INDUSTRIAL STYLE: INTRODUCTION
Rough walls, exposed bricks, resins, concrete, maybe all together and inside a loft: they are the key elements of an industrial style furnishing project.
That this is an inflated style there is no doubt: we have seen it everywhere, but what does industrial furniture really mean?
From celebrity homes to restaurants, to hotels, where the protagonists are recycled objects, vintage furniture, pieces of machinery resting on the ground as if they had no location, in bad environments that, as if by magic, they become beautiful.
Furthermore, the trend towards savings has certainly facilitated the entry of industrial style into our imagination, influenced by the fluctuating economic crisis of the last decades.
And so it is recycled, reused, and what is old is repaired and called vintage.
As if there was a desire to return to something of the past, tell us about authenticity, and historical heritage: here is a guide to really know what industrial style is.
ORIGIN
The furniture industrial born in the 50s in New York with the recovery and reuse of which were previously used to house offices, industries, business centers.
Since then, thousands of old warehouses and storerooms have been reclaimed and used as homes, claiming the beauty of the factories.
It then came to fame thanks to American films and TV series set in these spaces, and, moreover, thanks to the emergence of Pop Art headed by Andy Warhol and his Factory.
The industrial style slowly asserted itself in the metropolises to then conquer even the smallest local realities.
In fact, today, with the tendency to avoid further exploitation of soil and the consequent recovery of spaces, the Industrial-style apartments are increasing significantly.
CHARACTERISTICS
The industrial style starts from the choice of the living space: loft, open space they are the most suitable, as they have large and airy rooms with few partitions, they perfectly imitate real industrial spaces.
In fact, it is characterized by a particular design, based on sober, essential and clear lines. In fact, in this way the furnishings are functional, absolutely basic and made of resistant materials.
In addition, they are equipped with a robust simplicity and a grunge charm that allows them to be inserted in any environment, from the living room to the kitchen, from the bathroom to the bedroom, in a very original way.
And it is precisely for this reason that we design and furnish in industrial sitle is not a simple operation.
In fact, you need to choose the right space, design and furnish it without falling into monotony, to avoid the risk to create cold and not very welcoming environments.
To do this it is necessary to have open but not dispersive spaces, to choose raw materials but warm, essential but balanced furnishings.
Industrial furniture is increasingly appreciated thanks to its characteristics: it is modern, dynamic and at the same time whimsical.
INDUSTRIAL PLANNING
An industrial environment is an open space in which, given the absence of internal partitions, it presents the load-bearing structure in view.
In fact, it often consists of reinforced concrete pillars, or, even more frequently, of cast iron columns.
In fact, the rooms are usually very high and often double height, with the presence of mezzanines, which are accessed through iron stairs and in which we find study areas, offices, and sleeping areas.
If we are on the top floor of a building, the roof slab will have exposed beams, in wood or steel, the implants will be clearly visible.
In fact, the industrial style par excellence wants pipes are not hidden but clearly visible.
The floors are made with an industrial resin or polished concrete, so as not to have joints and give an additional feeling of continuity.
The perimeter walls are left rough, with light plaster in shades of white, cream, turtle dove or recovered exposed brick. On the other hand, a real industrial space almost always has a wall with rough bricks or finished with a coat of paint.
In addition, the windows are very large, just to give brightness and air to the rooms. In fact, aluminum frames often have a quadrangular scan with alternating fixed and openable parts.
Ferrous metals are clearly the most popular but, to avoid making cold environments, even wood and copper are very suitable.
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
The final touch in a loft is given by the furniture.
In this case, more than any other, choose the right pieces for the furniture for the furnishing represents the most difficult operation. With few elements, in fact, you will have to connote the environment according to the chosen style .
And the industrial style is made of essential, recycled pieces, vintage objects and furniture with clean lines.
In fact, industrial style does not hide, it shows.
Beams, pipes, bricks, and whoever has more, put more. Furthermore, if you have chosen this style in any room of the house, then you must keep in mind all these structural aspects that any other style would have tried to hide.
