Loft style in interior design

Loft-style interiors embody a conceptual approach to space that emerged at the junction of poverty and luxury, brutality and glamor. They demonstrate how the most unfriendly, unsuitable industrial buildings are transformed under the influence of art, turning into luxurious apartments.

In English loft (loft) means non-residential premises, usually garrets or attics. In a broader sense, these are abandoned industrial buildings, usually single-storey, under a high roof. Later, it was the latter value that consolidated this term, denoting the main feature of the new urban style in interior design.

The direction "loft" originated in the 40s of the XX century. in the industrial districts of New York. New jump in land prices in the city center forced the owners of industrial enterprises to leave their premises and bring production to the outskirts. Deserted factory buildings were chosen by artists, they were satisfied with both the functional characteristics of the premises (high ceilings, good lighting) and low rental rates in comparison with conventional apartments. It was a shelter for the poor. No partitions, even the ceiling above the head was not always - more often beams and roof slopes. The minimal improvement was limited to the availability of a kitchen and a bathroom.

It was here that the artistic life of New York was centered. Young artists who opened their galleries on industrial grounds won world fame. The atmosphere of an uninhibited chic loft acquired a shade of elitism. Converted in loft style, warehouses, shipyards and factories, have become expensive and prestigious. To shoot large areas in the historical center of the city, in buildings that are already close to being granted the status of a monument of architecture for the prescription of the years, young artists could not afford, and their place was taken by successful lawyers and financiers.

Following America, the crisis reached major European cities, replacing factories from the central streets to the outskirts. However, the former factory buildings were not empty for a long time. They immediately began to equip for residential apartments. A fashionable American trend reached Europe and became popular. It was at this time there was a definition of style. Townspeople created interiors, copying the American industrial style, adopting progressive design ideas.

Picture "At the Sea" in the interior of the bedroom in the loft style.

The final popularization of the loft took place at a time when rich businessmen and aristocratic elite began to build houses in this style. New buildings are specially made spacious, with large windows and without walls. So the loft has acquired its characteristic, classic features:

Large, space-free premises ranging from several hundred to thousands of square meters.

Huge windows.

Rough finish of walls, floor and ceiling.

High ceilings.

Open large metal structures - pipelines, ventilation, bearing beams.

The furniture in a small amount, but it is emphatically stylish.

Over time, from the general style began to appear different directions loft, now the designers distinguish three main:

Bohemian (boho-loft);

Glamorous;

Industrial.

Bohemian style spatially preserves the features of a large factory premises. All elements of designs are not fundamentally subjected to any decorating or camouflage, their material and texture are identified and emphasized as much as possible. The furnishings and accessories in this interior are designed to materialize the owner's inner world, to individualize and spiritualize the space. The interior of the house is built on the principle of still life, in which each element is filled with meaning and is in a certain interaction with other elements. The object acquires in this art project the function of a symbol, a sign expressing this or that idea, in it first of all its own history is valued. For example, furniture is selected either antique, or new models, but in the style of "vintage", suggesting the effect of aging. Particular importance in this interior is acquired by art objects: author's painting and graphics, sculpture, art objects.

Landscape "HILLS OF TUSCANY" in the interior of the "bohemian" loft.

Glamorous direction - it is distinguished by a peculiar color palette. It is immediately recognizable by the combination of pastel tones. For example, this may not be traditional white-gray scale, but gray-lilac. Architects and designers pay special attention to the selection of chandeliers, plafonds and floor lamps. They are many, they have unusual silhouettes and serve as an accent of the interior. Often next to a strict bed is a dining table, surrounded by curved baroque chairs. Decoration of the interior with a lot of accessories goes here to the forefront, designers saturate the space not so much with objects as with citations and semantic associations. Musical instruments and antiques, oil painting and avant-garde collage, all these are no longer just objects and objects of art, they are the component parts of the puzzle, forming an artistic, creative fleur that makes the brutal architecture of the loft more spiritual and warm.

Painting "At the Dawn". Interior in the style of a "glamorous loft."

Industrial direction - the most popular. To embody it, you need to fill the interior of the living space with signs of a factory building or production hall. In favor design of pipes with valves, wooden trusses, chains and knots from wires. Furniture is used without excess, with the right geometric shapes.

Loft style of the room does not provide for the separation of the common space of the house into separate rooms. As a rule, these are huge apartments with high ceilings, the boundary between different functional zones is carried out with the help of various wall and floor finishes. Only the bathroom can be fenced off from the common space .

The main material of decoration in the interior of the loft is uneven plaster, rough brickwork or bare concrete. The ceiling is decorated with rough wooden beams, and along the walls there are uncovered ventilation pipes and electrical wiring.

Huge windows from floor to ceiling are not decorated with any curtains, preventing the contemplation of urban landscapes and penetration into the loft apartment of bright sunlight.

