How To Inject Industrial-Chique Into your Home
If you are looking to renovate your house or apartment, it pays to have an idea of current trends and markets. Since the iconic warehouse living of the mid-nineties, encapsulated by movies and sitcoms, industrial aesthetics have been on the rise. Go to any upmarket coffee shop in Brooklyn, or to any Art Gallary in Miami, and you will see the conclusion of years of minimalist trends. While you do not want your home to look like a commercial space, there are some features of the industrial aesthetic that will translate well into your private living space, and it wont break the bank either. If done correctly, and in coordination with more personal style choices, injecting some urban into your décor can add value to your house.
Paint the Floor
So long as you are not high up in an apartment block, having stripped floors is a great way to modernize any house. Whether you have wooden floorboards or a concrete base, painting the floor can tug a dated apartment into the right century. When considering colors, remember that anything too light will get marked and stained easily. For a city look, why not try a matte mid-gray. Painting needn’t cost anything, buy the paint and most people should be able to do it themselves.
Co-ordinate Your Colors
While bright, patterned items can accesorize a room perfectly they can also make it feel crowded and hectic. To avoid your space feeling like a chaotic melee of competing fabrics, select a color palette and try to stick to it. Limit the amount of patterns in one room and ensure that those feature items pop-out. Select a few block colors and buy the majority of your soft furnishings to match this theme. You might want to add a feature wall somewhere in the house, preferably a block color that complements your chosen scheme.
Consider your Lighting
Although the red velvet, baroque lamp-shade your Mom gave you is adorable, it might not exactly be contemporary. Take a walk around your home, what do the bathroom lights look like, do the kitchen spotlights add anything to the aesthetic of the room? An easy and affordable way to breathe some life into a tired home is to replace the light fittings with more modern, simple designs. If you are stuck for ideas, check a trade site like www.e-conolight.com and see what variety there is. Try to imagine the new light fittings in your home, although a small change it could have a massive impact on how the room feels.
De-clutter
Perhaps the simplest way to make your home look fresh and contemporary is to rid yourself of unnecessary clutter. While photographs, prints, cushions and (some) nick nacks are what makes a house your home, too much of anything can leave you feeling overwhelmed. You might not realise it but all those half-empty pots of safety pins, old house keys and last years food receipts, are probably weighing you down. Declutter your space and you will feel much lighter, and your home will be much more inviting to visitors.