Ten Ways To Create An Industrial Inspired Interior

Industrial interior design still to this day continues to be a popular trend that is renowned for its perfect imperfections. It is a design style that celebrates authentic, rustic living that is both simple and functional. Industrial interior design as we know it today takes its inspiration from old buildings like factories and mills that focussed on designs that were simple and served a purpose. With restricted budgets, they opted to keep bricks and pipework exposed and rely on lighting from many large ceiling to floor windows. It wasn’t until the late 1970’s where these abandoned buildings saw a revival, particularly in areas like New England and Lower Manhattan where they were turned into housing and studio spaces for artists.

This design style quickly became popular with many interior designers and the rise of open-air lofts grew in popularity particularly in urban areas. You don’t have to be in New York though to replicate this trendy design in your own home. There are many ways in which you can incorporate industrial interior design in your home but like with any new scheme it can sometimes be hard to know where to start. Take a read of our helpful guide to see the top 10 characteristics best associated with this interior style.

Characteristics of Industrial Interior Design

1. Exposed Brick

One of the main features of industrial interior design is exposed brick walls. They help bring in a rustic element to your space. This is such an easy feature to add into your space and can completely transform a room. You can do this by peeling back plaster and revealing a real brick wall or recreate the look with wallpaper or brick tiles.

2. Dark Colour Palette

When decorating an industrial interior, you will need to be bold with your colour choices. Despite the actual décor of the room being minimal, the walls are often not. Key colour choices include blacks, greys, browns and navy blue, anything that’s dark and deep will work well.

Pops of colour can then come from natural light, lighting fixtures and your choice of accessories.

3. Don’t Hide Pipework

Like the old factories and mills pipework would have very much been exposed and a real feature of the room. This is something you can make work in your space with ease that can help add a real authentic feel to your space. If you don’t have the luxury of exposing pipes from items already in your home you can create fake pipe work, whether that be through art, decorative pieces or shelving units.

4. Steel, Metal and Wood

Steel, metal and wood are your go to materials when it comes to industrial interior design. Introducing these natural, rustic materials help add points of interest into your space and really emphasise the unfinished, urban vibe often associated with this interior design style.

You can introduce these materials through furniture like steel chairs, metal shelves and wooden tables. All of which will help your space feel a little more rustic.

5. Plenty of Copper

Copper is one of the main colour choices often associated with industrial interior design. By opting for copper finishing touches you can add a touch of warmth and shine to your space, that can otherwise feel a little cold from the dark colour palette used elsewhere.

6. Lighting is important

If incorporating industrial interior design in a space that doesn’t have lots of natural light, the choices you make on your lighting will be very important! You will no doubt want your space to feel bright and light, but the other décor choices you can in fact make your space feel smaller and a little dark. You should therefore make investments in your lighting to brighten up the overall décor.

Popular styles include hanging lights with exposed wires of chains, exposed bulb lamps or copper drop shades. All of which will help brighten your space as well as sticking with the overall design theme.

7. Functional Design

When it comes to decorating and accessorising your space you should try and keep the overall design minimal and uncluttered. Something that is particularly important to industrial design is the notion of creating spaces that are functional and simplistic.

When choosing your décor items try to think of what practicality purpose the item serves, that will help when it comes to narrowing down your choices.

8. Show Mechanical Details

Like brick and pipe work you could also try showing off mechanical details of items. You will no doubt want to hide cables or pipes from lights or electronic devices but in this style it’s ok to leave them on show, this again puts the functionality of an item before the overall design.

9. DIY Furniture

To add in more wooden elements to your space you could try your hand at some DIY projects if you are feeling creative. Handmade tables, stools, shelves will all add to the idea of a raw and natural interior that brings elements from outside in.

    10. Wall Art

To break up the brick walls and dark colour palettes a favoured decorative item is wall art. When choosing art or typography for your home, you are free to choose something that represents you and your personality. Whether you want to add pops of colour, retro art, or black and white cityscapes there are so many cool on trend designs that can really help add something different to your walls.

Overall, industrial interior design is a scheme you can have fun with and get creative. If you did want to create a space that is unique and trendy, then you should definitely explore interior design further on Pinterest and Instagram.

Be sure to check out our industrial dining room themed Pinterest board online for further inspiration and to see some of the styles we are loving.