The history of the loft is approaching the centennial milestone, and during this time not only the design concept was determined, but also techniques were developed that help recreate the style and emphasize its specific charm.
Let's figure out what techniques designers use to create spectacular loft-style ceilings and emphasize their aesthetic uniqueness.
Extravagant loft ceiling
Signs of style in the design of the ceiling are often more noticeable than in other interior components The ceiling is the first thing that catches the eye, and how can you not notice the deliberately highlighted pipes and strange loft-style ceiling lights hanging from long wires or mounted on a rod?
Designer ceilings in the loft style are fundamentally different from the traditional ones. If the goal of the usual one is to level the surface, hide the unevenness of the floors under the plaster or stretch fabric and hide the electrical wiring, then in the loft it is to highlight the ceiling structural elements that carry a decorative load. They are not masked, but rather accentuated. If this is not enough, then the missing details are artificially recreated - beams, ventilation pipes, additional ceilings, industrial lamps - all in order to give the room an industrial flavor.
We can say that the loft-style ceiling (as in the photo) determines the ratio of industrial and bohemian in the interior of the apartment.
Rating of finishing materials
In the loft, one can distinguish between authentic construction materials and those that we can conditionally call finishing, as they imitate textures rather than being an integral part of the style.
Top 5 of the coolest materials from which loft-style ceilings are made (photo gallery):
- Concrete. Beams, cornices, floor slabs, monolithic ceilings with or without traces of formwork,
- Dark metal. Roof rafters, floor beams, drain pipes, air ducts, pipes for electrical wiring, elements of ceiling lights, fasteners, fittings.
- Tree, aged dark texture. Floor beams, rafters, rack ceilings.
- Copper and brass. Ceiling lamps, pipes.
- Stainless steel. Ventilation ducts, pipes, chandeliers, spotlights
Creating a loft interior requires a lot of effort and expense. Sometimes it is useful to use additional materials that simplify and reduce the cost of work:
- Plasterboard for the subsequent finishing of the ceiling in the loft style.
- Cement-like plaster.
- Textured concrete look wallpaper.
- Stretch ceilings matte.
- Aluminium, etched to look like dark metal or anodized to look like stainless steel.
The most luxurious apartments - with concrete ceilings, as in the above photos. Concrete deserves special attention, so it is worth considering its pros and cons.
Concrete - chic and sophisticated
“It would seem that it could be easier than to leave concrete floors with little or no finishing? Minimum cost and maximum loft! Design projects prove that it looks very stylish, but there are difficulties in implementation.”
The advantage is that the concrete ceiling can not be finished, except that the influxes from the formwork can be sanded.To protect against dust and moisture, impregnate with a hydrophobic composition that practically does not change the appearance of the material. Minus - what about the ceiling wiring?
Concrete wiring
In fact, the electrical wiring under the ceiling of the apartment is much more voluminous than is necessary to maintain the industrial surroundings. In the classic version, concrete slabs are shredded, and after laying the wires, they are leveled with plaster. What do loft designers offer?
Designers recommend hiding a significant part of the wiring in ventilation ducts and rods of railing fixtures. At the same time, the ends leading to the hanging loft-style ceiling chandeliers remain in sight. To enhance the retro effect, external wiring is sometimes performed on old-fashioned porcelain insulators - this is how the loft-style ceiling is designed in the photo of an apartment with a low clearance.
Savings on finishing the concrete ceiling turns into the cost of additional structures, but it's worth it - the results of the designers' work are impressive.
Concrete and additional floors
There is another way to hide the wiring - to remove it under an additional overlap. It is usually arranged above the kitchen area or along the contour of the room. It also naturally occurs when creating a second tier for an office or bathroom. It allows:
- Hide excess communications.
- Emphasize the texture of the concrete in contrast to the fine finish.
- Select a "clean" area - above the kitchen, in the bedroom or living room.
- Install spotlights or contour LED lighting.
Given the tendency to mix styles, the finishing of an additional ceiling against the backdrop of a loft-style concrete ceiling is more than appropriate - it emphasizes the brutal texture, enriches the interior design and its functionality.
"Old" wooden ceilings in the loft style
“Wood looks great on a loft-style ceiling. It enhances the retro spirit and makes the interior feel “warmer”. A tradition has been formed of a specific coloring of wood “under the loft” - usually these are cold gray-brown shades of oak with a pronounced texture and blackening imitating soot.
Wooden beams under the ceiling look much more comfortable than metal ones, moving the accent from the industrial component to the residential one. (Do we remember that the style arose from the practice of adapting old factory buildings for housing?)
When designing a completely wooden ceiling, country style analogies must be avoided. This is helped by a special, as if smoky, texture of wood and an abundance of metal decor - lamps, communications.
