DIY loft-style interior elements: step-by-step master classes with photos
Not many people know that the loft style gained its popularity back in the 20s in the USA. It was during this period that industrial enterprises rapidly closed. They were immediately noticed by representatives of high society and began to experiment with design. The result was a loft style that is still famous today. It is used literally everywhere, from your own home to restaurants, bars and even offices. This is not surprising, because it does not require too much investment. And if you really want, you can make elements of this style with your own hands.
Loft: style features
First of all, it is worth noting that the loft style differs from the rest, with a combination of aged and modern materials. Therefore, brickwork, pipes as an accent and new appliances will look great in one interior. It would seem that these are contradictory things, but it is precisely because of this that they look as harmonious as possible.
As mentioned above, this style was previously used in industrial premises. Today, a loft can be organized even in a one-room apartment. But still, the distinguishing feature is the high ceilings. Due to this, the room visually appears larger.
Also, loft-style rooms are rarely divided into rooms. Most often, this is one large space that is divided by furniture, lighting or color on the walls. It looks stylish and quite unusual.
A special role in the design is played by the combination of shades. In this case, the most suitable colors would be: dark green, white, gray, black, red, brown, blue. If desired, you can use other shades, but they should not be too bright or delicate.
As decoration, you can use unusual designs that are reminiscent of the industrial past. These can be metal chairs, various decor made from wooden boards. Particular attention should be paid to choosing suitable lighting. In this case, these should be complex structures made of metal and glass. They most accurately characterize a given style in the interior.
What can you make from pipes?
Metal and plastic pipes are a good material for making furniture frames. All parts are easy to connect even without using a welding machine.
When developing projects yourself, you will only have to take into account the load on the frame elements and not use plastic for products that require great strength (for example, a bed or a rack for storing heavy objects).
When making furniture in the loft style, you should not give up decorative elements. Products can be decorated using not only straight, but also curved pipes. By adding a socket with a lamp and a piece of wire to the layout of a shelf or table, you can simultaneously obtain convenient illumination of the work area and decor.
A special feature of the finishing of loft products is the minimal use of decorations. As a design, metal parts of the pipeline look harmonious: valves, flanges, fittings of unusual shape or size.
Lamp
Original lamps are an expressive detail of an interior in an industrial or urban style. Lampshades are rarely made for them. A cap from an old lamp, a heater reflector or a headlight reflector look interesting in this capacity. Designers also use unusual types of lighting design, enclosing the lamp in a box made of lattice or perforated fabric.
It’s quite easy to assemble a small table lamp-candlestick from pipeline elements with your own hands:
- Prepare a flange for the base, a piece of pipe, a cartridge and a wire with a cartridge, plug and switch. For decoration you will need a lamp with a bulb in the form of a flame, a faucet or other expressive element.
- Connect a short piece of pipe to the flange and install the tap. Its diameter should be selected so that the cartridge fits into the hole.
- Pass the electrical wiring inside the tube, mount the cartridge at the upper end and lower it into the tap hole. Place the lower end into the hole on the flange (on the side); if there is no standard one, drill it or make an outlet from below. In the latter case, to ensure the stability of the product, you will need to make legs by screwing bolts and nuts into the connecting holes of the flange. After installation, align these parts in height. Equip the wire with a plug and a switch.
- Insert the lamp into the socket and connect the product to the network. Check functionality.
To make a candlestick with several arms, different types of splitters are used: tees, crosses. By adding pieces of pipe to the details, the lamp is given the desired look and shape. The main requirement is the stability of the structure. You can make such a candlestick from steel, copper or plastic tubes.
Clothes hanger
Clothes hanger in loft style.
An urban clothes hanger will harmoniously complement the interior of a loft studio. The fashionable element is easy to assemble from parts of a plastic pipeline: they do not require threading on numerous short parts.
Tees and crosses will help connect parts of the structure, and for hooks it is convenient to use 90° and 45° angles.
If you can purchase metal hooks for lifting loads, the product can be given a spectacular industrial look. The hanger is attached to the wall with brackets made of a flange and a short pipe.
Before manufacturing, it is advisable to draw up your own drawing, taking into account the number of hooks and dimensions of the product. A simple hanger can be easily assembled from 1 flange, 1 tee, 2 corners and 2 plugs.
Connect the parts in series. It is advisable to supplement the bolts in the plugs with hooks for mini-loaders, but even without such parts they can already fulfill their purpose. Valves are suitable as a knob hanger (for example, for kitchen towels).
Chair, stool
The design of a high bar stool consists of 8 long and 5 short pieces of pipe (for the legs). All parts are connected by tees, placing their branches in 2 planes: 4 are placed vertically, and 2 are placed horizontally, connecting the legs. Attach flanges to the seat (thick plywood, board).
