Loft-style apartments: carelessness and stylish asceticism in the interior

Loft-style interior is associated with free light studios somewhere in New York. But many of us still want to transfer this atmosphere to domestic houses and apartments. It turns out that this is not only possible, but very easy to do. And for this you will not need to move to America or to an abandoned room. How to recreate the atmosphere of a loft style will be discussed in this article.

History of

Loft style appeared relatively recently, but immediately gained popularity among creative youth. For the first time this direction appeared in America approximately in the middle of the last century. Young people did not have enough money to rent expensive apartments, so they had to rent cheap industrial or warehouse premises that landlords adapted for housing.

Naturally, such apartments were little reminiscent of cozy country houses.

Instead of cute wallpaper with flowers, there were bare brick walls or thin walls of plaster. Often met "decor" in the form of rusty metal pipes or chandeliers on long chains.

And the usual furniture had to be replaced with drawers or to turn a simple table into a multifunctional item, in which it was possible to simultaneously store half of their belongings.

But, despite all these minor flaws, the loft style was appreciated and loved.

Spacious rooms were a blank canvas for young artists and designers, and large windows gave a lot of light.

In addition, being in such apartments, one could feel like a part of the modern world, in which everything changes and develops.

Over time, the problem with housing was solved, but the loft style was not forgotten, only slightly ennobled. In addition, it has spread beyond America. Now loft-style apartments are found all over the world. True, it is worth noting that a small room with small windows is unlikely to look exactly the same as a real studio in Brooklyn. But at the same time, the atmosphere of this rebellious style you can bring to your home.

Character traits

Many people call the loft style truly masculine. The fact is that we associate it with apartments in which lonely brutal men live, and they do not have enough time and desire to engage in interior design. That is why loft-style apartments and studios remain half empty and decorated in such a casual style.

In fact, loft is a style for everyone. But such features as minimalism in design, brutality and deliberate abandonment are still present in it.

This trend in the design world allows significant savings on finishing materials. An apartment decorated in this style can look stylish and be considered very luxurious, despite the fact that the interior partitions are not decorated with plaster, and the walls show to everyone who comes in each their own brick. The lack of wall coverings only decorates such a room.

By the way, you can save time not only on the wall decoration with wallpaper, but also on the wiring.

Surprisingly, in this modern style, even wiring can become part of the decor. The main thing is to protect yourself, especially if you have animals or children at home.

The second, after naturalness, characteristic feature of the loft style is minimalism. When you enter such a room, you immediately feel free. Even a small room seems more spacious, if not littered with unnecessary things out of habit. Loft style provides just such an approach - you select only what you really need for existence, and take the rest out of the house.

In a properly designed room, nothing prevents you from moving freely, and if you wish, you can even play sports or dance. You put only the necessary cabinets, sofas or beds, and all the decorative little things and important household items are hidden in drawers or pedestals.

As a decor in an apartment in the loft style, not only a collection of figurines, a stack of books or a collection of soft toys can be used. Designers are actively promoting all sorts of details of modern industrial culture as decorations. On the wall you can hang a guitar or a bicycle, and the door can be decorated with a sign with an interesting inscription, as in the nearest cafe. Loft style is a trend in design that suits modern creative people living without stereotypes.

Recommended materials for finishing

To finish the apartment in this style is recommended to use only natural materials. Best of all, if it is a brick, red or white, plastered, natural wood or plain concrete.

From artificial materials it is worth paying attention to metal and glass. But cheap plastic is better to avoid.

Repair in the apartment begins with the design of the floor, ceiling and walls. The walls can be left brick or, on the contrary, can be pasted over with wallpaper, stylized as brickwork, if you make repairs in a simple Khrushchev's wall. The windows look best wooden or metal window frames. As for the floor, there are two most common options: you can leave the floor with concrete or cover it with high-quality wooden parquet.

The ceiling can also be left naked or just whitewash. The second option is suitable for apartments with low ceilings. The fact is that the white color helps to raise the walls, which makes the room seem larger, taller and more spacious.

In order to stylize an apartment under a modern American studio, many demolish some walls and combine several rooms together.Simple glass partitions can help you divide a room into several zones, or simply divide the space with furniture or flowers.

Colors and combinations in the interior

An important role in the interior is played by the correctly chosen colors. The very industrial mood, which is so important for this direction, helps to convey the gray color. He has a lot of different shades. You can use them in interior design. From light gray to slate or shade of wet asphalt.

The second most popular color is white. Here the matter is that any room decorated in bright colors seems to us visually larger and lighter. This is exactly what is required of modern loft-style rooms. Along with white, all light colors are popular: coffee, beige, milky and so on.

Also, do not forget about the colors that match the materials used - wood brown, terracotta or coffee. All of them are perfectly combined with each other and create the right atmosphere.

Choosing lights

As the use of light colors, properly selected lighting allows you to visually expand the space.In an apartment or room in the loft style should be bright at any time of the day, and not only when daylight enters the room. To do this, you need to choose the right number of lamps and arrange them in the right way.

Most interiors focus on the massive ceiling chandelier in the center of the room. Immediately such chandeliers should be avoided or supplemented with spotlights, wall lamps or floor lamps.

As for the appearance, lamps should not be too fanciful. Graceful crystal chandeliers and bronze candlesticks are best left to fans of the classics and rococo. For the loft style, simple shapes and the use of coarse materials — metal, wood, and so on — are more relevant. Lamps can resemble industrial parts - some kind of diode tapes, chandeliers on circuits that are found only in factories, or something like that.

Lamps will also help you to properly perform the zoning of space.

