10 Ways to Decorate with Steel Around Your Home

There are dozens of different types of steel available today, and while it is one of the most-used materials for all types of building projects, it is also a great material that you can use to decorate around your home. If you’re looking for a few creative ways to use this material, here are 10 ideas for creative steel use around your house. You can find all the steel you need at the steel supermarket at Wasatch Steel.

1. Stainless Steel Appliances
Although it may not be the most creative way to decorate with steel, stainless steel appliances can bring a clean, modern look to any kitchen. They are available in several different finishes and brands to bring out the most from your kitchen.

2. Exposed Steel Beams
The “loft” look is popular in many big cities, and while you may not be ready to commit your entire home to this look, you can build in exposed steel beams to provide support to your home and provide a unique accent piece on the walls. You can also paint steel beams to match any accent color in your home.

3. Cabinet Hardware
The cabinets in your home provide an opportunity to express your style, and you can add a lot of flair with the hardware. You can find sleek styles at Wasatch Steel, or more ornate styles depending on the décor in your home. If you have a favorite design, you can even have the experts at the steel supermarket create custom steel decorations for you.

4. Stair Railings
Your stairs don’t have to be generic, and getting beautiful steel spindles and balusters can make your staircase into an eye-catching design element. Whether you opt for a more modern, traditional, or artistic look, you can find the right decorative steel spindles at Wasatch Steel.

5. Wall Décor
There are hundreds of ways you can use steel for wall décor, whether it’s a unique artistic piece, an abstract design, or even grating over your windows. You can even create your own wall décor with unique pieces of steel at Wasatch Steel.

6. Mirrors
With a great mirror in the center, steel can give you a beautiful outside design around the mirror and help the glass stand out on your wall.

7. Steel Lighting
Whether you want to get wall lighting, having something that hangs from the ceiling, or find a unique lamp, there are dozens of unique lighting options with steel. The durable material can help ensure your lighting holds up in the long run, and you can use either the more traditional metal color of steel, or paint it to match your other accents.

8. Home Accents
The possibilities of steel accents are almost unlimited, with options for steel vases, bowls, candles, clocks, and even figurines or statues. You can add flowers to vases or bowls, or accessorize with colorful candles to add color.

9. Window Hardware
Your drapes can add a lot of life to your windows, and using the right window hardware ensures that your drapes and your window hardware will draw people’s eyes.

10. Garden and Patio
Outside your home there are also several opportunities to decorate with steel. You can use steel to create landscape edging, have steel benches or other furniture outdoors, and add steel planters with flowers to create color and depth on your patio.

Steel provides you with endless possibilities to decorate around your home, and gives you the option to create any look you want from modern to traditional. It’s strength and beauty can add just the right look to any home, and you can find all the right steel pieces at Wasatch Steel.

Cor-Ten Steel: Common Uses and Benefits

Steel is an amazing product, with one of the highest strength-to-weight ratios of any metal, and a great price that makes it affordable for almost anyone to use on almost any project. When people think of steel, they often think of the sterile, shiny, silver look of “stainless steel”, but did you know there are actually several different looks that you can have when you build with steel? If you’re looking for a metal that has a slightly different appearance than the stainless steel look, check out weathered steel, most widely known as the trademark brand COR-TEN steel, and sometimes abbreviated as Cor-Ten or Corten steel.

The History of Cor-Ten Steel
Cor-Ten steel was actually developed so it could be used without the need to paint the surface, and for added protection from the effects of weather. The exterior takes on a rust-like appearance that steel might form if it had been exposed to rain and weather for many years. It was originally created and trademarked by the United States Steel Corporation (USS), and while they have since sold their steel plate business, USS continues to sell Cor-Ten steel.

Benefits of Cor-Ten Steel
Whenever metal is exposed to the elements, such as rain, wind, sun, and other atmospheric conditions, it can begin to rust. By weathering the steel in advance, as the Cor-Ten process does, the steel develops a protective layer that actually prevents the corrosion process, prolonging the useful life of the steel.

How it is Used
There are many different ways that this weathering technique can be used, from functional to decorative steel, and you can find these types at suppliers like Wasatch Steel. On the functional side, this process is often used for international shipping containers that will be exposed to the elements often as they travel across the sea and land from one destination to another, as well as railway cars that need to hold up for several decades of travel. It has also been used by engineers on roadways and bridges that will have to withstand many decades of weather and elements.

On the more artistic side, weathered steel has been used for buildings, sculptures, and landscapes. The first architectural use was the John Deere headquarters in Illinois, and some of the most famous architectural uses include the Chicago Picasso sculpture at the Daley Center Courthouse, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and Leeds Metropolitan University in the UK. Many artists looking for a unique hue and strong material for their artwork also use it.

Drawbacks to Cor-Ten Steel
While it is a great option for preserving and prolonging the life of steel, there are some potential negative consequences of using this material. Aesthetically speaking, if you are using welding, the weld points will not weather at the same rate as the steel without using special welding techniques. In addition, the steel is not impermeable to water or rust, so it may not work well in humid environments, and you still must use caution in the design to avoid water accumulate that can damage the metal. Finally, you cannot really paint weathered steel, because the paint negates the protective effects of the weathering.

To find this unique product, check out the selection and talk to the experts at the best steel supplier in Utah, Wasatch Steel.