Unlike a stool, a chair must have a back. This part is easy to attach to 2 additional tees embedded in the back pair of stool legs. But craftsmen also assemble more complex structures from pipes, using different connecting elements. It is better to make chairs from metal structures: despite the heavy weight, the product will be strong enough to withstand the weight of an adult.
Shelf
The variety of shelves that can be made from pipes and fittings allows them to be used in different areas and rooms. Simple designs made from a zigzag pipeline are suitable for both the bathroom and the hallway (like a shoe rack). In a recreation area or a teenager’s room, this design is convenient for storing books or textbooks.
Shelf in loft style.
To do this, vertical and horizontal tubes are connected, forming a continuous curved pipeline. It is attached to the wall with flanges installed at the ends of the pipe.
The distance from the wall is such that the book, when installed, rests on the wall and a horizontal element. In the bathroom, it is convenient to hang a wet towel on the same structure or place a folded dry one.
Compact stands for flowers or souvenirs and other small items are made from 2 flanges, connecting them with an angle (90°). In this case, the vertical part is attached to the wall, and the horizontal part is supplemented with a plank, screwing it to the base.
Using your own imagination and using the ideas in the photo, it’s easy to make multi-tiered and combined products for the kitchen, bathroom, hallway and other rooms.
Rack
Racks can be wall-mounted or free-standing. When developing a project, you need to take into account that the frame elements bear the heaviest load. Racks and shelf bases are best made of metal.
Any shelving design contains vertical and horizontal elements. It is convenient to connect them with tees. If you install crosses instead of a tee at levels 1-2, then using a flange a free-standing structure can be attached to the wall for additional stability (if the rack is designed for a large load).
For wall shelves, fewer racks are used: they are often made only on the front or back side of the shelving structure. The rigid base can withstand the weight of dishes, toys, books or bath accessories. Shelving can be used in premises of any purpose.
Bottle rack
It is convenient to store a collection of alcohol on wine racks. The peculiarity of this rack is the inclined shelves on which wine bottles are placed neck down. For a loft-style room, it’s easy to make racks from pipes without a lot of parts. To work, you need to select squeegees, the diameter of one side of which will allow you to insert the neck of the bottle.
Bottle stand in loft style.
The base of the rack is assembled from several short pipes and tees. The outlet pipes of the latter are mounted in one direction perpendicular to the wall.
You need to attach the base through 2 corners and flanges at the upper and lower ends of the assembled pipeline.
To store wine, you need to screw a 90° corner to the nozzle of each tee, positioning it at an angle of 45° to the vertical. Install a squeegee with an extension in the corner, which will serve as a holder for containers.
The design can be simplified by immediately selecting the diameter of the components according to the size of the bottle neck.
Racks can be assembled from 2 tubes connected by an angle and attached to the wall through flanges, or from arcs mounted on a board. There are many options for simple designs, and you can use not only metal, but also plastic for their manufacture.
Flowerpots
A brutal flower stand is both a mini-shelf and a tabletop (floor-standing) structure, in which the parts and bends of the pipeline act as a support for the container. You can use a flange as a base, as for making a lamp (for a small stand). It is best to equip a suspended product with chains.
The role of the container is played by a piece of large diameter pipe or a tap body or fitting of a suitable size (at least 7-10 cm wide). To connect to thin pipes, adapters (spikes) are used from main networks to small-diameter distributions. The choice of plants can be anything, but succulents and cacti will look especially harmonious.
Candlestick
The candlestick is assembled in the same way as the table lamp. The only difference in design is the absence of electrical equipment. The candlestick needs to be assembled from the smallest water pipes (½-¾ inches). Standard candles will fit well into the fitting holes.
Loft style candlestick.
Tray
A portable tea table or tray can be easily assembled from a wooden board (you can also use a beautiful die-cut or lattice). On a flat part you will need to strengthen 4 identical arc-handles.
Each consists of 1 piece of pipe, 2 angles at its ends, 2 connecting pipes and 2 flanges (for fastening to the panel). 2 arcs are attached on the top side of the tray, and 2 on the bottom to form the legs of the tea table. If you need a simple tray, you can do without the legs.
Unusual lamp
Everyone knows that loft style lighting plays a significant role. It is not at all similar to the usual options. But nevertheless, even such lamps can be made with your own hands.
For this you will need:
Apply glue to the bars and attach them to the wooden base. For reliability, we fix it with a clamp.
We wipe off the remaining glue and leave the workpiece for several hours.
We paint all bolts and screws with paint of a suitable color. Leave them until completely dry.
Meanwhile, coat the wooden board with varnish.
We mark the holes on the board and immediately make them.
We screw the flanges to the board according to the holes.
We lay the wiring and begin assembling the lamp.
We hang the lamp in a suitable place and connect it.
Only at this stage do we screw in identical light bulbs.
A stylish, but at the same time unusual, DIY lamp is ready!
