Decorating Guides
How to Embrace Industrial Decor
Want a modern looking home with a unique personality? Find our how to bring in the industrial style easily to your space
Raw and humble, the industrial style is fairly versatile and can be personalised just as easily. We love that you don’t need to have a New York Loft-like home to make this trend yours. Cosy studio apartments, as well as big homes, can incorporate the ‘unfinished’ look in these ways below.
Stay true to the colour
Perhaps the easiest way to embrace the industrial style at home is through colour. Set on a grey colour tone with generous helpings of black and white. To soften the relatively cold scheme, introduce wood in mid-to-light tones.
Perhaps the easiest way to embrace the industrial style at home is through colour. Set on a grey colour tone with generous helpings of black and white. To soften the relatively cold scheme, introduce wood in mid-to-light tones.
It doesn’t mean you’re restricted from using colour altogether. The grey palette goes fashionably well with almost all colours from both, the hot and the cool spectra. But try to restrict yourself to one or two highlight hues per room.
Celebrate metal
Industrial as a style is raw in its essence and unafraid to show its basic functional elements. Pipes, exhaust vents, old structural beams are all embraced instead of being hidden.
Industrial as a style is raw in its essence and unafraid to show its basic functional elements. Pipes, exhaust vents, old structural beams are all embraced instead of being hidden.
If you’re in a modern building that doesn’t have any of them, create your own hardware. Make your own repurposed shelving units or upcycle your grandmother’s old sewing machine table into a chic study table. Pick accessories like pipes fashioned into lights, buckets turned into wash basins or bread boxes that can be used as planters. There are several on offer, you simply need to think outside the box and pick the ones that work best for you.
In the washroom, use pipes inside of towel or curtain rods. Opt for wired racks, metal freestanding tubs and even old-school metal buckets like those used in rural India before the era of plastic.
Expose the brick
Nothing spells industrial more than neatly exposed walls. Perhaps the easiest way to infuse your space with factory-like character is to strip down the paint and plaster till you hit brick.
Exposed Bricks Make These 9 Homes Shine
Nothing spells industrial more than neatly exposed walls. Perhaps the easiest way to infuse your space with factory-like character is to strip down the paint and plaster till you hit brick.
Exposed Bricks Make These 9 Homes Shine
If brick is what you want but the burnt red colour is not what you are looking for, then there’s a way out. Tone down the red brick hue by painting it white, staining or even distressing the wall. Combine a cottage-chic comfort with industrial panache effortlessly by bringing in plants, cosy high-back accent chairs and even a few classic silhouettes.
Bring in the concrete
The grey textured surface of concrete can add oodles of character to your room. It’s the perfect backdrop for both metallic and wooden furniture and accessories. It sets the stage just right for you to embrace a minimalistic-industrial interior style. Not only is it budget friendly, this wabi sabi-like treatment is a super attention grabber. If the unfinished look is a bit much for you in the key living areas, consider doing up a small space like a powder room.
The grey textured surface of concrete can add oodles of character to your room. It’s the perfect backdrop for both metallic and wooden furniture and accessories. It sets the stage just right for you to embrace a minimalistic-industrial interior style. Not only is it budget friendly, this wabi sabi-like treatment is a super attention grabber. If the unfinished look is a bit much for you in the key living areas, consider doing up a small space like a powder room.
Tip: For those who rent, there’s always the option of wallpaper. There are several designs that mimic concrete and brick. Plus, lesser maintenance and easy installation. Win-win, isn’t it?
Hardcore storage
Remember those grey metal cupboards by Godrej from your parents’ or grandmother’s home that just kept on lasting forever? They are just the right thing if you wish to bring in the industrial look.
Remember those grey metal cupboards by Godrej from your parents’ or grandmother’s home that just kept on lasting forever? They are just the right thing if you wish to bring in the industrial look.
Alternatively, bring home versions of high school lockers, government office file cabinets or even smaller bank lockers and put them to good use.
Focus on the grilles
Windows and doors can go a long way in lending your home that much-sought-after industrial vibe. Most of our apartments have double door windows with grilles. Make them work in your favour by painting them black as an ode to old factories and warehouses. Steer clear from ornate or decorative grilles and opt for a simpler, more geometric design. For privacy, opt for simple white curtains or plain blinds, sans patterns.
Windows and doors can go a long way in lending your home that much-sought-after industrial vibe. Most of our apartments have double door windows with grilles. Make them work in your favour by painting them black as an ode to old factories and warehouses. Steer clear from ornate or decorative grilles and opt for a simpler, more geometric design. For privacy, opt for simple white curtains or plain blinds, sans patterns.
Easy add ons
If you’re happy with your existing interiors but merely want to introduce an element or two of industrial style, the simplest and most effective way is through lights.
If you’re happy with your existing interiors but merely want to introduce an element or two of industrial style, the simplest and most effective way is through lights.
Bring home a light fixture with a grunge personality. A tripod floor lamp, metal pendant lights, a steampunk table lamp, oil lantern-like wall sconces or simple Edison bulbs with long wires should do the trick.
Read more:
How to Infuse Traditional Indian Elements to Your Contemporary Home
10 Interior Design Styles Explained
Tell us:
What idea would you like to embrace within your own home from the article? Comment below.
Read more:
How to Infuse Traditional Indian Elements to Your Contemporary Home
10 Interior Design Styles Explained
Tell us:
What idea would you like to embrace within your own home from the article? Comment below.
Sponsored
The material palette for this look is often dominated with wood and metal with hints of leather. Look for salvaged objects, repurposed furniture, distressed products and utilitarian accessories. Visit local flea markets (every city has one) and look beyond the dust and chaos. Pick out pieces that evoke grunge and look like they were part of an old cotton mill factory.