Industrial interiors, otherwise known as industrial interiors, are characterized by simplicity, minimalism and present us with an almost raw home. As a result, they are economical and very spacious. Such rooms are characterized by unplastered walls, it can be just brick or concrete, visible plumbing elements, open spaces free from dividing walls. It can be very interesting to equip the interior of a private house in an industrial style, where we have a large area for the realization of our fantasies, and many solutions can be partially implemented already at the construction stage. What features are characterized by a loft and how to implement them in practice - this article is devoted to these issues.
The main features of the loft
The above crude design didn't come out of nowhere. The interior design of the loft house reminds us of the premises of the era of the industrial revolution. The easiest way to create such an atmosphere is in a private country house with high ceilings and large windows, but it can also be arranged in an apartment or in a more modest house. Just a few tricks in interior design will help with this task. The main features of the style are as follows:
- Large open space. It is important to remember one thing: neither furniture nor walls play the first violin here, but only space. The premises should be large and open, so to implement such a solution in the apartment, some walls or doorways will have to be demolished. It is desirable to provide elements of industrial style in a country house at the construction stage.
- The presence of raw harsh finishes- these features will provide brick, concrete, open pipes and other elements.
- Minimalism- the absence of a large number of accessories and jewelry, the severity of forms.
- Industrial furniture and decorative elements - all furniture and decorations should be strict, functional, practical.
Loft style in the interior of a country house - photo of the living room, kitchen
Country house loft under construction and finishing
If you want to equip a country house or a loft-style apartment, then it is better to think about it at the construction or finishing stage. Here, first of all, it is necessary to provide for the organization of open space, if possible, it is necessary to get rid of most of the walls and expand the doorways. Thus, a large surface area will be divided only in terms of its purpose. This large space will have separate areas for the bedroom, living room, dining room or kitchen.
At this stage, you should also pay attention to the floor. A great idea is to choose wood flooring. Raw concrete, although very characteristic of an industrial space, can be very cold in a residential space. As an option, you can finish the floor with tiles imitating concrete or even iron and install a warm floor under the tiles. Such a solution will be practical, but it is worth considering that in the summer we will not turn on the heated floor, so the floors will be cold in the warm season.
What materials are typical?
A fashionable country house should have characteristic materials in decoration, for example:
- glass;
- tree;
- metal;
- unplastered brick;
- unfinished concrete walls.
In the case of this interior design, you do not have to worry about how to hide the pipes. Moreover, they must be highlighted.
Loft-style house interior - photo
Of course, you should always remember about safety. All exposed cables must be protected, for example with corrugations. 
Wood and metal are present everywhere. A good decoration would be an iron staircase with strict straight lines.
No forged elements with flowers and monograms, only discreet straight forms. These stairs can also be twisted and spiral in modern design.
Industrial furniture and decorations
The industrial interior is dominated by designer furniture, as well as industrial decor components that add uniqueness to the home and create a special climate.
The combination of industrial and natural materials is an unusual solution, which nevertheless creates a kind of balance inside the house. Spacious sofas and armchairs, upholstered in natural-coloured fabrics, perfectly complement the look of the living room.
Tastefully chosen equipment and accessories can look like decorations or theater props. You can also take it one step further and use wood pipes and rods in your interior design.
Furniture that has a long history or looks worn will look good here. She emphasizes individuality. Remember also that its size should be as large as possible, since furniture, small in size, located in a country house with large rooms, will give the impression of being miniature.
Windows and their decoration
In most loft interiors, you will see huge, undecorated windows in fashion magazines. This option can be afforded in a private country house, surrounded by a garden and hidden from the prying eyes of strangers.
However, we do not always have such an opportunity and often, even in a private house, the windows overlook the street or neighboring houses. If you don't want the neighbors to see your every move, then you should choose industrial blinds or Roman blinds for window decoration. They will let in a lot of light.
Color palette
In this interior, the color of the finishing materials to some extent dictates the color palette. Despite this, it can be tempting to introduce bright accents into a dark and toned interior, which is dominated by all shades of gray. In this house, they can be used without fear, as the tall windows typical of this style provide ample light. High ceilings, discreet decorations, cool colors and large spaces are the hallmarks of industrial design.
A combination of black and white is also typical. This classic combination works well not only in the industrial living room, but also in the kitchen, where you can choose, for example, black tables and countertops and match them with white tiles. White painted bricks, pipes painted with white paint will create both a background and a stylish decor.
An interesting solution may be the original ceiling. You can just paint it gray, as in the photo above. Unique atmosphere guaranteed!