Coffee table
Required materials and tools:
- wooden pallet;
- screws;
- drill;
- sanding machine or sandpaper;
- stain;
- polyurethane varnish;
- brush;
- table legs;
- saw.
First, cut off part of the pallet based on the desired size of the table.
We remove excess boards from one side of the workpiece.
We attach boards to the sides of the table.
We supplement the outer part of the table with boards so that there is a flat surface.
Carefully attach the legs to each side of the table.
We process the surface of the table with sandpaper or a grinding machine. This is necessary in order to get rid of roughness and irregularities. Only after this we apply the stain and leave the table for several hours. Apply varnish to the entire surface and leave until completely dry.
A beautiful loft-style table is ready!
Original storage box
An unusual storage box will be needed regardless of the style of your interior. But in this case it is made of wood, which is fully consistent with the loft style.
The work will require the following:
First, we process the box inside and out with sandpaper to remove all bumps and snags.
Paint the entire surface with white paint and leave to dry. If necessary, apply a second coat of paint.
Lightly sand the surface to give it a slight aged effect.
At this stage, you can leave the drawer as is or add handles.
Cut two identical pieces of twine.
We pass one end through the hole and tie a knot. We repeat the same with the second end of the rope.
We process the ends with a lighter. This is necessary so that they do not bloom.
We repeat the same on the other side of the box.
The result is a beautiful box that can be used for both storage and decoration.
Loft style is an amazing combination of industrial and technological. It is very difficult to ensure that all this looks harmonious. But the result is definitely worth all the effort.
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Functional decor
Loft is not so much about beauty as functionality, so accessories should be useful in everyday life. One of these things will be a stylish dial.
You can make a watch out of anything. Wooden blocks, bicycle wheels and fan parts are used as the base.
There are no strict rules regarding size either. Clocks can be compact bedside or large wall clocks.
In addition to clocks, shelves will also be useful in the interior. You can make them in just a few hours.
Loft shelving
Loft rack, characteristics:
- Overall dimensions: 1840x1000x440 mm
- Square pipe 40x40 mm
- Shelf: 1000x360x40 mm
Drawing - assembly of loft shelving
Loft shelving detail drawing
Download loft shelving drawing
The drawing can be downloaded HERE or by clicking on the button below:
Download drawing
Lighting
Another chapter in the loft style is lamps. There is also huge scope for creativity here. The same materials are used in the work.
The advantage of the style lies in the “rough” look of the crafts. The products do not require painting or additional processing. The more factory-like a thing looks, the more firmly it will fit into the interior.
Lovers of the loft style know that you can’t throw away old things. After all, even the most dilapidated objects can become a masterpiece.
For example, old water pipes are turned into a creative lamp.
Or in ceiling spots.
The loft style is fertile ground for creative ideas. And they can be embodied in crafts, for the manufacture of which things that were a pity to throw away will be useful.
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Materials
To tell the truth, there are not so many materials that will match the style of the loft. Let's list the most popular solutions.
Wood and its analogues
As with many styles, wood is often the material of choice. And the reason lies in the spectacular appearance of the resulting furniture product, its strength and durability. In order not to make a bad choice, you need to choose valuable types of wood - oak, beech, hornbeam. In this case, the shelves in the kitchen should be additionally treated due to the increased humidity of the room. However, not everyone can afford natural wooden shelves - this material is quite expensive. You can replace it, for example, with plywood, which is often made from birch. Plywood is low cost, highly decorative, and lasts at least 5 years. It lends itself well to processing and painting.
Another cheap option is fibreboard (MDF). This material is easy to paint, it is resistant to moisture, flexible, and can take different shapes. In many cases, shelves made from particle board (chipboard), which is made from shavings and other wood waste, are chosen. The resulting products will be durable, but still they should not be heavily loaded.
In addition, products made from chipboard or MDF require regular care.
Metal
Metal shelves will certainly attract the attention of guests, because this is a rather unusual solution. Metal models fit organically into the loft, complement it, and they are also incredibly durable, can withstand a lot of weight, and do not lose their appearance over the years. However, such shelves need to be periodically treated with anti-corrosion agents, especially in damp rooms. And not everyone can handle mounting them on the wall. But to solve the problem, you can always turn to the experts for help.
Pipes
Tin and metal old-fashioned pipes look incredibly chic in a loft. They correspond to his concept, reminiscent of production and evoking associations with non-residential premises. Pipe shelves are a win-win idea. They can consist either entirely of pipes or partially. Models made entirely of pipes can serve as an original flower stand. In this case, the product will tend upward. You can also make an original rack from pipes, however, you should not put anything on it - let it be a purely decorative item.
A more convenient solution is pipes combined with wood or metal. These shelves are very stable, look unusual, and are also functional. Most often, shelves made of pipes are multi-tiered. Each tier is designed for a specific type of accessory. It turns out interesting when not just pipes are used, but fragments with valves. This solution gives a special chic to the design.
