Not many people know that the loft style gained its popularity back in the 20s in the USA. It was during this period that industrial enterprises rapidly closed. They were immediately noticed by representatives of high society and began to experiment with design. The result was a loft style that is still famous today. It is used literally everywhere, from your own home to restaurants, bars and even offices. This is not surprising, because it does not require too much investment. And if you really want, you can make elements of this style with your own hands.
No. 1. Origins of style
The loft style is relatively young. It began to take shape in the 40s of the last century in New York, in the factory district of Manhattan. Then factories began to move en masse outside the city, and empty premises began to be adapted into housing and workshops. Literally, “loft” is translated as “attic,” “room upstairs.” Initially, representatives of creative professions and bohemians settled in the lofts. To transform a former industrial building into a semblance of housing, they needed to use all their imagination. I must admit that they did it very, very well. Just 20 years later, lofts became luxury housing, but the popularity of the loft style these days is not even worth talking about.
It seems that furnishing housing in the loft style is quite inexpensive and simple. In fact, the loft style is considered one of the most expensive , and all because it puts forward special requirements for the room. It should be a large space, without unnecessary partitions, with high ceilings and huge windows. Of course, not everyone has such luxury, so modern designers have found a lot of ways to convey the main features of the loft style in an ordinary small city apartment.
Today, loft-style interiors are divided into two main types:
- “hard loft” is loft in its purest form. The direction involves using industrial buildings to transform them into residential or public buildings. The spirit and aesthetics of the style are respected in the best possible way here;
- "soft loft" - This is a stylization of already constructed ordinary buildings into lofts. This is the problem that designers most often face. A similar interior will work for all those who want to decorate their apartment or house in a loft style.
There is also a division of loft into industrial, bohemian and glamorous . These are not different styles - this division is intended to emphasize what features of the direction are emphasized. When it comes to the industrial direction , pipes, communications, ceilings, and strict furniture of regular geometric shapes become mandatory elements. For a bohemian loft, the presence of paintings, art objects, and a combination of antiquity and modernity is important. Glamorous loft is a play with color. In addition to shades of the typical color scheme, it is allowed to use brighter ones. A special place in this direction is occupied by fancy lamps and accessories.
How to make it yourself
Professional design studios implement lofts at a decent level, but also require a lot of money to work. And since repairs are expensive, building such a space with your own hands is a justified decision. A simple technology is to clean the brick, then paint it and varnish it.
An apartment made of brick material is ideal for an industrial atmosphere. The accent in the form of painting in an unnatural color for a loft, due to the brickwork and texture, clearly indicates the choice of design.
Brick walls are decorated in other ways:
- Processing masonry on freshly applied plaster using the appropriate tool;
- Gluing decorative stones to the surface.
There is a special decorative plaster for concrete walls. Before treatment, the surface is cleaned of falling, loose elements, and dust is removed. After applying and drying the primer, the rough surface acquires strength, practicality and interior appearance. Dust and sand will stop falling from it, and the surface will acquire a coating that does not absorb moisture and liquids. Easily washes off dirt.
The wooden wall is made of real sawn boards and chipped boards.
A simple and inexpensive way is glued laminate, as shown in the photo. It is not necessary to choose a high-quality, thick laminate. Wear resistance class 31-32 and thickness 7-8 mm are suitable. Design is more important; to create a vintage look, it is recommended to buy laminate with an aged effect, in a rustic style.
Preparing the wall
Before painting the walls, it is necessary to clean the surface of old plaster, dirt and dust, salt deposits and mold.
After treatment with the drug, the masonry must be thoroughly primed several times. Then coat everything with varnish and finish with varnish, making sure that each layer dries well.
Marking
First of all, it is necessary to prepare the walls for further construction work. Clean the surface: remove wallpaper, level the wall, clean the surface with sandpaper.
Next we make a brick pattern. To do this, you can use a piece of linoleum or cardboard. The standard size is 25 x 6.5 cm. On the sketch you need to mark the seams and mark indents of one and a half centimeters along the entire perimeter of the model from the outside. Sew another seam in the middle to create an imitation of a brick consisting of two halves.