Painting "TIME" in the interior of the "industrial" loft.

Usually, when selecting elements of decor, accessories and art objects, the interior designer starts from his original imaginative concept, which he chose to build an interior. Such a design interior is "built" around the image, visualizes it by combining and contrasting shapes and planes, textures and structures. In such an interior, every detail is selected in accordance with its stylistic, aesthetic code. When the basis of the design project is laid, the time comes for placing accents and semantic dominants. It is this role in the modern interior that is devoted to works of painting.

Loft conceptually involves the presence in the interior of painting, as a link with the original source of style - the artist's workshop. At the same loft does not become a gallery, it coexists with painting absolutely organically. It can be both classical and modern painting, both impressionism and pop art; in any case, untreated brick walls will become for the canvas a magnificent background. Simply realistic art and abstract painting will create a different semantic context for the interior, in different ways will represent the person of the owner of the house. So a modern art lover can place large-scale paintings on walls, powerful color spots that will help to place accents in the interior. Completely differently will work small graphic sheets, decorated in a passepartout under the glass. A subtle, detailed graphics, supplemented by reflections in the glass, will add to any wall both spatial and semantic depth. In a creative, extraordinary interior, decided boldly and unconventionally, a realistic portrait can become as unexpected and provocative as a daring modern installation in the classical halls of the museum.

Painting "SILENT MELODY" in a vintage interior in loft style.

Even a small collection of paintings or black and white photographs in the loft-style interior can create an associative bridge with the original, authentic loft.

Frame for the picture in the interior in the loft style also has its own specifics. So in the glamorous loft it is quite possible the appearance on the picture of the frame of the classical baguette, but only in its aged, vintage reincarnation. In the industrial loft, a more minimalistic metal frame in the style of hi-tech is more appropriate. In the placement of paintings, too, options are possible. In addition to the classical gallery hanging we use the arrangement of paintings on special shelves, on the easel, and a large-format painting is often simply placed on the floor near the wall. Such liberty in the placement of paintings in the interior once again emphasizes the spirit of freedom and creativity, so characteristic of the loft.

Color in the interior.

In the style of the loft, colors of neutral and cold colors are usually used. Most of the interior design in the loft style is designed in a strict color scheme. This is explained by the fact that industrial objects were rarely painted in bright colors. As an accent blue, red or derivative shades of these colors are used. Loft - this is one of the trends of modern interior style, so the colors for the interior are used the same as in the style of high-tech (cold color scale of silver, white and black) or minimalism (a strict combination of two shades of contrasting or harmonizing spectrum with a focus on one bright Colour).

Furniture.

Furniture in loft style is usually simple and functional. Often it performs the function of partitions (walls) between rooms, that is, it divides the space into zones. Against the background of spacious and free space of premises, the main accent should be made on furniture, which attracts attention, becoming the semantic center of the interior in loft style.

The peculiarity of the design of rooms in the loft style is an amazing combination of the most diverse pieces of furniture, which perfectly harmonize with each other. In such interiors excellent get along both expensive and exclusive things, and ancient rare products.

First of all, the loft-design of the interior provides for a lot of seats. In the main part of the room, which serves as an open living room, a large sofa set is set up. Near her around a low coffee table can be placed chairs or benches. Upholstered furniture can be made in different styles and from various materials - from rough wood to chrome-plated metal, and also have a completely different finish - from expensive leather up to simple textile upholstery.

None of the pieces of furniture, whether it is a closet, sofa or shelving, do not stand near the wall. As a rule, all the furniture is equipped with wheels, allowing you to often rearrange, depending on your mood. Free and laid-back furniture makes the interior in loft style live and mobile.

Art Space.

Former industrial spaces with their huge squares and high ceilings can be used not only for housing, but also for organizing multifunctional cultural centers with exhibition halls, galleries, cafes, restaurants, offices, concert platforms. Andy Warhol's factory gave birth to a trend that swept across America, and then Europe.

Architectural details.

Particular attention in loft style deserve detail. This is the whole legacy of the factory past: ladders, various pipes, ventilation systems, factory adaptations, etc. Also it is worth paying attention to the windows. The windows should be as wide and high as possible (to the floor) without tulle and curtains. This is necessary for maximum illumination of the interior. For artificial lighting often used hanging chandeliers.

Now, real estate objects such as "loft" are becoming more popular in Russia. Of course, builders are sometimes easier to demolish an old factory and build a new building in the vacant space. Only a few of them decide to undertake the reconstruction of factory buildings without their complete restructuring. Also popular is the "stylization" of private apartments under the "loft", such objects are sometimes called neoloft.

In the section "Painting in the interior" you can see examples of placing paintings not only in the lofts, but also in interiors of different styles and directions.

04.11.2017