An industrial interior needs colors that can visually enlarge the space, as well as give a feeling of coolness and neutrality - so pure whites and grays are the best. In order to neatly break them up, add-ons in shades of turquoise (patina and platinum) or dark red (brick and rust) should be used.
Eclecticism
An industrial interior may contain elements from other styles, however, it is important that all the components together match each other. Mixing different elements requires intuition. If you are not sure, it is better not to experiment in this direction.
tall plants
Want to learn how to enrich an industrial interior and make it a little warmer? Instead of throwing little embellishments all over the place, opt for one distinct accent. Tall plants will perfectly fulfill this role. Natural elements enliven the room, filling it with comfort.
And for starters, a little financial sketch.
In finishing stores, I found tiles for at least 405 rubles. per square meter. And she is not very, some kind of small, not very natural in appearance.
And that tile, which at least 70% satisfies my taste, costs around 700 rubles. per metre. And then it is too "new", and I wanted to achieve the effect of an old wall.
Plus, you need to consider that laying tiles by a master will cost at least 500 rubles per meter. Plus glue, I have no idea how much it costs.
Total runs from 1200 rubles. per square - this is the minimum (with the desired design)! And my need for this finish is about 15 m.
In addition, the thickness of the finished tile + glue does not satisfy me at all, it is too large for my conditions.
In general, I had already abandoned the idea of making such a decor, when all of a sudden!
Suddenly the idea came to do it yourself, by hand, to do miracles with your own hands, but in such a way that the process was as simple and pleasant as possible, and the effect was the most desired.
So, the whole creative process: design, preparation of tools, implementation.
1. Search for an image on the Internet
I chose this photo of the wall. I liked its texture, jagged lines, old age and wear, a kind of not a raid of time, but time itself.
2. Stencil preparation
I placed this picture in corel draw, circled the fragment.
To be honest, I spent about a day (along with other things) making a matching pattern and also calculating the size of the future stencil that I needed and convenient for me.
3. Making a stencil
I ordered the production of a PET stencil in an advertising production. PET is the material from which plastic bottles are made. Any products are made from a PET sheet by means of laser (or milling) cutting according to a vector file.
Here's what happened. I made two of these, slightly different in design and size.
And this was the first material waste in the amount of 670 rubles.
4. Purchase of materials
The second and last material cost is the purchase of gypsum putty about 500 rubles. per bag 20 kg. I had enough of such a bag for 6.5 square meters. Those. need two more. The total issue price for 15 meters of a brick wall is 500 * 3 + 670 = 2170. Well, let's add masking tape here for auxiliary work, so be it.
More than two thousand issue price against from 18,000 rubles. There is a difference?
All right, all right, let's increase the cost by the price of the paint, I'll just paint it matte white.
Although I still planned to paint the wall tiled and the wall without tiles white, so these costs do not count.
5. Manufacturing process
a) Attach the stencil to the prepared surface with masking tape. It is advisable to use the level like a real bricklayer :)
The surface is prepared as desired.
In my case, the wall is leveled with putty, because. I didn't originally plan to do this. But, in order to achieve the effect of the naturalness of the seams and the curvature of the old wall, it is better not to level it at all, but only soak it well with a primer. Thus, the word "achieve" is completely inappropriate here)).
So, depending on the desired effect, the wall needs to be leveled or curved to the extent that you wish.
b) Dilute a little putty to a state of thick sour cream.
Here you will have to experimentally select the amount of the mixture and water, you need to somehow count, estimate, remember. I diluted the mixture in a small bucket and mixed with a regular kitchen mixer. In a volume of about two liters of the mixture per 0.3 m square area (this is the area of \u200b\u200bmy stencil).
v) Apply an even layer of mortar on the wall over the stencil with a spatula.
It is convenient to use two spatulas, large and small, it is somewhat similar to working with a brush and a palette.
G) Flatten artistically. That is, not really bothering, because it will be an old brick "in a light haze of past centuries."
Here the task is to make a layer with a thickness of 3 to 8-10 mm, and even leaving uneven streaks.
You can make completely dents, potholes, there is no limit to fantasy.
e) Carefully remove the stencil. Put it on a clean surface (for example, the floor) and collect the remaining solution with a spatula, it will still come in handy.
e) Carefully consider the resulting bricks and adjust the thickness with a spatula and the remains of the mortar according to your desire and taste.
g) Carefully “tread down” irregularities with a wet sponge, correct the surface of the bricks.