Important! You need to start laying from the bottom - from the floor, gradually moving upward. This will make your work easier.
From below you need to retreat about 10 centimeters. Next, use a simple pencil to outline the first “brick” corner. You need to start with this area because it is very difficult to make precise marks on it. Then move to the edges, gradually moving towards the center of the wall.
Sanding and priming masonry
After light cleaning, use a sander or regular sandpaper. This operation makes it possible to make the wall masonry uniform.
Important! After sanding, you need to clean the surface with a vacuum cleaner or broom. You can also wash the wall with clean water.
The priming process is also used as an intermediate step when applying paint or stenciling. The surface treated with this composition does not crumble and absorbs paint or varnish well. This reduces the consumption of basic materials.
Efflorescence stains
These unpleasant phenomena are associated with the composition of the water used to dilute the clay. Sulfates lead to the formation of white spots on the masonry and can only be removed with the help of professional facade cleaners, for example, Antisolex and other analogues.
Application of the solution
Attach masking tape at the junction of the “bricks”. It is advisable to start with horizontal lines and then continue to vertical ones. The glue should overlap.
Important! Protect the floor with old newspapers or masking tape.
- Mortar for artificial brick is prepared from gypsum and tile adhesive in a one-to-one ratio.
- Apply the resulting solution to the wall using a spatula. You can also do this by hand, but be sure to wear special construction gloves. The layer thickness should be within five millimeters.
- Find the ends of the electrical tape and pull them. Thanks to this, the space between the “bricks” is cleared. This must be done quickly, immediately after applying the solution to the wall.
- If you hesitate a little, you won't be able to remove the tape. It is for this reason that gypsum is not used to make an imitation brick wall yourself (it hardens in a few minutes).
Joining seams
To create an attic, the brick walls need to be half cleaned. Here, a special tool is used for joining - a chisel. It is better to carry out this procedure in pairs: one person will measure the seams with a building level, and the second will carry out step-by-step operations.
You can use both power tools, such as a grinder and hammer drill, and power tools, such as a chisel and hammer.
Important! In order not to damage neighboring bricks, the pieces begin to chip along the edge of the shaped product.
During the work, the seams are removed to the required depth - 2-4 mm, so that the bricks are clearly visible.
Finishing
If you applied the solution unevenly, you can give the imitation the desired shape using a chisel, spatula or regular spoon.
In this video you will learn 5 ways to apply brick decorations, from the simplest to the most complex.
Painting
Sand the bricks to remove any sharp edges that might stick to clothing. Clean the wall surface. To do this, remove construction dust with a broom or brush. Prime the wall again. Walk not only on the bricks, but also on the seams between them. Then you can proceed directly to the drawing process. Apply acrylic paint with a sponge to give the resulting wall a more natural color.
After the paint has dried, you can age it a little. To do this, use a dry brush with gold paint to walk over the surface of the resulting imitation.
You have to choose the color of the walls according to your taste. The only rule, perhaps, is that the color of the seams should be at least a few shades lighter than the color of the masonry, otherwise it will seem that a large amount of dirt has accumulated there.
To create the most cozy interior possible, use traditional red paint. If you want to expand the space, give preference to light shades: white, milky, blue, pink. You can use dark colors, but indoors they should be used in doses so as not to turn the room into some kind of gloomy crypt.
No. 2. More space - less decor
The larger the room, the better it will be to recreate the loft style . Spacious rooms without partitions , with high ceilings and large window openings are ideal It is quite simple to decorate a country house in the loft style. The atmosphere of style can also be conveyed well in a studio apartment. To breathe a loft mood into an ordinary apartment divided into rooms, you will have to try, but nothing is impossible.
Loft style involves a minimum of finishing and furniture . Even the number of walls and partitions is reduced to a minimum. All rooms in the apartment are combined . Only the bathroom and sometimes the bedroom are separated, as well as a storage room and other technical rooms, if available. The room is equipped correctly if the other is easily visible from one end of the home.
