Loft style living room: Design and decoration
The loft style, very popular recently, in interior design is a unique and surprisingly harmonious combination of old and new, vintage and modern. This style is perfect for decorating a country house, a cottage, a city apartment or part of it, such as a living room. The loft style will be appreciated by creatives open to everything new and who prefer space, as well as by avant-garde fans and amateurs of experimentation. The literal translation of the name of this style sounds like “the upper warehouse”.
A little history …
America is the birthplace of the loft style, because it was there, around the middle of the 20th century, that people in need of houses began to settle in large numbers in non-residential industrial premises, sometimes completely abandoned. . The factories stopped and inactive, the old industrial premises for various purposes, in short, everything that had been thrown away by the owners during the Great Depression, had been created and adapted to housing.
Based on the characteristics of that era, the basic concept of this style was born – maximum freedom in the rooms and the presence in the house of an atmosphere of complete democracy. This is why the design of the loft-style living room implies the presence of a minimum number of partitions in the room, a combination of “used” and “old” finishing materials and the latest achievements and objects of science and technology.
A modern loft above all implies an avant-garde solution in the design of penthouses. Fashion designers of this style designate the style of a room for an industrial interior. In this they are helped by modern finishing materials, which allows you to create a visual illusion of any floor and give the walls the desired texture.
Loft style living room layout and ergonomics
The main feature of this style is the arbitrary layout of the room, the high ceiling height and the most open large windows, most often without curtains, but with blinds.
The loft style in the living room is a combination of masonry with a modern “plasma” hanging on the wall, an almost raw natural floor and a modern and soft carpet, etc.
Such an original approach to living room design allows for substantial savings on the purchase of modern and expensive finishing materials and furniture. You can safely use everything in the house, slightly modernize and change as you wish.
Important! If zoning of space in the living room is necessary, it is preferable to use glass blocks, transparent plastic partitions or, in extreme cases, a bar counter or a library.
The loft style is characterized by strict horizontal and vertical lines, clear shapes and open spaces, sober or almost absent decor, uncoated walls or bricks, the presence or imitation of open structural elements – beams , farms, iron columns.
Range of primary colors for a loft-style living room
Regarding the choice of colors when decorating the living room in the loft style, interior designers recommend that you trust your tastes and your design, but consider the main characteristics of this style. Since the word “loft” can be literally translated as an attic, this means that the room must be decorated in neutral, somewhat dark, “dusty” tones. However, a loft is a very flexible style, so it is allowed to experiment and improvise.
The most traditional colors for decorating lofts include gray, white, beige, brown and all of their possible shades. In addition to them, in moderate proportions, as accent elements of the room (pillows, tables, covers for sofa, etc.), one can use colors such as black, dark blue and very deep, green, purple, olive, burgundy, silver and orange.
You can also use the two-color drawing of the room, for example black and white, blue gray, olive brown, etc. It all depends on the taste of the owner of the apartment and the general orientation of his design. The most important thing is that all the residents and guests of this house feel comfortable in a monochrome loft-style living room.
Choice of furniture for a loft living room
Furniture is a central element inside a loft living room, so it shouldn’t be too much. The main element in the living room is, of course, the sofa. It should be massive and comfortable. The sofa should be covered with high quality leather or imitation leather and quality textiles. He has some more comfortable pillows and a folded blanket.
It is important to remember that the loft style implies the presence of a large number of seats. That is why, in addition to the sofa, armchairs and all kinds of poufs should be placed in the living room.
Furniture of this style does not know how to “hide” objects from prying eyes, that is, doors are not used. Therefore, dressers and wardrobes cannot be used in the living room. Open niches and hangers come in their place. At the same time, antiquity can be located quite calmly next to the modern and exclusive.
Don’t forget the coffee table near the sofa, which can be made of seemingly incongruous materials like weightless glass and forged metal. It is best to buy furniture on wheels so that you can rearrange them at any time.
Under your feet, you need to put a carpet of uneven, irregular colors or a leopard skin. In addition, completely unexpected objects can be located in the living room, for example small trees, basketball nets or swings.
Lighting in the loft living room
Artificial lighting articles of this style are represented by various variants of chandeliers suspended from the ceiling by a double chain, as well as by a variety of floor lamps. The lampshades of artificial lighting devices must have an extremely simple and concise shape.
Please note that there should be no pattern on the curtains or lampshades of chandeliers and floor lamps. They must be plain and integrate harmoniously into the overall color palette of the room.
As for natural light in a room decorated in the loft style, the street light should go inside as much as possible. Of course, you should not bring the window that opens in the living room of an ordinary apartment building to the size of the factory windows. But for the windows to match the chosen style, you need to forget about the exquisite and airy curtains, lambrequins and curtains. The windows must be “wrinkled” with horizontal or simple blinds, curtains as simple as possible in natural materials.
