Key Elements of Industrial Décor

Inspired by industrial structures, like factories and warehouses, the industrial interior style is characterised by big open spaces, like lofts with stripped back architectural details and featuring exposed brick, metals, raw wood and concrete, oversized windows. It’s all about simplicity and minimalism. These traits, as well as the encouragement of repurposing furniture in the style, are exactly what makes industrial design so appealing to homeowners in this day and age when clutter is avoided by many, and wastefulness is being frowned upon as a result of the growth of environmental awareness.

Industrial style lighting, furniture and decorations have moved from the big lofts to contemporary homes, often mixed with other decors, such as coastal, Bauhaus, mid-century modern, and above all Scandinavian interior design style because of the many similarities between them.

When you are mixing styles, it’s really important for one of them to dominate. For instance, sometimes interior designers and homeowners decorate industrial style homes with art pieces or decorations characteristic of other styles, to add interest and colour. You can also often find industrial light fittings or pieces of furniture in Scandinavian style homes. In any case, whatever your interior style is, if you want to bring in an edgy industrial vibe, here are the elements that can help you do it.

Lighting Fixtures

One of the favourite objects used to decorate homes are lighting fixtures. Even though they are not used as a focus of attention, they can be perfect for emphasizing your style and showing off your personality. Moreover, light itself, whether it’s artificial or natural, can greatly influence not only the atmosphere but also the overall décor of the space, whether it is by the play of lights and shadows or by accenting certain elements or spots.

Whether you want to add a little bit of industrial touch to your contemporary home, and are looking for a statement piece, or you are completely focused on the industrial style, industrial style lighting can be what you are looking for. While industrial style is often connected to dark colours and has a certain cold vibe, it gives light a huge role. Think about the oversized windows typical for lofts and the big string lights found in factories and warehouses.

Like the style itself, the industrial light fittings on the market are inspired by heavy-duty spaces. This means that they boast the beauty of simplicity and minimalism, stripped down from unnecessary embellishments, typically feature an exposed bulb and they are made of metal with an unfinished look. You can find pendants, wall-mounted industrial look lighting fittings, in a wide range of different shapes, sizes, designs and colours. While they are quite minimalistic in nature, they can be striking and eye-catching if that’s what you are looking for, and they are very aesthetically pleasing.

Furniture

The furniture pieces used in industrial style homes are also minimalistic and without unnecessary adornments. Made of raw natural materials, such as wood, iron, steel, glass, or even stone or concrete, these furniture pieces are impactful and stunning and can be a perfect addition to contemporary homes with minimalistic vibe.

Like industrial light fittings, furniture in this style is a great way to add edginess and roughness to a home with the warm or cold vibe, in a beautiful striking way. Industrial furniture is very versatile. For industrial style homes, interior designers and homeowners often decide to recycle old pieces of furniture, but there are also many beautiful options that you can buy nowadays made with the characteristics of the style.

Even though the industrial style is all about function, the furniture pieces it includes are quite aesthetical and striking. Big dining or small tables made of metal and concrete or metal and glass, leather sofas, armchairs, metal stools, cabinets and bookshelves made of raw wood, old storage trunks, and so on, are some of the pieces you can use to bring in the vibe to your home, whether you are making it your dominant style, or simply want to add a touch of it.

Decorations

Metal structures, steampunk-inspired pieces, salvaged objects and metal artwork, such as exposed watches or other exposed mechanisms, photographs, art prints or posters featuring mechanisms, architectural structures, other industrial themes, etc., or ones depicting portraits, nature, etc… are some of the things used to decorate industrial style homes. Like industrial lighting and furniture, art and decorations in this style can be very striking and aesthetically pleasing, and they can also be great statement pieces for contemporary homes in other styles.

Of course, there are also many other types of wall art and other art pieces and decorations that can look beautiful in industrial style looking homes, such as abstracts, portraits, wall art with nature themes and so on. However, if you decide to do this, it’s important that you choose something that will stand out in an attractive way, instead of something that will look odd and out of space. A canvas print of a classical painting can look just as strange in an industrial setting, as an industrial art print or poster in a more traditional setting.

Industrial art pieces can be a great way to add interest and create focal points. Because industrial style features natural colours, like wood, metal, stone and concrete, abstract wall art prints or paintings can give you the perfect opportunity to add colour to your space.