Instead of partitions and walls, the following is used to divide an apartment into zones:
- pieces of furniture. In the loft style, furniture is often assigned not only a direct function, but also the task of zoning. A sofa, coffee table, bar counter, shelving unit on wheels are the most suitable items for dividing space. Looking ahead, we note that the loft is one of those styles where the placement of furniture not under the wall, but in the center of the room is encouraged;
- different colors and materials for finishing walls and floors are a simple and effective way to draw the line where, for example, the living room area ends and the kitchen area begins;
- an opaque partition can serve to separate the sleeping area if a separate room is not allocated for it;
- To highlight zones, it is allowed to use glass blocks, mobile, transparent partitions and decorative screens.
Large windows without curtains allow maximum light into the apartment, and high ceilings allow you to arrange a full second floor above part of the space and place a bedroom or workshop there.
White brick
Basically, everyone associates a loft with red brick walls, and preferably with pieces of cement, as if they decided not to finish the renovation and live just like that. But white color for brick is as natural as red.
It does not stand out as much and attracts less attention, but at the same time it is less authentic and does not retain the atmosphere of factory premises. A combined option is also possible - leaving one of the walls according to the canons of the style.
You don't have to use real brick. You can buy “brick” blanks or a special roller at the store to create the appropriate texture. This is a good option if you are doing a purely cosmetic renovation and do not want to “disassemble” the wall.
An all-white bedroom will look beautiful : a wall decorated with white brick, a snow-white ceiling, bedside tables, a chest of drawers, a desk and a light beige bed. Floors can be covered with natural wood of the appropriate species.
Additionally, the interior will be decorated with black and white paintings and some unusual lamps.
See also loft options with a white brick wall in the video:
No. 3. Main features of the loft style in the interior
One large open space will not be enough to convey the atmosphere of a loft - it is necessary to take into account other mandatory features that make a simply huge, bright room a loft:
- ventilation ducts, pipes, floor beams, wires and other elements of engineering systems are not masked, but exposed. These details set that special industrial style;
- minimalism in decoration, rough wall cladding. In authentic lofts the walls are left “bare”, i.e. concrete or brick. In an ordinary apartment, you can create an imitation of brickwork or perform the simplest and slightly careless plastering;
- emphasis on light colors;
- fireplace and staircase – important elements of style;
- a small number of accessories, but all of them must be original or have artistic value;
- combination of modern furniture with antique pieces.
White brick in the interior - 40 photos of successful design solutions
Modern trends in interior design are increasingly inclined towards non-standard solutions, in particular, the use of unusual materials. White brick in the interior will personify order and cleanliness, and will also create a sophisticated accent.
This type of decoration can exist in rooms of any functional nature. In our article we will look at the features that a white brick wall has in the interior, as well as ways to decorate it.
No. 4. Loft style color scheme
You probably already realized that the loft style can be described as rough. Many people mistakenly believe that rough style is characterized by dark tones. The loft is characterized by a light palette of shades , which perfectly reflects the sun's rays and makes the space even brighter. Use light, cool colors and neutral shades . The colors of the loft style are white, off-white, gray of all shades, blue, metallic and other restrained tones . You can’t do without brown shades (brickwork, wooden floors) and black. Rooms decorated in black and white look especially impressive.
Lofts are characterized by color accents. This could be a bright piece of furniture, a poster, graffiti, a painting.
White brick wall in the interior: choosing a design style
Today, white brick in the interior of residential premises, as shown in the photo, can be found in decoration styles such as modern minimalism, high-tech, and modern. The design of rooms in rustic and Provence and country styles also welcomes the design of individual walls in this way.
A white brick wall in an interior decorated in a Scandinavian style will look light and natural, especially since the main attributes of this style are purity and elegance. This type of decoration can often be found when creating Gothic interiors.
Various interior designs by professional designers can be viewed in our photo selection.
No. 5. Wall decoration in loft style
Wall decoration should be as simple as possible and approach the effect of “bare” walls. The ideal option is brick walls without unnecessary decoration . Concrete walls will also work. They can be coated with varnish or barely noticeable paint in a gray or white shade. The brickwork can be roughly plastered so that individual bricks can be seen.
