This Once-Forgotten Design Trend Is Back – and As a Designer, I Rely on It for Softer, More Beautiful Rooms

Interior designer Molly Kidd is one of Homes & Gardens' new Editors-At-Large for By Design, sharing her thoughts on decor through her lens of soft light, vintage pieces, and a sepia-tinged palette. See the rest of her articles here.

They say history repeats itself, and in design, the rhythm is familiar: finishes fall out of favor, resurface years later, and are rebranded as the next new interior design trend. Yet every so often, a material doesn’t so much return as quietly remind us it was never gone. Nickel is having that moment now – not as a revival, but as a reaffirmation.

Nickel, silver, pewter, and other silver-sheened finishes have always existed in the background of well-considered spaces. Think timeworn tumblers, heirloom cutlery, aged hardware – materials that don’t demand attention but earn it over time. Nickel doesn’t shout the way brass can, nor does it disappear like a true neutral. It occupies the space in between: cool but not cold, refined without feeling precious. Its current rise feels less like a trend cycle and more like a collective recalibration – a return to finishes that are enduring, intelligent, and deeply livable.

What makes nickel especially compelling today – at least at Molly Kidd Studio – is our renewed appreciation for living finishes. We’re increasingly drawn to materials that respond to daily life, that soften, shift, and develop character rather than resist it. Our work doesn’t chase perfection or sealed, static surfaces meant to remain untouched. Instead, we gravitate toward finishes that evolve.

Polished nickel ages with grace. It warms, gently dulls, and records the subtle story of the hands that pass over it. It doesn’t ask to be preserved; it rewards use. In that way, it reflects how many of us want to live now – beautifully, honestly, and with room for life to leave its mark.

There’s a quiet rebellion unfolding in design. Homeowners and designers alike are stepping away from novelty for novelty’s sake, resisting the constant push toward what’s new, louder, or more fleeting. Instead, there’s a return to what has always worked. Nickel belongs firmly in that lineage.

Historically, it was a mainstay in European kitchens, baths, and hardware – not because it was fashionable, but because it was practical, elegant, and enduring. It aged well. It made sense. That logic still holds.

What feels fresh now is not nickel itself, but how it’s being used. We’re seeing it paired with warmer stones, richly veined marbles, aged woods, plaster walls, buttery hues, and hand-glazed tile. Against these textures, nickel reads almost luminous – clean without being sterile. It brings light into a space without harsh reflection. In kitchens especially, polished nickel feels like a breath of air: crisp against cabinetry, elevated without tipping into luxury for luxury’s sake.

At Molly Kidd Studio, polished nickel has long lived alongside our use of unlacquered brass and antique bronze. Not the overly bright, factory-perfect version, but antique polished nickel – softened just enough to suggest history. It’s a finish that feels right, whether a home is five years old or one hundred. We return to it again and again because it doesn’t compete with the architecture; it complements it, allowing stone, wood, and light to lead the conversation.

There’s an emotional quality to nickel that’s difficult to define but instantly felt. It carries a quiet confidence – a sense of restraint. Choosing nickel doesn’t feel like making a statement; it feels like making a decision you’ll never second-guess.

In an era when homes are once again treated as long-term investments – places to grow, gather, and stay – those kinds of choices matter deeply.

That may be why nickel’s resurgence feels so natural. It aligns with a broader return to the classics: tailored upholstery, thoughtful floor plans, honest materials, and rooms designed for living rather than photographing. Nickel slips effortlessly into this mindset. It’s polished without being showy, timeless without feeling nostalgic, familiar yet quietly modern.

In the end, nickel isn’t so much trending as it is being remembered. And sometimes, the most forward-looking design choice is simply returning to what has always endured.