This process can, and sometimes needs to be repeated when the solution sets and hardens a little.
h) To avoid the effect of gypsum blotches on a flat wall, you can dilute the solution to "liquid sour cream" and paint over the wall with an ordinary brush, paying special attention to the contours of the brick. This is when all the forms are already dry.
I) If desired, you can grind the bricks with sandpaper.
At this stage, I get this wall.
I will trim it, correct it to my inner “enough”, and then paint it white matte with ordinary acrylic paint for facades and interiors, the most resistant to dirt and washing.
Actions h) and i) have not yet been applied in these photos. The seams need to be curved, the joints to be covered up, but the picture as a whole is clear.
Today it is the variability of various style decisions. Freedom in the organization of residential and non-residential premises, the lack of fashion for certain areas makes it possible to realize any flight of fancy, as well as arranging apartments and houses in accordance with one's own taste preferences. It is not for nothing that the loft style has won recognition among fans of unusual design ideas.
loft?
Decorating an apartment or house in a loft style means emphasizing your originality and knowledge of current design trends. Design specialists often offer this interior trend to people who are prone to individuality and self-expression, as well as who do not like congestion in interior design. The feeling of space is one of the features of this popular destination.
The loft style got its development at the beginning of the 20th century, when the cost of land increased sharply in the center of New York. In this regard, the production buildings of plants and factories began to be transferred to the outskirts of the city, and the old ones were converted into housing. The premises were divided into zones, equipped with a kitchen, toilet and bathroom.
Thus, the first apartments in were industrial buildings converted into housing stock (loft in English - "attic"). Hence - asceticism and urbanization in the modern design of loft interiors.
Initially, the loft style was used to decorate rooms like studio apartments and did not imply division into rooms and zones. In this regard, it was not possible to design a house in the loft style. Over time, this direction has gone beyond its once stable boundaries. And more and more often one could meet country houses and cottages decorated in the loft style.
Distinctive features of loft-style rooms
The premises, decorated in the traditions of loft design, cannot be confused with any other stylistic trend. These design solutions are distinguished by special characteristics that are not inherent in any other interiors:
- a combination of refined, refined forms with rough ones;
- maximum space;
- the presence of unhidden pipes;
- brickwork or decor that imitates it;
- wooden beams and massive poles;
- rough finishing of walls and ceilings (often imitating plaster, without subsequent painting).
Eclecticism is another of the features of the loft. A mixture of different styles distinguishes this direction from others. For example, the interior of a loft-style house can be organized by combining furniture elements of different design trends.
Finishing facilities
Loft renovation is necessarily carried out with the maintenance of an industrial, urban orientation.
Walls inside the room, decorated with brickwork or rough plaster, are a normal occurrence when creating an interior in this style solution.
The loft-style ceiling is often adorned with wooden beams, creating an attic atmosphere. Such elements can be complemented by massive pillars that give the room a special, incomparable comfort. A sure sign of this original architectural solution is the characteristic plank floor. The loft-style ceiling can be decorated not only in the living room, but also in other living areas of the house.
And if you see that the facade of the building is decorated with a lot of glass and plastic, there is rough brickwork and no bright colors, then you can be sure that you have a loft-style house in front of you.
Loft furniture in the interior
A characteristic feature of the interior design in the loft style is the combination of furniture of various design trends. Bold decisions give the interior even more originality.
In the loft bedroom, it would be appropriate to combine an absolutely classic wardrobe with an ultra-modern bed. Vintage pieces of furniture are in perfect harmony with fashion accessories.
Both country houses and city apartments in the center of the metropolis can be equipped with rough authentic furniture - for example, wooden benches, chairs and stools. Next to such items, an expensive leather one can easily be located. Such decisions are not forbidden by the rules for organizing a loft interior.
The abundance of open shelves and niches is a characteristic feature of the interior in the loft style.
Accessories and room decoration in loft style
A loft-style house must be equipped with state-of-the-art household appliances. Plasma TV in the living room, fashionable built-in appliances in the kitchen - an indispensable condition for organizing the premises in this design direction.
Luxurious chandeliers, familiar vases and figurines will look out of place in a loft interior, so it is better to exclude them from the list of accessories.
Walls can be decorated with urban posters, black and white photographs, and cutting-edge paintings. Abstract and avant-garde painting will look good.
The combination of contrasting finishing elements - metal and wood, leather and glass - will harmoniously fit into the loft interior.
Such interiors are interesting in that their design allows the use of original design solutions. Here you can realize any creative flight of thought.