If you are unlucky with the walls, then you can imitate brickwork on at least one wall. An alternative finishing option could be plain painting or deliberately careless plaster. Wallpaper and other decorative finishing materials are a taboo, but sometimes they break it. We are talking about wallpaper with imitation brickwork, but they are used extremely rarely.
To add some variety to the interior, the walls can be decorated with metal or wood panels.
Stages of creating a simulated brick wall and materials
Not every home has brick walls, but this is not a reason to abandon the intended design. Using building bricks for a loft is not the best option. This leads to a decrease in space and an increase in load on the floor slabs. An easier and more economical option is to imitate brick using different finishing materials.
- Clinker tiles (facing bricks). This coating will not weigh down walls and ceilings. This lightweight, durable and wear-resistant material comes in a wide range of shapes and colors. It is laid using tile adhesive, but without filling the seams. The distance between the tiles should not exceed a few millimeters.
- Plastic panels in the form of bricks. This is an inexpensive material with a high level of sound insulation and a long service life. The pattern of the masonry depends on the direction in which the tiles are attached. Mounted along or across the wall using dowels, without the use of additional adhesive solutions or lathing. The individual parts are secured with a locking system.
- Brick veneers are made from wood, clay, plastic, or polystyrene foam. Sold individually and used to decorate wall fragments. They are glued to pre-marked areas of the walls using an adhesive solution. Before laying, the material is given minor defects and wear, which makes the masonry look more natural. The seams are rubbed and sanded.
What else is used?
- Gypsum brick. A creative approach to simulating brick texture using plaster or similar materials. This design looks unusual and picturesque. The plaster mixture is applied to the marked wall and the texture and recesses are formed with your own hands. After drying, the bricks are rubbed and covered with varnish or paint.
- Wallpaper. The simplest and most economical type of brick, which has a range of brick colors. The pasting of such wallpaper does not differ from ordinary wallpaper and is indicated on the packaging of the roll. The image on photo wallpaper is especially realistic, thanks to its textured surface.
No. 6. Loft style floor finishing
The classic flooring for an industrial space is, of course, concrete , but such a cold material does not really fit into the interior of a cozy residential apartment, so it is increasingly being replaced with wood flooring in neutral shades . Sanded and varnished parquet will fit perfectly into the loft style. A cheaper alternative would be laminate. As for shades, preference is given to natural wood colors, white and grayish tones.
Ceramic tiles and stone are also successfully used in loft interiors . All wet areas can be laid out last, and a combination of different materials will allow zoning of a huge common space. You can lay soft rugs or carpet throws near the sofa and bed to bring coziness to the apartment.
Plaster overlays
This method can be called one of the best and most popular. That's why:
- tiles have different textures and colors;
- they always produce the perfect design;
- nothing needs to be calculated and modified;
- installation is quick and easy, even a girl can handle it;
- You can glue the tiles using liquid nails, Titanium, or glue;
- The aesthetics are great.
Such tiles are affordable; of course, there are more expensive models. As an option, small blocks of natural stone. They look impressive, show wealth, are easy to install, but have more weight than plaster imitation.
No. 7. Ceiling decoration in loft style
The simplest option for finishing the ceiling is to paint it or plaster it white. This is a universal method that will be appropriate both in large rooms and in miniature city apartments.
If the height of the ceilings allows, you can create an imitation of beams . ventilation pipes under suspended or suspended ceilings - they will decorate the room and set the style. Electrical wires can be hidden in distinctive leather covers. Farms will look interesting .
The ceiling can be left practically unfinished, but in this case part of the walls must be lined so that the apartment does not turn into a garage. The ideal loft is a room with high ceilings, so if desired, you can arrange a second level .
Pros and cons of using a brick wall in a loft
In larger homes, brickwork is created naturally to form a loft design. Entire houses, even apartment buildings, are often built from brick. This material is popular because it is characterized by low cost, environmental friendliness, good heat and sound insulation, moisture resistance, attractiveness and durability.
Brickwork is very unpretentious to use, it does not require any special care during the operation of the home and looks aesthetically pleasing. If necessary, brick can be faced with almost any other materials to change the visual appearance of the house.
