Vintage industrial furniture, lighting and decorative accessories are bang on trend at the moment. Whether it’s a sleek reproduction or a secondhand find, you’d be hard pressed to find an industrial piece that isn’t visually beautiful and exciting. I personally love industrial items of furniture, especially second hand items where you can see the history of ware and tear that you’d expect from factory or warehouse furnishings. The signature industrial style incorporates often strong angular shapes, metallic colours and an overall sense of working practicality. This practicality of industrial furniture and lighting is evident in the design – flexible, built to last and large scale. The main materials used are mat and polished metals; decorated with hints of wood and effects on the metal such as bevels or perforations.
Many of the units designed for workplace storage can be used in the home as a modern take on the welsh dresser or freestanding unit – great for a makeshift bookshelf or decorative display. The modern reproductions have been softened and made playful by the addition of bright block colours instead of raw metal, another key 2011 trend! Below are my favourite places to source industrial chic furniture and accessories…
First up is Little Paris, who offer an eclectic range of authentic and vintage furniture, curiosities and accessories. The products come from contemporary French designers, with new products restocking the shop every three weeks.
Established over 12 years ago in the creative hub of Spitalfields you can find Elemental, who’ve built a reputation as a one stop source for the unusual and unique. The Elemental blog gives you up-to-date information on not only the company, but the products in stock and any new finds.
Morris Interiors specializes in a variety of industrial lights, with each item skillfully stripped, polished, re-wired and renovated to modern standards. Alongside the lights, you can find a great selection of storage items and desks.
The Old Cinema – that’s exactly what it is; a refurbished picture palace dating back to the 1890s. The Old Cinema has become London’s only antiques, vintage and retro department store, stocking everything you could imagine – the stock is vast, from all ages and from all around the world. The Old Cinema has a great selection of ‘hardcore’ industrial, with many pieces up-cycled with a fresh lick of paint
Below is a selection of companies that offer modern reproductions of industrial to easily merge with your existing household furnishings. MADE is a personal favourite of mine – they’re making a stand against high priced designer furniture and in-turn offering beautifully design furniture at amazing, affordable prices. MADE do this by stripping out the middlemen and connecting the buyer with the furniture makers directly, cutting the cost by 50-80%! You can even vote for future items to go into production! Rose & Grey also have a lovely collection of industrial – I’ve got my eye on their galvanized steel trolley!
Left to right: Made, Graham & Green, Rose & Grey, Pigeon Vintage.