Furniture also escapes the perfection of mass-produced furniture and let the light highlight the welds and imperfections of the paintwork.
FURNISH THE DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS
The living area is often composed of an open kitchen with peninsula and work surfaces on which machinery and systems are clearly visible. In addition, the table is made up of a wooden recovery floor with stylized and essential chairs.
Instead, the living room presents sofas with soft leather shapes perhaps placed around a cast iron stove, a typical element of the industrial style.
The sleeping area tries to become more welcoming with the use of rugs, bed linen, fabrics with soft and warm colors. In addition, to give a truly industrial impression to the room, it is appropriate to opt for concrete, porcelain stoneware or untreated raw wood surfaces.
An industrial style kitchen is characterized by the use of natural materials, such as wood and stone, that give the idea of life.
The style is essentially sober, clean and rigorous, with rough finishes, that remembering those of the old factories of the past.
Finally, the service rooms have the same shape as the classic ones, with an extra touch of concrete and glass in the choice of materials.
The true industrial style wants the furnishings, often recovered, like old clocks, wardrobes, ferrous elements of machinery, they are placed on the ground, as if they were temporary, without a real location.
COLOR
If there is a color that should never be missing in your industrial-style home is gray.
In fact, metal furniture or lamps recall industrial furnishings, but also the fabrics for the sofa or bed can perform this function, if in gray.
This color can also be combined with beige, white and black. If you want to bring some contrasting color you can always do it with a piece of furniture outside the range of dominant colors.
FURNITURE
The industrial style foresees the choice of a few essential pieces, if possible of recovery, as vintage objects found in all the antiques markets of the world.
Because the whole concept revolves around industrial style it is the requalification of the ugly to make it beautiful, without hiding or renovating, but showing the potential of the buildings that house the houses, there is almost always a tendency to show “what’s underneath”.
Therefore beams, pipes, bricks are almost always visible.
So yes to robust furniture with clean geometries and grunge charm, rustic colors that create continuity between walls and floors.
Finally, leather armchairs and sofas, wooden and metal chairs, ceiling and neon lamps, coffee tables made from unused pallets and put back together.
LIGHT
Light is very important in this type of style because it manages to lighten the atmosphere, since elements such as metal furniture can be visually heavy.
The contribution of natural light, filtered by large windows and windows with fixtures as simple as possible from an aesthetic point of view, is essential.
In fact, giving a right light to large environments is very difficult, it is necessary to create a lighting project commensurate with the activities that will take place there.
Finally, you can look for bulky and large lamps that bring direct light into the room and maintain the industrial spirit of the 1950s New York lofts.
In fact, floor lamps and spotlights will alternate with suspended ones whose threads must be clearly visible to recall perfectly the conformation of a factory.
VERSATILITY
Industrial style coexists with any other decoration, and this is precisely one of its main advantages.
In fact, if in a living room you have a marble fireplace, this will not collide with exposed bricks, metal coffee table and industrial lamps.
On the contrary, this anachronistic touch will have a very special effect in the living room, bringing a sense of warmth and welcome.
CONCLUSIONS
As we have just seen, industrial style has been in vogue lately, especially among the younger generations.
This is due, on the one hand, to the great influence that celebrities and prominent personalities who live in such environments have and, also, to the TV series set in the New York of the 1950s, where, in fact, this style is born.
It is a very particular style, it adapts well to any type of design combination with few conditions, such as for example: large spaces, mostly metallic colors and not to hide beams, partitions etc.
By following the advice in this article, you will be easily able to furnish your home following the basic principles of this style. In any case, the advice is not to overdo it, industrial style does not need of bright colors or too many furnishings.
So, give vent to your imagination and furnish your home as you have always dreamed of!
LEAVE A COMMENT
If you liked the article leave a comment with your considerations about it! We will be happy to receive your advices.
Also, if you need a guide or simply of some more specific tips to decorate your home according to this style, send an email to valeriadesign@gmail.com! We will reply as soon as possible!