However, in an apartment, laying one of the walls with brick is not the most reasonable solution. Firstly, this will require significant financial investments.
Secondly, the brick will reduce the usable area of the room. That is why working with real brick is only required if the walls are already made of it.
In this case, all that remains is to figure out how to process the brick into a loft. If the walls are standard concrete, then it is better to use imitation to create a loft brick wall.
No. 8. Window openings
Ideally, loft-style windows should be huge, from floor to ceiling. They should offer a stunning urban landscape. If the cityscape opens from the windows of most high-rise buildings, then the situation with the size of window openings is more complicated. To get as much light as possible, avoid using heavy drapes or heavy curtains. It is best to leave the windows “bare”, without curtains, but to be able to provide a secluded, intimate atmosphere in the apartment, you can hang vertical or horizontal blinds in metal or neutral white. Some designers recommend using cotton white roller blinds. Preference is given to frames made of wood or its imitation.
Arrangement of the loggia
It seemed like the finishing was finished, but on a wave of euphoria, I decided to do even something that I had not originally planned - insulate and sew up the loggia. Since only natural textures (brick, wood, metal) were used in the design of the entire apartment, I decided to cover the wall on the street side with wood. And not with clapboard, as many do, but with an ordinary edged planed board. After searching on the Internet, I discovered the technology of wood aging. All the necessary tools were at hand: a grinder with an attachment in the form of a metal brush, a sander, and so on. Then I coated the boards with impregnation. I didn’t cut the boards - I bent them in an arc to the shape of the wall.
The wall itself on the street side and the floor were insulated with Izover, and also laid non-laminated chipboard on the floor. In one of the corners of the balcony I made a podium from the same aged boards. It has two purposes: firstly, you can store things inside, and secondly, I plan to put a sofa with a table on it and in the summer enjoy the beautiful view from the window with a cup of tea.
I laid a covering of artificial grass on the floor - in combination with aged wood it looks very fresh.
Boards with timber cost 50 rubles, impregnation - 8 rubles. Chipboard - 20 rubles, artificial grass - 35 rubles, hardware - 2 rubles. It’s difficult to say how much I saved here, since this, I think, is more creative work.
No. 9. Lighting and lamps in loft style
You will immediately recognize lamps made in the loft style. They combine brown metal, glass, ropes, grilles and are often equipped with lamps with an unusual bulb or spiral shape. Often the lamps follow the shape of a pipe, reminiscent of spotlights and street lamps of the past. It’s convenient that you don’t have to hide the wires - let them all remain visible, but hang neatly.
A loft-style room should be well lit not only during the day, but also in the evening, so there should be a lot of different kinds of lamps. They are located at different levels, provide illumination of different zones, create different types of lighting (work, evening, romantic) and are responsible for zoning, because differently illuminated areas of the apartment will be perceived as separate functional zones even without partitions.
You can use the following types of lighting items:
- massive ceiling chandeliers combining metal, glass and even crystal. Such a luxurious lamp will look especially noble against the background of concrete walls and rough plaster;
- ceiling spots seem to be created for the loft style;
- pendant lamps on chains, ropes or simply wires can be used to decorate a dining table or a soft area in the living room;
- floor lamps of unusual shape (for example, in the form of a spotlight or spotlight) will decorate a soft area or office;
- turning turned lamps will never be superfluous, and can be used for decorative lighting of small rooms LED strips.
White brick wall in the interior: imitation using tiles
In order to make a realistic brick wall, you can use the technique of decorating with tiles. This could be, for example, a white brick wall in the kitchen or bathroom.
For these rooms, it is most rational to use ceramic tiles, which are most consistent with their quality characteristics. There are two types of tiles - in the form of individual bricks and a block of several rows.
With its help you can decorate not only a wall, but also a kitchen apron, fireplace surround and other architectural forms. If you decide to recreate white brick in the interior using ceramic tiles yourself, you should take into account one nuance: the gaps between its individual elements should be slightly larger than with conventional installation for greater naturalness.
