Loft style is a modern and fashionable trend in interior design. If you are the owner of a large room with high ceilings, it will fit perfectly into your apartment. However, even if you have a small apartment, you can successfully decorate it in this style.
One of the striking features of the loft style is the use of textured surfaces. Brickwork, rough plaster, concrete walls and floors look authentic. Not everyone will like living in such an uncomfortable interior, but all these attributes of industrial workshops can be replaced with imitation. Ceramic tiles will successfully replace any surface, and cleaning will become much more convenient.
Imitation of industrial textures
In the production of finishing materials, and in particular ceramic tiles, for several years now designers and manufacturers have been competing in their ability to mislead the buyer and pass off ordinary finishing tiles as concrete, plastered, metal surfaces or brickwork. When you are in a room decorated with such materials, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish an authentic texture from a skillful imitation.
Brick
It can be called a symbol of the loft style, and a wall made of brick is an indispensable attribute. Caring for such a surface is extremely difficult - you can only brush away dust and cobwebs from the brickwork with a brush. This method of home cleaning is not acceptable for everyone, but imitation of brickwork using ceramics will solve all problems.
Concrete
The concrete surface is an excellent neutral background for many design finds, and tiles that imitate this material are superior to it in terms of convenience and hygiene.
The choice of tiles for concrete is extensive: rectangular, square, in the form of hexagonal honeycombs. It is most often used for finishing floors. This floor can be made warm by installing water or electric heating under the tiles.
Metal
Modern porcelain tiles successfully imitate steel sheets, aged copper, brass, and bronze. This finish adds brutality to the interior.
Plaster
Tiles stylized to resemble different types of plaster will be an excellent option for neutral wall decoration in a loft style. In the store you can choose any color and texture.
For Bath
Style implies an abundance of space and light. It is difficult to meet these requirements for a bathroom, but the right choice of materials will compensate for the small area and lack of lighting.
Loft tiles tsersanite
Read our article on how to make a beautiful loft-style bathroom with any initial data.
Ceramic
The high moisture resistance of ceramics makes it an excellent material for bathrooms. When decorating a loft-style bathroom, choose black, white or gray colors. Remember that white walls visually enlarge the room and are preferable for small bathrooms.
Ceramic tiles for bathroom
Aged
Aged (vintage) tiles in light colors with imitation of rust, mold and other signs of venerable age look good in the bathroom The surface can be textured or smooth.
Aged tiles
Under the brick
Brickwork is one of the main solutions for loft-style walls. As mentioned above, a room with white walls seems more spacious, so imitation white brick is preferable for a bathtub.
Brick tiles in white and black colors
Loft Style
The LB-Ceramics company produces the “ Loft style ” collection for decorating bathrooms. Made in gray and white tones, it successfully combines geometric patterns and floral motifs.
Loft Style tiles
This video provides a review of the “Loft style” stone imitation tile.
Imitation of natural materials
For an apartment in the loft style, finishing with natural materials – natural stone and wood – would be appropriate. Accordingly, you can replace them with ceramic or plaster imitation.
Stone
Clinker tiles with imitation of natural stone are perfect for finishing in a loft style. Stylizations of quartzite, sandstone, and masonry are popular.
Tree
Wooden surfaces significantly soften the harsh interior of this style. Where the use of natural wood is inconvenient, for example, in places of high humidity, you can get by with its imitation. There are porcelain tiles on sale with a finely detailed texture of old wood - with abrasions, cracks and unevenness.
How to use tiles in a loft interior?
With such a consumer variety of tile options, it can be used quite widely, and the interior will not seem the same type. By combining different colors, textures and sizes of tiles, you can achieve excellent results, and your apartment, despite all the brutality of the interior, will remain cozy and clean, because this finishing material is easy to clean and retains its original appearance for decades.
Loft style interior concept
Any interior design begins with a concept - some idea that it tries to visually embody. And the loft is perhaps the most conceptual of all modern interiors.
Despite its recent popularity, the loft style dates back to the 40s, when in the factory districts of hectic Manhattan, buildings of old, abandoned factories, enterprises, warehouses and workshops began to be rented out for housing. Representatives of local bohemia were the first to appreciate the aesthetic potential of such interiors - artists, writers and various cultural figures set up their studios, exhibition halls, and gathering places in them. The abandoned industrial interiors not only offered large, open space, but also embodied the modern urban spirit, its brutality and roughness, but at the same time, the hard work and life of entire generations contained within it.
As often happens, from art courts and bohemian salons, the new aesthetic migrated to everyday living, turning into the well-known loft style. Now the distinctive interior design was not the natural legacy of an abandoned factory - the details of the style were carefully recreated in ordinary city apartments, houses and even in public and commercial establishments, becoming a symbol of modernity and a cutthroat urban lifestyle.
