darker backsplash, countertops, and flooring. To balance out the gold tones a bit, Jenkins chose to accent the space with chrome details, including the silver range hood, hardware, and even the champagne bucket and vase on the countertop pictured here. They’re the kind of details you don’t even notice until you’re looking for them, but they help make the kitchen feel so much cooler and brighter.

Tour the Entire Home

We love bold moments at House Beautiful, and the chrome wallpaper that designer Lisa Tharp put up in this bathroom makes just such a sleek statement. The somewhat reflective wallcovering with pink details creates a modern vignette that doesn’t feel overwhelming. But because the wallpaper is so eye-grabbing, there doesn’t need to be much more decor in the jewel-box space.

Tour the Entire Home

Many chrome details feature a clean, extremely shiny finish—but you don’t have to follow that trend. You can always choose to add a patinaed chrome accent in your home if your style veers more on the moody side of the design spectrum.

Joyce Downing Pickens of JDP Interiors was asked to bring charm back into this 1899 townhouse, by infusing elegance, drama, and a neutral color palette into the interior. While pops of shiny chrome likely would’ve worked in this space, Pickens chose to go the more vintage-looking route and hung a reflective piece with a healthy patina over the dark fireplace. It adds just the right amount of modernity without feeling out of place.

Tour the Entire Home

“I love the reflective qualities of chrome and find myself using it most often in spaces that have lots of decorative warmth and depth,” says designer Hilary Walker. But she cautions that “a little goes a long way.” The metallic finish brings a welcome element of modernity and shine, but it can easily overpower a space. She recommends adding it in through simple accents, such as a task lamp like the one pictured in this office, photographed by Jeff Jones.

Related Story: Magnolia’s Director of Styling Reveals Her Midcentury Waco Home Renovation

Look back to the heyday of chrome decor—there’s a reason why so many of these designs have stood the test of time. Take these Bauhaus-inspired chairs which Walker used to add classic midcentury style to this living room—the design was extremely popular in that era. Selecting tried-and-true pieces from that time period works almost like a cheatsheet for decorating with chrome.

In this neutral-toned bathroom, designer Allison Handler chose chrome hardware for the faucet, knobs, and cabinet pulls, pairing the sleek finish with organic materials. Handler says that mixing chrome with marble, terracotta, and wood adds a touch of modernity and “tones down the starkness” of the material, muting it a bit so that the chrome doesn’t steal the show.

In a room with all matte finishes, the interior can look a little flat. Bring a chrome accent into the decor and you create so much dimension, thanks to the reflective, metallic surface. In this dining room, designer Emily Del Bello chose two large chrome chandeliers to float above the dining table. “Chrome adds depth, texture, and a polished look,” Del Bello says. “Its reflective quality enhances light, making a room feel brighter and more dynamic. Mixed with other materials, it creates contrast and elevates the space.”

Too much chrome in a room can feel cold, but pairing the finish with soft upholstery gives the room a more refined, balanced look, says Danielle Chiprut of Danielle Rose Design Co. “Chrome adds a crisp, reflective quality to a space, helping to balance richer colors and matte textures,” she explains. You want your home to feel inviting, and using chrome in small batches can help achieve that.