No. 10. Loft style furniture
Do not forget that an apartment designed in a loft style should be free to breathe , so purchase only the most necessary interior items . They must be functional, and then comfort will not suffer. In a large loft space, miniature furniture would look silly, so give preference to bulky items .
An antique wardrobe, a modern sofa and an ethnic-style bookcase can coexist perfectly in a loft. On the contrary, furniture from one set will look strange and spoil the spirit of the interior - it is better to combine disparate items . This is more difficult to do, but the result will please you.
There should be no carvings or artistic painting on cabinets and tables - the simpler the furniture, the better . Preference is given to products made of wood, leather, metal and plastic. Let us emphasize that combinations can be the most daring, and let the photos from our selection inspire you.
Furniture in the loft style is also one of the most important ways of zoning space. A sofa can serve to separate the living area from the dining room, and a tall wardrobe or shelving unit on wheels will separate the bedroom and living room. Functionality and mobility are valued in furniture, which is why many items are equipped with wheels: if necessary, they can be moved and free up a lot of additional space.
White brick in the interior: methods of design and imitation
The easiest way to carry out this design is in a new building, where there is no interior decoration. In this case, white brick in the interior will look most realistic.
For finishing you only need to treat the surface with special means and paint. It is not necessary to clean up or remove unevenness and minor flaws in the masonry - with them the design will look much more natural.
If the walls have already been subjected to finishing work more than once, or they are constructed of concrete or plasterboard, you will have to choose one of the most convenient imitation options so that the white brick wall in the interior looks as natural as possible. Before this, it will be necessary to remove all signs of the former finishing and also treat the walls with painting solutions to prevent the occurrence of dampness of the walls, fungus and other troubles.
No. 11. Decor and accessories in loft style
Since lofts were originally a haven for creative people, the interior should convey an atmosphere of art. Accessories should be noticeable, catchy and eye-catching. You can hang several paintings by contemporary artists on the walls. Alternatives include posters, road signs, graffiti, black and white cityscapes and advertising signs . Hunting trophies fit perfectly into the style.
You can also use large original vases, human-sized sculptures to decorate the room, and if you manage to arrange a fireplace in the room, it will be absolutely great. There shouldn’t be a lot of accessories, but they should be such as to attract attention. Don’t forget that lamps and individual pieces of furniture are decoration in themselves.
How to add zest to a loft room
Accents are what people in the room notice first.
The main secret to using accents is that they should be evenly distributed throughout the room.
If the room is small, then one or two compositions will be enough. In a large hall their number can be increased to five or six.
No. 12. Loft style in the interior of different rooms
The loft style is not for everyone. It can be recommended to people who prefer minimalism in the interior, appreciate furniture of simple shapes, love an open layout, an abundance of space and light. According to all the rules, a loft can be realized in spacious, high rooms, but the general aesthetics can be conveyed in small rooms.
A loft is not suitable for those who love the most homely, cozy and/or romantic interiors and do not tolerate an abundance of empty space. It will be difficult to organize such an interior for people who have a large family, who like to actively cook, or who want to have their own private space.
Owners of ordinary city apartments will have to face numerous difficulties on the way to recreating an interior in the loft style. It will be necessary to get rid of all non-load-bearing partitions and, if possible, expand door and window openings. Doing this in an apartment building is not easy, because you need to take into account safety rules and obtain a lot of permits. Choose laconic facing materials and stick to light colors.
Loft in the living room interior
The center of a loft-style living room can be a massive leather sofa, which, together with armchairs or ottomans, will form a soft area. It can be complemented with an original coffee table, an unusual lamp, a soft carpet and bright paintings. A fireplace and large windows will be the perfect decoration.
If space allows, place furniture away from walls, and, of course, avoid cluttering furniture and accessories. Lofts are traditionally high, so they often have a second level, which is accessed by a regular or ladder. In a city apartment, you can create an imitation of the second floor by leaning a massive staircase on one of the walls.
Bedroom in loft style
If possible, it is better to move the bedroom to the second level. If the recreation area is located in the same plane as other rooms, then there is no need to build massive partitions. The bedroom can be separated from the living room by a shelving unit, a screen or glass blocks.
