Red-Hot Blues

Chrome sweet chrome. A lackluster office nowadays is one with nary a piece of metal in sight. From metal desks and chairs to steel file cabinets and paper trays, the industrialized look is decidedly in vogue.

"Steel, in general, just [offers a] basic look," says Nadir Safai, co-owner of Beverly Hills, California-based metal furniture restoration company Vintage Office. "It's not flashy--it's understated. And its beauty is in its simplicity."

Although he declines to give a percentage of growth, the 28-year-old Safai acknowledges that business is booming at Vintage Office. "That's why I'm doing [metal]," he says. "A lot of the offices are going this way."

Even mainstream retailers are riding the trend by doing such things as affixing stripes of stainless steel to awnings or using assorted metallic accents throughout their stores. Those who really want to go heavy on the metal can even substitute sheets of the stuff for wallpaper.

Not all that is metal need be austere, though. "[Steel] can be warmed up with fabrics," Safai points out, "or dressed down with concrete and wood." In other words, choose whatever look steels--er, steals--your fancy.

This article was originally published in the January 1997 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Red-Hot Blues.