So, loft-style house projects sometimes offer future owners to place bathtubs right next to the beds in the bedrooms, use all-glass walls, combine kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms into a single room, and other unusual options. Originality is what is emphasized in this design direction.
Decorating a house or apartment using these trends may seem like a very bold step. But if you are a creative, creative person and want to equip your living space boldly, extravagantly, but at the same time cozy and stylish, then, without a doubt, this democratic style should be preferred.
Aerated concrete blocks and bricks are also in demand for construction.
Facade of a loft-style house: photo demonstration
The facade of the house is a clear proof of the taste, lifestyle of the owners and their commitment to a particular style. How can the facade of a country house made in the loft style look like? This is usually a simple, even careless or rough wall decoration, a roof in gray or brown tones, the use of plastic, composite panels, a large glazing surface - windows almost the entire wall, reminiscent of the scale of the window openings of an industrial building. Sometimes in the projects of loft-style houses in the photo, mirror panels are used that reflect light. And it is also minimalism and naturalness in the color design of the building.
Fabulous transformation: a loft-style house and its photo
As mentioned above, the loft style refers to the former industrial premises converted into a residential building. In our case, the architectural and construction company of Ilya Eliseev worked on the transformation of the building of the former dining camp site into a residential building in the loft style "Ignatiev House".
The style hints that even a completely redone room should not lose a reminder of its past. Therefore, the façade is designed in such a way that the concrete walls built back in the Soviet era are combined with modern composite panels.
The loft is related to minimalism, they are united by the clarity of geometric shapes, the use of a flat roof structure, industrial modern materials, and the presence of large-scale windows. This can be seen by comparing the facades of loft-style houses with photos of country cottages, which were built using the style of minimalism.
Projects of houses and cottages in the loft style: materials
Loft is considered a fairly democratic style. The construction of houses in this area involves the use of a variety of materials and modern technologies. However, the most popular and used materials in loft-style cottage projects are concrete, various types of bricks, glass, metal, and plastic. The use of wood is not excluded.
Who chooses loft-style cottage projects
Loft is considered to be a bohemian style and respectable businessmen. And this is not far from the truth. However, today, projects of loft-style houses and cottages are chosen not only by creative individuals, but also by young people who are successfully making a career, and even families with children. The unifying space of the house allows busy parents, without looking up from everyday vanity, to constantly watch their children.
Loft style houses are popular
The loft style was born from the development of industrial culture and became established as a popular trend in architecture. External simplicity, a single space, an abundance of light and volume, inherent in the style, conquered our compatriots. The architects of the construction company Ilya Eliseev are among the fans of this trend and create loft-style houses, photos of which you can see in the portfolio.
Good photos on the Internet! And what about the residents of a odnushka, do they also want to live in a luxurious spacious loft? Despite the skeptics, we will prove that a small loft-style apartment is not absurd, but a reality. And we will also show that the style of the loft is ideal when the budget for repairs is very small.
Because the interior style is a way of life and the atmosphere of the house. Not the footage.
Many people think that the loft style is only suitable for apartments, at most for a country house, they say, a loft is a huge industrial building, and it is unrealistic to recreate it on 40 square meters, which means there is nothing to write about.
But the designers do not agree - and they do an excellent job with small-sized projects in the loft style. The trouble is that residents of small apartments often do not have money for a designer. So, excuse me, dear designers, we will style our house as a loft with our own hands.
Loft style design - why is it like that
The fact is that the loft style is not so much an architectural format as a mood, a way of life. It all started with the fact that in the 1940s land became very expensive in New York, and industrialists had to move their plants and factories away from the big city. But the buildings remain.
Wealthy people completely refused to move into the empty workshops, but for the simpler contingent, and especially for creative people, the huge premises were quite suitable - both inexpensively and a ready-made art studio-house. Because a little tidying up, arranging art objects and a few chairs - and here you have a bohemian salon for exhibitions and performances, you can also live. So the loft style ceased to be an architectural indicator and turned into a way of thinking.
And this is the whole loft: it is asceticism, contentment with little, endless creative flight and the rejection of luxury (although a chic velvet sofa looks great against the background of old plaster).
Do you understand? For a real loft style, five-meter ceilings are not so much important as the spirit of freedom. This is not a brick wall and pipes under the ceiling, but a creative eclectic interior, inconceivable without modern art in all its manifestations.
Even designers do not understand this line, but now you know: first of all, you need a creative interior, and secondly, an industrial one.
What should be the interior of a loft-style apartment
So, what should be changed during the renovation so that the very mood of the American loft is felt in the apartment?