For example, in the center of a room you can place a small ceiling chandelier in a laconic metal shade, and a desk lamp next to the bed, on a pedestal or table.

Simple diode lamps will help you to highlight wall accessories or some other small decor items. Such point lamps can be any number - it all depends on your wishes and the size of the room.

What furniture to choose?

The choice of furniture for an apartment in the style of a loft also plays a very important role. In fact, the choice is small - all things must exactly correspond to one given topic and be combined with each other.

In such premises it is necessary to manage with the minimum quantity of things. For example, in the living room you will only need to install a sofa and a couple of bean bags, complementing the composition with a wall-mounted TV or a music system. And in the bedroom it will be enough to have a bed and a comfortable closet for storing all your belongings.

Designers advise to pay attention to the furniture-transformers.

A folding sofa, a folding tabletop instead of a full table, comfortable folding chairs and other practical designs by modern designers will save you a lot of free space. And bean bags or inflatable mattresses can always be removed if necessary. There are a lot of such ideas now, you can look at them and pick up something suitable.

In addition, in the loft style there is a place for all sorts of unusual interior details that are not found in simple houses. For example, part of the living room in this style can be taken as a creative workshop or a place to relax by large companies.

In the second case, you need a bar counter. This element is often found in modern loft-style apartments. If you arrange the rack in the right way, you can turn it into a real mini-bar with a place to store alcohol. The stand can be wooden or metal, and its height and width depends on the room in which you put it, and how much space you can allocate for it.

You can also safely bring to the house everything for your hobbies. Even if you just love to ride a bike or play the cello in your free time. All these things can be safely hung on the wall or put under it.

Important design nuances

Properly chosen details will help to convey the atmosphere of creativity and love of freedom. Decor can be purchased not only in large stores like Ikea, but also in the flea market or even do it yourself.

You will suit stylish pillows, soft blankets and other textile products. They can be bright accents in a modern apartment. Also, many will like fresh flowers in simple wooden pots. They can be installed on window sills in the kitchen, near the sofas or on the bedside tables.

Also in the modern interior there is a place for signs, road signs and other details. You can buy a real sign or order a special photo print with the image or phrase you need.

Ideas for interior design

Even if you follow all the tips, you will not be able to fully convey the atmosphere of the loft style. But still, your apartment or room will be transformed.

If you want to change the appearance of one or more rooms, you can try to create a project yourself or order it from professionals. In the second case, you can be sure that everything will be done under your apartment.

For example, if you had a two-level apartment or just a room with high ceilings, then comfortable stairs under the walls will be useful to you. They can be used both for their intended purpose and as a decorative element.

If you have a spacious enough three-room apartment, but you do not use all these rooms, then you can combine two of the rooms into one.This process is best left to professionals, especially if you are dealing with load-bearing walls. Combined two rooms can be used as a living room or a place to meet friends.

But the owners of small apartments of 50 square meters. m completely different problems. Typical room of 55 square meters. m, on the contrary, must be divided into zones. This is done either so that several people can live in the same room, or else so that the second part of the room can be used for work or more active rest.

Even in a small one-room apartment you can exist in comfort. For example, you can connect the kitchen with the main room, and separate the sleeping area with a partition. A glass partition or wooden screen will give you a feeling of comfort and help you to relax properly. And the kitchen and the rest of the room can be used for arranging the dining room and cooking space.

Examples in the interior

To understand how to recreate the style of a loft in an ordinary apartment, just look at the photos of real rooms, over which the designers have worked. Let's look at the main rooms that are found in apartments, and examples of their styling under the direction of the loft.

Living room

Most designers claim that a loft-style apartment should not be divided into many separate rooms. It is necessary to isolate only the kitchen and the bathroom, and the rest of the premises is recommended to be connected on the contrary with the help of arches.

To decorate the perfect living room in the loft style, you will need just one sofa. That it will be the center of your interior and background, under which the rest of the details are selected.

The best look sofas with high-quality leather upholstery. You can add it with bright colored pillows or a rug in the form of animal skins, for example. To make it convenient for you to store all your belongings, use hanging shelves or small pedestals.

Kitchen

Another strategically important room, without which it is impossible to do in one apartment - this is the kitchen. Now the most popular rooms with metal or glass parts. Interestingly in the modern kitchen looks stylish cast-iron stove, which was used a few decades ago. It will complement its neat glass shelves and a metal table on bent legs.

Also in the kitchen you can find a place for a stylish bar.If you put it next to the window sill, you will get additional free space for storing the devices and things you need to make your favorite cocktails.

If you have a kitchen combined with a living room, then it is better to place a place for lunch and dinner away from the worktop.

Bedroom

Even a loft-style bedroom should be neat and minimalist. Simple brick walls, a few paintings on them, a large bed and a wardrobe are all you need to create the perfect interior in a loft style.

By the way, if you pick up a closet with mirrored sliding doors, the room will turn out more visually.

Bathroom

Finally, it is worth looking into the bathroom of an ideal loft-style apartment. It may be the same bare brick walls.

Pipes from the plumbing should not be hidden - they will be the perfect decorative element.

As for plumbing, you can choose either ceramic white surfaces or metal. Both those and others well reflect the light and fit into a given theme. Do not forget about the mirrors that are no less relevant in the bathroom than in the bedroom or living room.

Modern loft style inspires many modern guys and girls to design their perfect apartments.Such a room is perfect for creative individuals and those who prefer the simplicity and originality of pretentiousness. If you have long wanted to experiment or live a little in a modern New York apartment, then the room in the loft style will help you to realize both dreams.

See more loft-style interiors in this video.

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Information provided for reference purposes. For construction issues, always consult a specialist.

Entrance hall

Living room

Bedroom