In the case when the room has a gable roof, the design of the ramp with wide slats is out of competition, as evidenced by the photos of loft-style wooden ceilings created by professional designers.
Heavy metal in the interior
It is difficult to imagine a loft-style ceiling without metal accessories - cast iron, steel, brass or copper.
Cast iron is too heavy to be used as a structural material. It is present in the form of pipes, valves or in the design of a chandelier.
Steel beams serve as a supporting structure or are purely decorative elements. Pipes, ventilation ducts, loft-style ceiling lights - all this is done mainly from steel. Often a black galvanized coating is applied to it.
Copper, and with it brass, have become the favorites of interior designers since 2018-2019. Replacing black metal parts with copper ones gives the loft-style interior an uncharacteristic festivity. How are reddish-yellow metals used in ceiling decoration?
Any steel decorative elements that do not carry loads can be replaced with copper, it's just a matter of artistic intent and price. Copper and brass effectively coexist with steel and wood, drawing attention to themselves, enhancing the decorative effect of the finish.
Successful and unsuccessful imitations
Inexpensive materials are able to mimic concrete, wood and metal. Their use allows you to reduce the cost of finishing the ceiling in the loft style, simplify the technology and speed up the finishing work.
In practice, concrete is replaced with artistic plaster or textured wallpaper, wood and metal with plastic.
The plastered “under concrete” ceiling looks expressive and even expands the boundaries of the project. For example, it is technologically extremely difficult to make a pitched concrete ceiling, it is incomparably easier to plaster a slope and paint it in the color of a stone.
Wiring is hidden under the plaster, which allows you to free up space, visually increase the height of the room, fill it with light. This is especially valuable for apartments less than 4 meters high. It is also possible to use built-in lights.
Replacing wooden slats with MDF is usually very noticeable, and expensive texture imitations bypass wood at a cost. The only benefit is that the impregnation/painting step is eliminated and the finishing work is accelerated. Visually, the design loses a lot.
Plastic pipes, it would seem, are quite capable of imitating metal ones, but even taking into account the large distance to the ceiling, the difference is noticeable - other plastic properties of the material affect.
Lighting as a component of a loft project
There are four directions in the loft decor: industrial, retro, eclectic luxury and modern constructivism. In an eclectic interior, it is important to strike the right balance, and lighting systems play a significant role in placing accents.
The industrial style is represented by frosted or fluted glass ceiling lights and low-hanging lamps under metal shades.
Retro style can be seen in the brass and copper decor of the lamps, their old-fashioned form. Designers often copy samples of factory lamps from the beginning of the 20th century. Almost any light source in retro style organically complements the design of the apartments.
“Luxury is present in the interior as expensive accessories. Huge crystal loft-style ceiling chandeliers serve the same role as an oriental carpet on the floor or paintings lined the walls. They bring a soft, enveloping bohemian feel to the apartments.”
The ideas of constructivism entered the loft design legally, as a reflection of modern industrial culture. They are represented by built-in halogen lamps, Tesla lamps, contour lighting and ceiling lamps on a loft-style rod.
Rare Accessories
Some techniques for decorating loft-style ceilings are rarely used, but the more effectively they emphasize the exclusivity of the interior.
These include bladed fans that rotate slowly under the ceiling. It is very authentic, American, and in our perception it is associated with factory culture. The high loft-style ceiling in the photo illustrates how organically the fan blades look on it.
Due to the fact that ventilation ducts are rarely found in domestic projects, they cannot be called a typical decor element. The reason for refusing them is insufficiently high ceilings. Meanwhile, the boxes can be used for their intended purpose, as a hood, as well as for flush-mounted electrical wiring, thereby unloading the surface from the chaos of wires. In apartments with high vaults, they help emphasize the depth of space and enhance the factory component of an eclectic interior.
Metal ceiling beams are a kind of loft standard, but they are rarely found in real interiors. In addition to external showiness, they help streamline the wiring, serve as a natural supporting structure for lighting installation. The beams set the rhythm and certainly indicate the industrial style.
Ordinary ceiling in a loft apartment
Sometimes the loft interior is so textured, varied, loaded with details that there is no need for special decoration of the ceiling. In this case, it is permissible to use one of the usual finishing options - plaster, suspended plasterboard or matte stretch ceiling (gloss looks foreign).
Another argument in favor of the traditional design is the low height of the room. In this case, designers decorate the floor, walls and furnishings, leaving the space above free. Ceiling lamps on a loft-style rod or a lamp under a characteristic metal shade emphasize its depth.
Designers love the loft. It gives scope to the imagination and tests their ability to combine straightforward industrialism, uninhibited bohemianism and sophisticated aesthetics of the interior into a single whole.
Photo gallery