1. Introduce the spirit of the factory (crossed out) loft interior
But you will have to start by searching for those very elements of the “abandoned factory”. Because if initially industrial premises were turned into residential ones, then you, the owner of a typical apartment, will have to do the opposite, turn the apartment into an industrial object.
Here you will need to think: what is in your apartment similar to the view of the plant? It turns out that a whole system of water pipes was once hidden under the drywall, under the plaster of the load-bearing walls you can find an old red brick, and cast-iron batteries, if you remove the decorative shutter and paint them brighter, the situation is ideal. So we look under the laminate, we are interested in what we have behind the suspended ceiling ... Bare concrete? Gorgeous - let's go! The floors, however, would be better to fill with a special non-dusting mixture, but on a concrete ceiling, even metal suspensions may not have to be removed.
Many of these "finds" will be found already in the process of repair. Record all observations in a notebook so that you can later use them when drawing up a project on your own.
2. Work with surfaces. Top 3 loft textures according to Loggia
Materials and surfaces in a loft interior play a huge role. And if the walls of your Khrushchev are made of shingles, it doesn’t matter, brick and concrete can be perfectly imitated with the same textured plasters.
The Italian manufacturer of decorative coatings Loggia recommends choosing textures that combine luxury and rough industrial processing. It is the loft style that allows you to use, say, a concrete-like coating on one wall, and Venetian plaster or a velvet-like texture on the other - and all this in one room! We recommend the following materials.
- Kymera is a unique coating not just with a rust effect, but a natural oxidized metal, it even has magnetic properties.
- Marmo Romano - allows you to create a deep texture.
- Diamond - the effect of natural metal.
After all, the task of the loft is to give one room a variety of functions (as if the former workshop has become a kitchen, an office, and a living room at the same time), and it is better to separate functional areas, if possible, not with partitions, but just with different wall and floor designs. In this sense, decorative plasters, which have become more accessible in recent years, allow the soul to unfold. Brickwork, concrete blocks, crumbling plaster, noble surfaces of silk or marble - plasters can do it all. Unless the wood in the loft should be used natural, even if your master knows how to perfectly imitate wood with plaster.
Of course, we are far from a classic loft with spacious rooms, but maybe even in your apartment the layout can be changed? Talk to a familiar architect or show the plan of the apartment on a professional forum - it may very well be that, for example, the living room can be combined with the kitchen or the partitions between the rooms can be made of glass. Here is the treasured space for you.
Even if it is impossible to move the walls in your case, one feeling of a large space is enough. The light color of the walls, not too high furniture - there are enough tips on the Internet, we even wrote an article about expanding the space. Thinking about the loft, it's time to think about storage systems, and choose better hidden ones.
And also windows: it is unlikely that you will be able to drastically increase them, but it costs nothing to remove traditional curtains - there will be an order of magnitude more “air”. If you have to hide from neighbors, choose laconic blinds or something similar. But don’t even think about changing windows to plastic ones, you’ll kill the style - you can quite tolerably restore and insulate old wooden ones, and after successful contrast staining, they can become an interior decoration.
4. Clean up
The loft does not tolerate a heap of unnecessary things. Many attributes of comfort will have to be taken out of the house: give carpets to student neighbors, blankets with which each chair was covered - to your grandmother, and in order not to offend, ask for her old bookcase instead.
Art objects, unusual furniture and attributes of romance are responsible for the comfort and homely atmosphere in the loft.
By the way, for the repair of an apartment in a new building, the loft style is generally salvation. At the same time, you can save a lot: the walls do not have to be plastered, and the floors are perfectly leveled. Ceilings can also be left draft, and you don’t even have to hide the wiring in the walls, saving on their scraping. But in order not to overdo it, choose only one or two surfaces that you leave untouched, the interior should remain residential and welcoming.
5. More style, more creativity!
To design a loft-style apartment on your own, you need to be really free. Here you can safely combine Buddha figurines and modern paintings with an ironic colorful armchair, a magnificent crystal chandelier with cheap plastic furniture - the loft calls for mixing styles and eras.
The main thing is not to confuse freedom with bad taste: in order not to miscalculate, focus on a mixture of industrial style with minimalism, high-tech style elements and old retro gizmos, furniture from the past and, if possible, real antiques. And again, you can’t do without art objects.
Turning a small apartment into a cozy loft, and even with your own hands, is a very adventurous task. But look at the photos of finished projects - even a tiny studio in Khimki can be transformed into a unique Manhattan home.
Jul 6, 2017 Sergei