The central element of a loft-style bedroom is a wide and huge bed, like an airfield. Preference is given to low models, but you can choose a bed of any convenient height. The bed can be made in a minimalist style or equipped with a canopy and evoke thoughts of the Renaissance.
The bedside tables near the bed should be original; pendant lamps with long wires can be located above them. You can diversify the interior with unusual chairs, a massive chandelier or unique accessories, but it is better to choose one thing so as not to overload the room.
Loft style kitchen
The kitchen area is not separated by a partition from the common space - its boundaries are drawn using furniture or decoration. Its decoration is characterized by an abundance of glass, chrome, brick and appliances. The walls can be left brick or plastered white. Against their background, a modern kitchen set in cool gray or blue will look great, but you can choose a white, black or beige set. The set will be complemented by modern household appliances, steel sinks and joystick mixers. There is no need to hide pipes and wires - just carefully secure them and leave them in plain sight.
In decoration, preference is given to rough stone, metal, wood and tiles. The kitchen apron can be tiled to imitate brick, or decorated with steel panels. The tabletop can also be made of steel. Feel free to combine different textures, use chrome and glass elements.
The decoration of the kitchen will be a large dining table, and if possible, also organize a bar counter. It is not customary to hide a refrigerator, oven, dishwasher and other appliances behind furniture facades.
Bathroom in loft style
It is better to decorate the bath in neutral colors: white, black and white or black, but using bright accents is not forbidden. Glass shower doors and shelves, chrome faucets, handles and a heated towel rail will fit perfectly into the style ideology. Take a closer look at sinks with unusual designs. Both a modern shower cabin and a retro bathtub with legs will fit perfectly into the loft.
How to create a loft in a house
First of all, you need to establish for yourself the basic characteristics of style and adhere to them without deviation.
To create a loft, you must meet the following requirements:
- remove all partitions (as many as possible, but without touching the load-bearing walls or partitions of bathrooms). The larger the volume of the room, the better - a loft requires space, emptiness, an emphasized discrepancy between the sizes of furniture and furnishings with the size of the room;
- levels of carelessness and precision must be finely balanced . If the room has rough, unplastered walls, the furniture should look new and well-maintained, and vice versa. It is necessary to create contrast between the background and foreground elements.
Guided by these requirements, you can begin to decorate the room. This is a multi-step process that should be looked at more closely:
Project or work plan
It is recommended to first create a project or action plan. For many users, this stage seems unnecessary, however, thanks to it, they manage to get rid of errors and disappointments.
Expert opinion
Zhukova Ekaterina Dmitrievna
Interior designer
It is necessary to find out with maximum accuracy the routing of engineering systems - electrical wiring, gas and ventilation pipes, water supply. Without this, you should not start work, as you may accidentally damage some elements or prevent access to important areas.
If it is planned to demolish partitions, it is necessary to clarify their purpose and resolve all administrative issues related to the redevelopment (this applies to owners of apartments in apartment buildings). Then you need to find places for laying electrical wiring, so that during the demolition process you do not pull out the wires from the channels in adjacent walls or ceilings, but remove them as carefully as possible without problems.
In addition, it is necessary to draw up a design for the assembly and fastening of stairs and upper tier structures. If the height of the room allows, you need to install windows in two tiers, achieving the maximum glazing area (we imitate an industrial room). This is an important point, since the style cannot be maintained without spacious glazed areas.
You will also need to decide on finishing materials. In brick houses, you can remove a layer of plaster, revealing the brickwork. However, it will not be possible to obtain an authentic surface - remnants of plaster or traces of brick stripping will be clearly visible.
Therefore, it is recommended to use clinker tiles for brick or plaster imitation of masonry. The simplest option is plastic facade panels, which are sold in stores and have a huge number of color and texture options.
Lighting
Organizing proper lighting is an important step when creating a loft-style interior. The ideal option is panoramic windows along the entire wall area. It’s good if they are made in the style of industrial windows (not casements, but vertically rising transoms).
