Workshop decor is everywhere in magazines, on TV shows, among small traders, creators, and artisans that you particularly like. Do you dream of a house with a strong character, made of raw steel, interior glass roofs, industrial furniture?
It is not that complicated. Just have an eye and choose the right elements!
Choose a Floor That Tells a Story
In the old workshops, the floors have often lived: solid parquet marked by the feet of so many people over the years, raw concrete floor… Their mere presence adorns the rooms.
If you do not have the budget for a solid parquet, you will find vinyl coverings in rolls or strips that perfectly imitate the old workshop floors with all their irregularities.
If you prefer the concrete look, you will opt for a polished concrete floor, a concrete resin and if your budget is limited, a concrete imitation vinyl will have its look without having its price.
Play the Trompe L’Oeil Workshop on the Walls
The workshop decoration goes particularly well with the brick. To dress your walls, you will choose it in facing briquettes, mounted on a plate for interior, easy and quick to install. If you don’t want to get into big jobs, trompe-l’oeil wallpaper will have amazing realistic effects.
You can also choose a coating imitating raw concrete, either a coating to be applied with a trowel, or a wallpaper imitating irregularities in this material.
Workshop Decoration: Metal Structures in the Spotlight
If you are lucky enough to have exposed structures, give them the limelight by painting them in gray or waxing them to reinforce their original steel color.
If you live in a space without industrial structures, you can remedy this by installing a workshop-style canopy to separate two rooms. It’s a great solution full of character to bring light into a room: a metal mezzanine, for example.
Find Factory and Administration Furniture
In flea markets, you will easily find old factory or administration furniture, mostly metallic or metal and wood: old changing rooms, stools, and steel chairs will give an undeniable workshop touch to your decor.
If you prefer new furniture, many brands are reissuing old models with visible welds and irregularities reproduced identically.
Good to know: in a living room, industrial furniture will go perfectly with a black or tan patina leather sofa. The Chesterfield type model will be particularly suitable, as will the club chairs.
Paint Joinery
Painting elements like doors and windows in steel gray or anthracite will immediately give a rough workshop character to your interior.
Good to know: use good quality, matt paints.
You can also play the trompe-l’oeil on the doors by placing stickers imitating the steel doors with bolts for an even more realistic effect.
Choose Workshop-Style Lights
The famous Jieldé lamp is the perfect example of the workshop lighting that invites itself into our interiors. It exists in all colors and in many sizes, you choose the one that best suits your decoration.
Workshop type lights are not limited to this essential model: portable lamps placed on furniture or suspended at the end of a wire, like projectors with large lamps like those of professional photographers will immediately give an industrial look.
Workshop Decoration: Objects With a History
Again, flea markets and reissues abound in models of zinc brand letters, enameled plaques, cushions made from old vintage bags or jute bags that contained flour and other food.
On a wall, a large metal clock will recall the old hours when workers pointed to the factory.
You will divert:
- Metal or wooden boxes to store toys and magazines.
- A palette to make a coffee table.
Make a pallet coffee table
Use Patinated Metal in Your Kitchen
Metal, particularly patinated or rusted metal, is a recurring element in workshop-style decor.
In the kitchen, you will put zinc 1 mm thick on a central island and on the splashback. You will then skate it with hydrochloric acid. You will get a work plan with a bistro counter look!
Good to know: to patina a zinc coating more quickly, it is enough to clean it daily with a product for windows.
And Why Not a Wood Stove?
The old workshops were heated with wood and not with central heating, expensive and ineffective in such large spaces. The wood stove is, therefore, a workshop style element that you can easily bring into your home.
The recent models, in cast iron or steel, preferably black, take up the lines of the old models with much higher performance. More economical today, they will bring an authentic touch to a living room faithful to the workshop decor.
Choose a Steel Staircase
Whether straight or spiral to save space, the steel staircase is typical of industrial spaces. You will be able to:
- leave it raw.
- wax it with a product suitable for metal.
- paint it black or gray.
Its structure can be made entirely of steel or with wooden steps which will reduce noise during use.
You can find authentic staircases of this type in the warehouses of reclaimers of old materials, but also reissues from dealers and specialized manufacturers.
Play Recuperation in Your Room
A great way to create a workshop-style headboard is to make it from solid wood. The battens are the raw wood blades used on construction sites and which are found on sale in all large DIY stores. Their implementation will be very simple and economical as:
- they will be glued or nailed to a medium frame or directly to the wall (but will be very difficult to remove in this case).
- we will leave them raw, varnished, waxed or even stained in white.
- you can also trace letters or whole sentences on these battens with stencils.
Good to know: these same battens can decorate the walls of your bathroom if you choose to protect them with a varnish or stain suitable for damp rooms.
Even if you do not live in a loft, with our 11 ideas for a workshop decoration, you will create an atmosphere with an industrial look at home.
Else, you can get in touch with Unique Custom Homes. They are expert in home design & construction, renovations & additions, and residential developments.
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