Furniture trend: Combining metal and wood

Wood and metal. One is natural. One is refined. One is rich and exudes warmth. The other tends to be austere. Wood says luxury, and metal says usefulness.

Though these materials may seem at odds with one another, furniture designers have been combining them in ways that are becoming quite popular with designers and homeowners.

"It's definitely a trend," Huntington designer Katharine Posillico says. "You see it in many small furniture shops in Manhattan."

Sea Cliff designer Margreet Cevasco agrees, adding that metal and wood furniture pieces can also be found in chain retail stores, a sure sign of a growing trend.

AN ACCESSIBLE, VERSATILE COMBINATION

Posillico says the price range for metal and wood furniture runs the gamut, with custom-made pieces at the high end of the spectrum to more affordable pieces available at retail furniture stores.

Among the attributes designers favor about this combination is its solidity. "The furniture is very forgiving," says Carter Samain. "A lot of the pieces are made with warm or distressed finishes and are very durable." So, unlike more delicate furniture, the wood-and-metal pieces tend to be easier to live with, particularly if you have an active household.

Finally, designers and homeowners like the furniture for its versatility and visual interest. "You can use it simply or in artistic ways," says Posillico.

WORKS WITH DIFFERENT STYLES

Cevasco recently incorporated wood and metal elements in a room she designed for the Designer Showcase at Chestnut Manor in Upper Brookville. Using wood cabinet panels as a backdrop for a stainless steel-framed fireplace -- which also included a metallic textured-vinyl upholstered mantel with a slate shelf -- Cevasco says the combination of wood and metal has been gaining popularity over the last few years. For one thing, it is a versatile combination and lends itself to different styles.

"It can be used in contemporary design, using stainless steel and more refined, lacquered, shiny woods, or in a more rustic style using iron and more natural-looking wood," she says.

Posillico agrees, adding that you can adapt different pieces to various design motifs. "It all depends on how you combine the pieces," she says. "If you want a contemporary look in your room, you might choose a sofa that's a mix of fabric and metal to offset your wood and metal piece. If you prefer a rustic setting, you might have a fully upholstered sofa instead. The look goes with the pairing of other pieces."

She says that wood and metal furniture "probably wouldn't work as well in a traditional-style room."

TWO MATERIALS, MANY USES

When people think of furniture that uses metal and wood, tables usually come to mind. But furniture comes in many different styles and types. Along with a rustic style cocktail table she just ordered for a client, Cevasco says, "we do mirrors with wooden insets and metal exterior frames and even chandeliers that combine wood and metal."

Cevasco recently renovated a home in Lattingtown in which the dining room was converted into a living area and the kitchen made into a kitchen and dining room combo. She chose a wood and metal chandelier, as well as wood and metal sconces to tie the area together. "It's kind of casual but also a little dressy, so it has the feeling of a dining room. The chandelier really pulled everything together," she says.

Port Washington designer Gail Tarasoff recently remodeled a dining room that incorporates wood and metal throughout. It includes a wood dining table, suede bench with metal legs, a metal chandelier, two pedestals with wood tops and metal legs and two wood and mirror sideboards. The finishing touch to the room is a large wooden swirl work of art painted to look like metal.

"Wood and metal is a great, great combination," says Tarasoff. "People are leaning toward leaner and sleeker lines, and you can really achieve that with these materials."

FURNITURE AS AN AESTHETIC

Like Cevasco, Posillico also designed a room at Chestnut Manor. Called "The Playhouse," Posillico's room was created as a space for family and friends to enjoy recreational time. It featured several wood and metal pieces -- a wooden bistro table with metal strapping, a coffee table with metal legs with a teak top and a pingpong table created by Huntington woodworker and furniture maker Axel Yberg.

Using seven species of wood including white and yellow oak and mahogany, the ping-pong table incorporates mirrors on the table's sides, a glass insert through which you can see the metal piping used for the table's base and metal strapping around the sides of the table.

Yberg, who has an architectural background and has been working with wood for several years, began making wood and metal furniture about 18 months ago, when he constructed a coffee table for his mother-in-law.

"I was remodeling my mother-in-law's house and we couldn't find the right coffee table for her, so I decided to make one," Yberg recalls. Inspired by the sculptor Kenneth Snelson, Yberg's table -- which he calls "Reverse Dowry" -- is made from reclaimed ipe wood, stainless cable, aluminum and glass.

Encouraged by an architect to pursue his innovative furniture making, Yberg began making more pieces and showed his work at this year's International Contemporary Furniture Fair in Manhattan. Since then, he has created and been commissioned to design several new pieces, including the pingpong table for Posillico.

Another piece by Yberg featured at the Designer Showcase is a table called "By a String" that incorporates stainless steel stair stringers with inlays of walnut on the top, finished with a live edge made of white oak. The legs are composed of small strips of exotic woods edged in brushed steel.

Williston Park designer Esther Carter Samain asked Yberg to create a table for the room she and Mario Mulea designed called "Haven," a library and salon. Carter Samain says she was drawn to Yberg's wood and metal furniture. "The combination drew me. I like the mix of industrial feeling of the metal with the wood. There is something really timeless about it. It has an organic feel that makes it feel familiar . . . like you've seen it before," she says.