How to Incorporate Industrial Style Lighting into Your Home
Whether you live in a New York loft with exposed bricks and beams, a modernist house in the Midwest, a California Craftsman bungalow, or any other style of home in any location, industrial style lighting can have a place in your décor. Utilitarian in form as well as function, these factory-inspired fixtures have worked their way into a range of interior design styles. In this article, we’ll explore 9 ways you can incorporate them into your living spaces.
Key Design Considerations for Industrial Lighting
Industrial lighting features simple, sturdy designs that first found popularity in warehouses and manufacturing facilities. In these uses, they were created with functionality and durability in mind, with little room for ornamentation. Modern industrial lighting takes its cues from the originals, bringing the understated style into modern residential design through the use of several key elements.
Exposed bulbs
Exposed bulbs are a hallmark of industrial lighting, enhancing the style’s minimal and utilitarian aesthetic and creating a daring visual look, while illuminating spaces with unhampered light. Exposed bulbs coordinate well with many interior styles, including modern, Bohemian and traditional.
Vintage Fixtures
Industrial lighting brings a feeling of nostalgia and old Americana, adding character to today’s rooms. The mixing of rough surfaces and textures and straightforward design is part of its charm, bringing a delightful counterpoint to polished contemporary interiors.
Pathways
Small lights along your walking paths help people see where they are stepping, adding to the overall safety of your property. Step lights are designed for this exact use, but you can also opt for bollard lights for a more sturdy look, or recessed ground lights for a minimalist effect.
Pro Tip: Space lights evenly around 10 to 15 feet apart to ensure consistent illumination. You can even alternate sides of the path for a balanced look.
Driveways
As with pathways, when it comes to driveways, you want to provide safety and security. But you don’t need to overwhelm the area with brightness: a few carefully placed floodlights or bollard lights can do the trick. You can even install motion sensor lights so that they only switch on when movement is detected.
Pro Tip: Use floodlights for a wide coverage area and enhanced security.
Mailboxes and signs
If you want to feature your mailbox or a sign welcoming people to your home, then it’s best to use a simple spotlight, a post light with a stunning lantern positioned close by, or even solar stake lights which switch on automatically after dusk.
Pro Tip: Illuminate mailboxes or signs from below, to ensure visibility from the street.
Materials and Finishes
Industrial fixtures are usually made of metal like steel, chrome and copper. Details like exposed rivets, rusty spots and even peeled paint add to the ethos and make them a conversation piece in any room. Their color scheme is typically either unfinished metal or gray, olive or black paint in dark, matte tones. However, these fixtures can also be made of other materials such as concrete — its textured surface and calming gray hue will coordinate with just about any room.
Coordinating with Various Design Styles
First seen in New York City lofts, where artists crafted low-rent homes out of abandoned factories, industrial fixtures still work beautifully in environments with a highly industrial feel. However, today’s lights also can bring a touch of grit and street smarts to all types of spaces, and can be infused just as easily into a traditional kitchen or a Boho bedroom. They even work well in country or rustic farmhouse homes, especially industrial fixtures that have a slightly nautical look to them.
9 Industrial Lighting Ideas to Complement Your Home's Architectural Features
1. Open Spaces
Brighten up a living room or open plan space, where walls and other installation points are few and far between, with an overhead fixture. A stunning multi-bulb chandelier installed on a dimmer switch will highlight the space while bringing the wow factor. In the kitchen, a series of oversized pendant lights suspended over the kitchen island or dining table will help define it as a discrete zone in an otherwise open plan. Depending on the size of the island or table, a grouping of three or five pendants will do the trick.
2. High Ceilings
If your ceilings are more than 10 feet high, you can install a tiered chandelier in polished nickel with large round globes to emphasize the height and cast light evenly around the room. Alternatively, you can use industrial style pendant lights with long cords, so the bulbs hang around 7 feet off of the floor.
3. Exposed Beams
Got exposed wooden beams in your home? Accentuate them by lighting them without detracting from their authentic feeling. To determine the appropriate path forward, consider the available space below the ceiling. A high ceiling calls for an industrial-inspired chandelier or large pendants to fill the vertical space. For a lower ceiling, hanging lanterns will create lovely lighting effects against the wood while leaving the view of the beams unobstructed. You can also use simple and utilitarian track lighting and direct some of the light onto the beams themselves to highlight the grain and texture of the wood.
4. Visible Ductwork
Visible ductwork was once frowned upon in residential design, with architects and designers preferring to hide it in the ceiling. With the increasing popularity of industrial design elements in homes, it’s become more accepted for ductwork to be exposed: Not only does this allow for more ceiling height, but also it adds character. Fixtures with exposed bulbs, like industrial chandeliers and pendant lights, are an excellent complement to exposed ductwork, just make sure that the lights hang below the ductwork so as not to cause shadowing.
5. Brick Walls
Years ago, brick walls were typically covered over with plaster. But today, it’s commonplace to pull the plaster away and expose the worn brick underneath, creating an accent wall. The most effective way to emphasize such a wall is by “grazing” the wall with light from industrial wall sconces, placing them directly against the face of the brick that then grazes or glances down the surface. Still need a bit more light in the room? A few well-placed floor lamps that have an industrial look will round out the picture.
6. Large Windows
Large windows let in a lot of natural light, reducing the need for ambient light during the daytime. At night, however, you will want to employ artificial light. An industrial-inspired flush mount fixture or minimalist metal pendant will create ambient light for all to see, while also adding a look of vintage authenticity.
7. Concrete Floors
Concrete floors are low-maintenance, incredibly durable, and resistant to fire, stains, water, odors, and bacteria. Complement them with a tall floor lamp that comes in a metal finish, or a heavy duty industrial ceiling light in polished nickel or antique brass.
8. Wide Doorways
Wide doorways not only make it easy on moving day, they also bring an inviting, welcoming spirit to your home and a sense of open space. Track lighting on a simple brushed nickel pipe mounted near the doorway is an excellent choice if you don’t like the look of visible wiring, and will cover a sizeable space near your doorway.
9. Warehouse-Style Interiors
Of course, if you are going for a warehouse vibe in your home, then any of the above options will work wonderfully. From factory-style pendant lights to industrial floor lamps and more, you can take your pick, or you can go big and bold with a metal drum chandelier. These modern fixtures have a drum-shaped shade that surrounds the bulb, diffusing the light, and can be mounted in a variety of ways, including flush with the ceiling, semi-flush, or hanging on a wire or chain.
We’re Here to Help You Pull Off the Industrial Look
Whether you’re creating a space that is industrial in feel from the ceiling to the floor, or looking for industrial fixtures that will coordinate with other design styles, visit VisualComfort.com to see our incredible selection of ceiling lights, wall sconces, lamps and much more.
FAQ
What defines industrial style lighting?
Metal fixtures that are inspired by factory lighting, function-forward, and bring a bit of grit into your space.
What materials are commonly used in industrial style lighting?
Metal is the most commonly used material. It’s usually unfinished, although it can come in shades of grey, olive green, or black.
Can industrial style lighting work with different decor styles?
Industrial style lighting works beautifully as accent pieces with many different interior design styles, from traditional to Bohemian, rustic farmhouse to eclectic.
Can industrial style lighting work with different decor styles?
Chandeliers, pendant lights, and lamps all are available in industrial-inspired styles, to help create visually stunning, practical, and relaxed spaces.