We take a made-to-order approach to design, welcoming you to adapt our collection to perfectly suit your vision. A major part of achieving that is our broad array of finishes and materials. They’re what make Tom’s ideas manifest in a vast cast of textures, colours, and forms. The level of choice does present some big decisions to be made, so we’ve pulled together a guide to get you started. Read on for an introduction to a few design directions and approaches you can take to combining finishes and materials with panache…
Lily stools finished in ‘Rose Pewter’ with cream upholstery
Working with a palette of warmth can help to create a natural sense of harmony between materials and finishes. Our specialist finishes are built up layer by layer, creating depth by weaving toasty tones into the bases of even our options with lighter, fresher top notes. ‘Rose Pewter’ has been a popular choice, introducing a shimmer of blush over a rich, grounded base. Pairing this with materials like creamy, textured upholstery or beautifully patterned, antiqued glass works wonderfully. ‘Iron Rose’ is an alternative that achieves a similar effect, while leaning towards a slightly deeper, more masculine palette.
Memphis round coffee table finished in ‘Rose Pewter’ with ‘Champagne’ verre églomisé (left) | ‘Iron Rose’ specialist finish sample (right)
If you tend toward a more crisp and contemporary look, our standard finishes should do the trick beautifully. We use a powder coating process that leaves an even, opaque surface. Bring warmth in by opting for tones like ‘Tuscan Red’ against clear glass, as exemplified on our Wave dining table, to maintain a polished, modern interior design scheme.
Wave rectangular dining table finished in ‘Tuscan Red’ with clear glass
Lily stool finished in ‘Anthracite’ with blue bouclé
Similarly, you can create a sense of cohesion by working with cool colours across your finishes and materials. Our Lily stool takes on a new character when you opt for a clean, inky standard finish like ‘Anthracite’. Pair that with a beautifully tactile material like bouclé to add intrigue, while keeping the look harmonious with deep blue colouring.
Skye console finished in ‘Ultramarine’ and ‘Navy’ with clear glass + Skye stool finished in ‘Ultramarine’ and ‘Navy’ with ‘Atlantic’ leather
Bringing multiple standard finishes together across one design can develop a sense of depth. Our Skye collection shines in a combination of ‘Navy’ on the exterior surfaces and ‘Ultramarine’ on the interior face of the design’s oblong cutout. This mixture alone brings enough visual interest, allowing you to keep the material pairings streamlined and simple. Clear glass and colour-matched leather upholstery is all that’s needed to finish off the look.
Flint console finished in ‘Moon Silver’ with Silver Wave Satinato marble
For a more classic yet cool effect, we’d suggest working with lighter specialist finishes like ‘Moon Silver’. This looks especially lovely against the stony, arctic tones of a marble like Silver Wave Satinato, creating drama and depth while keeping the result congruous.
Skye console II in polished and patinated stainless steel with visible welds
The materials we work with in our designs are often eye-catching enough to create a showstopping effect through simply treating them in a manner that brings out their intrinsic beauty. Steel, for example, is a material of many faces. Combining polished and patinated surfaces, as we’ve done in the case of our Skye console II above, creates an exchange between slick and characterful qualities. Leaving the welds visible helps to emphasise this hand-hewn approach to celebrating materiality.
Lily cocktail table in a ‘Moon’ finish with Rosso Luana marble (left) | Edge side table finished in ‘Antique Bronze’ with polished bronze (right)
Our more elemental finishes like ‘Moon’ or polished bronze are not, in fact, finishes as much as they are treatments of the material, itself. The ‘Moon’ effect, for example, is achieved by heating, cooling, and hammering steel, in turn encouraging the metal to behave almost like shale, chipping off to reveal a beautifully tapered form with a uniquely craggy texture. If you’d like to take the look a step further, we suggest opting for other natural materials like marble to amplify the sense of the elemental.
Skye bench in dull polished bronze
Angel oval dining table finished in ‘Bronze’ with walnut wood
Some materials seem to be made for one another. Natural, timeless options like walnut wood sit very nicely alongside ‘Bronze’ finished metal, finding harmony in notes of caramel and burnt umber. The two make a fine team in our Angel oval dining table, with each flowing curve and crisp edge bringing their complexity into full relief. Adding a tactile material against the metal forms of Tom’s designs brings a new dimension to classically captivating forms.
Angel dining chair finished in ‘Mariposa Verde’ with leather
Leather is a fabulous option in this regard. We’d recommend colour matching any leather upholstery to the metal finish on the body of the piece. Our Angel chair in our ombre effect ‘Marisposa Verde’ finish with slightly rouged brown leather upholstery shows just how well this approach can work in creating a contemporary effect using timeless materials.
Tiffany dining chair finished in ‘Bronze’ with shaggy shearling
For a touch of the unexpected, we invite you to go bold on upholstery materials against a clean and classic form. The wonderfully simple form of our Tiffany dining chair, for instance, takes on a whole new character when paired with a shaggy shearling seat. Working within the same colour family across materials and finishes brings the look together, producing a delightfully original yet harmonious effect.
Memphis rectangular coffee table finished in ‘Rose Pewter’ with clear glass
If you’re working with an eye to creating a beautifully matched, modern look, we recommend going for clean materials like glass and marble. Pair them with richer finishes to develop an intriguing interplay. Our Memphis coffee table exemplifies this approach with undulating curves cast in a ‘Rose Pewter’ specialist finish set against a clear glass rectangular top.
Ava round dining table in ‘Bottle Green’ patinated bronze with Rose Noir marble
If opting for a more characterful marble like Rose Noir, it often works well to pick up on unique tones within its veining, reflecting them in your chosen finish. In the case of our Ava dining table above, we’ve achieved this by going for a base in ‘Bottle Green’ patinated bronze. This seafoam colouration creates a sense of unity which ensures bold colour choices appear in absolute harmony.
Capricorn oval dining table finished in ‘Charcoal’ with Calacatta Oro marble
When in doubt, you can’t go wrong with a black and white, tonal look. Consider combining a classic material like Calacatta Oro marble with a crisp steel base finished in ‘Charcoal’. The effect is clean, timeless, and guaranteed to work every time.
If you’d like a hand in selecting the perfect material and finish combination, we are always happy to help. Simply get in touch with a member of our team, who can guide you through our library of options to settle on an ideal match.
Text by Annabel Colterjohn