It is important to ensure abundant sunlight illuminating the entire area of the room. If the height of the ceilings does not allow for large glazed surfaces (for example, in an apartment), you will have to use the opposite method - open access to sunlight only along the upper part of the windows, so that the light falls from the side of the ceiling slab. This option is not always suitable; the windows need to be located along a long wall, and not at the end of the room.
The light background, characteristic of the loft style, is a kind of trick designed to increase the illumination of the room due to passive reflection when there is a lack of sunlight.
Unlike daytime natural lighting, evening lighting is made emphatically restrained. A fairly large number of lamps are used, but their power should be low in order to create the effect of a salon, “cocktail” lighting mode. This will emphasize the style, and the contrast between daytime and evening lighting will only expand the decorative possibilities of the interior.
Expert opinion
Zhukova Ekaterina Dmitrievna
Interior designer
You shouldn't think about replacing windows right away. Sometimes this becomes a useless procedure. They need to be changed if the size of the openings is significantly smaller than the height of the walls.
What materials should be used
The loft style gravitates towards simple natural materials. This does not mean that artificial analogues cannot be used, especially when it is necessary to remodel the interior of a small room or apartment. However, it is necessary to comply with style requirements whenever possible.
The optimal set is building materials used at the beginning of the 20th century:
- brick (ideally ordinary ceramic (not facing);
- concrete or plastered surfaces;
- tree;
- glass;
- metal (as part of structures, stairs, pipelines, ventilation, etc.).
You should absolutely not use:
- linoleum;
- PVC wall panels;
- wallpaper;
- suspended ceilings.
Do you like loft-style interiors?
Of course! Not really
In addition, it is necessary to exclude the use of curtains and drapes, multi-colored capes, and flashy colors. It is important to understand that the style requires restraint, a slightly Spartan approach to design.
All design elements (road signs, plaques, etc.) should be arranged in such a way as to create a feeling of randomness, indifference to the decorative perception of the interior (although, in fact, this requires a high artistic flair).
Floor finishing
For the loft style, the use of artificial floor coverings - linoleum, carpet, laminate, etc. is unacceptable. Full compliance with traditions is necessary - either a floor lath, or polished concrete floors with marble chips. The first option is more affordable; you purchase a floor lath, lay it down and cover it with regular floor paint.
Making a polished floor is more difficult, but here you can get out of the situation by laying concrete tiles with marble chips. If necessary, you can put a high-pile carpet on such a floor - this will create a contrast that is so valuable when decorating a room in a loft style.
White brick wall in the kitchen
The kitchen space can be decorated entirely with white brick or you can choose one wall for it, for example, near the dining table. White brick in the interior (photo can be found in our article) can expand the kitchen space, make it lighter and more attractive.
An original and practical solution would be to decorate the apron with tiles that imitate brickwork. It will give a clean, neat look to the work surface, and at the same time, it is quite easy to clean.
White brick in the kitchen interior will go perfectly with any textures and shades: wooden furniture, metal appliances, fabric curtains
Download the Interior Design 3D program
Arrange your apartment in loft style and immediately evaluate the result in 3D
Interface language: Russian
Distribution size:98 MB
Later, the loft style found its continuation and final embodiment in industrial America. The widespread expansion of production led to an outflow of enterprises to unoccupied areas of the suburbs. As a result, buildings of small and medium-sized factories in cities were vacated. Local bohemians quickly discovered unnecessary and therefore inexpensive premises. It turned out that they perfectly fulfill the role of familiar attics - large spaces, plenty of light. It was during that time period that the name “loft” was born, literally meaning “attic,” because at first bohemians rented the attics of still-working factories.
At first, lofts were created in real abandoned factories
Andy Warhol finally shaped the American understanding of the loft. While preserving the primary motives of simplicity and freedom, he complemented the style with basic aesthetic principles. In this form, the loft flourished until the Great Depression, when the outflow of small industry from the cities stopped. But the idea itself, the essence of the design of the premises, was preserved and was then actively used in ordinary homes and public institutions. Today, the loft style in the interior is a great way to express yourself, an opportunity to organize an inexpensive but effective open space for living and working.
