Contemporary, vintage, hippie, Scandinavian, and futuristic, we have seen all sorts of styles dominate interior design in the past decades. Regardless of what is in, we can all agree that each can effectively quench a certain longing for familiarity in our living spaces. Industrial design, while it sounds yet strange to combine with industrial ones, offers the same familiar and nostalgic feeling. Here are some popular industrial designs that could send you way back to the 1800s but still highlight the best features of your home:
Brick Wall Accent
Perhaps, none is as iconic of industrial design as having an unpolished look. It only makes sense that the first thing that pops in our head when thinking of this style is brick wall accents. Although they’re not the actual concrete blocks that make up our room’s four corners, bricks exude durability reminiscent of how industrial facilities were built for centuries.
Likewise, the fiery red tinge of these bricks adds a toasty and almost homier feeling than plain drywall, which explains why they’re a popular design choice for cafes and restaurants. You’d be lying if you aren’t reminded of that pleasant cafe ambiance when your eyes land on a brick wall.
Now, accenting just a single wall or several of them is all up to you. Just be careful to not over embellish as you want to add only the right amount of character to an otherwise boring part of your home. Sometimes, a brick wall could work to give an illusion of more height especially when perpendicular with a window making it perfect for wall decor such as portraits or hanging potted plants, if not for a hallway or where your fireplace is.
Concrete Flooring
You may have grown tired of your tiled floors because, not only are they tough to clean, the neutral colors on the brighter side of the spectrum also don’t enthuse you anymore. This is another sign that an industrial makeover may just be what you need for your house. Concrete flooring doesn’t only look stylish, especially if you make it glossy with a polymer coating, they are also very durable, resistant to dampness, easier to clean than tiles, and, therefore, will save you loads on maintaining it.
If you’re into that almost chrome look, you can even apply the same concrete finish to your walls. Although they’re dark, they also surprisingly give a larger illusion making your room feel spacier and cozier. Unless the staining is done sloppily, the unpolished vibe concrete walling gives will mask small stains, which otherwise you can’t do with light-painted walls, therefore adding to its cost-efficient benefits.
Exposed Piping and Other Mechanical Elements
One more noticeable feature industrial interiors have is their exposed piping and ducting. While seeing these uncovered structures makes us feel uneasy as they might leak any time, keeping them that way has gained massive popularity lately for their easy accessibility when they’re due for cleaning or repair. If you want exposed piping for your kitchen, for example, make sure to agree with your trusted licensed general contracting company to keep a good distance between the pipes and wall so that both are accessible when cleaning.
If these pipes are repainted with an attractive copper shade, they give, say your powder room, a more mechanical but still stylish look. Add a fancy soft white light bulb above your sink and make your powder room more worth lounging in. You can also repurpose objects that hold a conventionally industrial purpose into furniture or decor; an old sewing machine turned into a foyer table or crates turned into coffee tables or ottoman chairs are perfect examples.
Pendant Lighting
Aside from bulbs, pendant lighting could also add a great industrial flair to your home. They’re not only easy to install, but they also give more than a decent amount of light on focused areas making them perfect for specific activities such as working, studying, or even playing games. Because they flexibly hang by a cord, pendant lights can be installed in houses with tall ceilings and bring light down where it is necessary.
The attraction in industrial interior design lies in its simplicity. The fact that wooden, metal, and concrete elements are presented in their rawest forms and yet they impress any observer so much is enough reason for you to try it for your home. We are in an era that is breaking down conventions on how houses should look, so it is never bad to explore more styles that deliver more function and ambiance improvement such as industrial ones.