Industrial chic homes: a mix of urban trends

June 7, 2020

Intérieurs au style industriel chic : un mélange de tendances urbaines

by Sara Costi

Industrial interior design style has become very popular over the past few years, especially among the younger generations. This type of home first appeared in the USA around the 1970s, as a response to the urgent need for low-cost housing: industrial buildings, warehouses and abandoned factories were reconverted for residential use. While on the one hand it is difficult to faithfully imitate the American allure, on the other, this trend has ushered in a new fashion: industrial chic style, characterised by a mix of typical US style and a contemporary look. So how can we recreate this look, with the help of porcelain stoneware floors?

Typical elements of industrial style include cement-effect floors in subtle shades, or antiqued wood-effect strip tiles, preferably with minimal joints to ensure greater continuity. Exposed bricks, beams, ducts and pipes, large windows, rough perimeter walls with light plaster, high ceilings and mezzanines are other distinctive features. Furnishings usually include recovered objects that emphasise painting and welding imperfections.

Flooring: Manhattan Soho
Flooring: Beton Mud
Flooring: Antique Wood Black Antique
Flooring: Wood White

For fans of settings with a metropolitan flavour, we recommend maintaining the same look throughout – from the living area to the bedroom, as well as the kitchen and bathroom area – without combining industrial style with other types of furnishings.

The favourite colour for an industrial style home is grey: in all its numerous tones, it teams beautifully with both the metal of the lamps and the white, beige or black of furnishing elements, walls and floors. For the living area, we suggest the stone-effect porcelain stoneware flooring from the Pietre Etrusche collection: in the Tuscania shade, it’s the perfect partner for the neutral tone of the walls and the rest of the furnishings, creating a simple, bright ambience.

To create an appealing style for the kitchen, we suggest the metal-effect porcelain stoneware tiles from the Steeltech collection in Antracite: the colours of the corten steel and the undefinable consistency of the metal oxides make the porcelain stoneware surfaces ideal for bringing an original touch to kitchen areas.

As in every other area of the house, in the bedroom, the choice of the floor and wall tiles is of fundamental importance, because it impacts all the other choices we make, with regard to both furnishings and accessories: our suggestion is wood-effect porcelain stoneware strip tile flooring from the Antique Wood collection in White, with an antique decoration, teamed with simple ton-sur-ton furnishings and a bed with a simple iron frame in the same shade as the sheets.

Given its distinctive nature, an industrial-style look for the bathroom also requires painstaking attention when it comes to finishes, combinations and details; to create a look that is functional and practical, yet able to surprise, we’ve chosen to tile the floor and walls with the wood-effect porcelain stoneware from the Country Wood collection in Tortora, and to use recycled wood both as a base for the washbasin and to create a sort of niche to contain towels and objects. During the day, a large window lets natural light in, while at night, thanks to the soft light of the ceiling lamp, interesting half-light effects can be created.

Characteristic of this stile is the open space loft apartment, the hallmark features of which are the large open spaces, high ceilings, large windows and a number of industrial elements maintained, such as the raw concrete finishes and exposed bricks.

In the following three ideas inspired by the loft concept, the first features a floor laid with the wood-effect porcelain stoneware strip tiles from the Antique Wood collection in Black, characterised by the variegated texture of veins marked by the passage of time; laid on the floor and walls of the second are porcelain stoneware tiles from the Pietre Etrusche collection in Sovana, inspired by the beautifully warm tones of the earth, while the third features cement-effect flooring from the Beton collection in Mud. All three give settings the charm and character typical of metropolitan, urban chic style.

Flooring: Antique Wood Black
Flooring and coverings: Pietre Etrusche Sovana
Flooring: Beton Mud
Rimani aggiornato sul mondo dell’architettura e del design
Flag of Germany