Today, when life is increasingly flocking to megacities, affordable housing is becoming smaller, and studio apartments are becoming perhaps the most popular form of urban housing, the loft style can not be more relevant. In its desire to combine open spaces with variety and individuality, combining aged elements with modern solutions, the loft perfectly emphasizes the eclecticism and diversity of modern life.
Kitchen tiles
Ceramic tiles are the first thing used to decorate a kitchen. And a loft-style kitchen is no exception. In the kitchen area, tiles can be used to decorate walls, splashbacks, and floors.
For walls, imitation of red and white brick and natural stone would be appropriate. For flooring, choose tiles that resemble the surface of concrete or metal.
If the kitchen provides a functional division of zones into working and dining areas, they can be separated using different finishes. The cooking area will look stylish with brick or stone masonry and metal fittings, and in the dining room - imitation wood will add warmth and comfort. You can divide the zones with a bar counter or a kitchen island. To decorate them, stylized brick or stone tiles are also used.
Floor
For the floor, materials that imitate concrete or metal are often chosen. An excellent choice is graphite tiles, which resemble asphalt in appearance. A universal solution for both walls and floors is tiles that look like aged brick. Currently, leading manufacturers of facing ceramics create them using casts from authentic ancient masonry. A wonderful option for the floor is an imitation of aged hexagonal brick.
Graphite floor tiles
Important ! Remember contrasts. If the floor is finished in brick, which is usually distinguished by rich, warm shades, then the walls can be decorated in cool, light colors like concrete or metal.
Tiles in the bathroom interior
Ceramics are used in bathroom decoration no less often than in the kitchen. It is not difficult to achieve compliance with the loft style in the bathroom using several techniques:
- minimum pieces of furniture;
- cool shades for wall decoration;
- warm colors of accessories;
- abundance of light;
- pipes laid on top of finishing materials;
- the largest possible space.
It is better to hang mirrors without a frame, with polished edges. If the bathroom is very small, light shades of decoration and a large mirror will help to visually enlarge it and fill it with air. Suitable colors are beige, gray and white. It is better to use clinker tiles.
Loft style in the interior of an apartment: modern design with ceramic tiles
Loft style interior is a haven for the young and daring. It is for those who are completely devoid of any prejudices and are ready for experiments.
Photo by Aaron Huber on Unsplash
This style appeared thanks to the industrial crisis in the United States. Abandoned factory buildings located in city centers were sold at bargain prices as businesses closed en masse. New owners often did not have sufficient funds to decorate the premises, so the interiors could be decorated with whatever they could find - be it a chandelier made from old dishes or an antique table that needed restoration.
Quite often, such buildings were occupied by people from the creative bohemia, like Andy Warhol’s famous loft, so the style is characterized by both freshness and creativity.
Photo by Brandon Cormier on Unsplash
Characteristic features of the Loft style
Literally, this word means “attic.” Such premises were born from manufactories, factories, warehouses and attics. The key paradigm of this style is a certain roughness and preservation of industrial aesthetics. Other features include:
- Large spaces without partitions with high ceilings, not typical for ordinary residential apartments. No doors or locks!
- Exposed structural and engineering elements: beams, pipes, metal columns, stairs, electrical wiring.
- Emphasis on natural light and minimal window decoration. There should be a lot of windows, they should be large, arranged in a characteristic small layout. As a last resort, simple metal blinds are used.
Photo by Nathan Van Egmond on Unsplash
- Use of technical decor. An old bicycle on the wall, metal lamps or furniture welded from steel scraps from machinery.
- The use of finishing materials such as brick, rough wood, bare concrete.
Ceramic tile
The style is based on large spaces and their proper zoning. Therefore, it is quite convenient to highlight certain areas using ceramic tiles.
The Brixtory porcelain tile collection is perfect for decorating a creative interior. Thanks to the “aged” basic “brick” tiles and the daring decorative panel in the form of graffiti, it fits perfectly into the overall concept of the style. Brixtory is well suited for finishing walls and floors in the kitchen, living room and bathroom.
An alternative option is the Carrara Marble and Loft collection. These are plain or patterned tiles in different shades of gray, which visually combine with open utility networks, metal elements and other characteristic features of the urban style. Interesting and trendy solutions in the new decor with gold veins in concrete will add simplicity and chic to the Loft space.
Loft is a territory devoid of any prejudices and clichés. There are no standards here, you set the rules here, so tear down the walls, use unexpected colors, search, find and dare!
Living room design tiles
If the living room is large enough, you can combine different materials for wall decoration, since even brickwork, classic for the loft style, will look monotonous and dark on all walls. For variety, you can use bleached masonry or light stone, and separate these materials with tiles that imitate metal sheets or signs.
Rough wall finishing
Brick, concrete and wood are used for finishing. In order not to overload the room, brickwork or its imitation can be done on one accent wall. The rest should be finished with cement plaster - natural color or whitewashed. The flooring used is parquet, wood laminate, and ceramic tiles in the bathroom and kitchen areas.
