Inspiration Station - Living Room

Retro, relaxed and raw, you’ll find industrial furniture in any modern living room. Whether you want to add a hint of citified chic to your wider scheme or want to adopt an entire homage to loft living, industrial furniture will be a stylish addition to the social hub of your home.

What is industrial style furniture?

Industrial furniture for the living room and beyond can be defined by its use of both metal and exposed wood. This stripped back use of materials gives it its urban, fresh-from-the-workshop feel. The furniture usually also has a robust, minimalist frame, giving it an ultra-contemporary flair.

How to design an industrial living room

If you’re wondering how to create an industrial living room, it helps to imagine its warehouse origins. Exposed finishes are a great place to begin: have you considered concrete floors, wood panelling or exposed brick walls? In terms of the essence of the room, think high ceilings, large windows with plenty of natural light and a largely open plan, or at least freely flowing design.

Position your key pieces of furniture around and near these natural light sources - mainly, your sofa and other seating arrangements. Make sure you have enough places to sit to make this colder design scheme highly inviting and comfortable. You’ll not only want to have a sofa, but also one or two accents chairs and maybe a footstool that you can rest your feet on or can act as an extra seat when needed.

This seating area can be defined as a ‘zone’, which can be a particularly useful way to think about your industrial living room layout, especially if it’s open plan. Use sectionals, surfaces like console tables or commanding pieces like a corner sofa to divide your space into different areas so you can better utilise the room you’ve got. Make sure to incorporate pathways around the room to keep the flow open and retain the balance.

Airflow is a key part of this and the minimalist aspect of the furniture calls for the removal of clutter and any unnecessary items. Keep it cool with streamlined shapes and boxy lines.

How to decorate an industrial living room

Industrial decor colours

Industrial style in interior design is showstopping, especially when you know how to style it. Firstly, it’s a very neutral palette due to its materials, so think wood, alloy and leather when formulating your design. This makes the colours monochrome, but don’t be afraid to add pops of colour in subtle and smart ways, be this with your sofa, soft furnishings, chairs, rugs, artwork and more. Houseplants are a quick and easy way to achieve this, adding a shock of gorgeous green life to a monochromatic scene.

Industrial style lighting

The relaxed contemporary style of industrial furniture calls for lighting that reflects its raw, exposed design elements. There’s lots of kinds of industrial lighting but you’ll mainly find clear glass pendants on either satisfyingly spherical or quirky geometric shapes as well as uncovered beams and lightbulbs.

Industrial home accessories

As mentioned, the hardiness and mechanical nature of this school of design means it needs plenty of comfortable accents to sink into and create warmth, perhaps with a furry rug, a simple throw or any other highly textural accompaniment to add dimension to your space.

Yet, don’t forget that glass and brassy accompaniments contribute to the industrial theme. Display these ornaments on a sideboard, up on open shelving, or affix to a wall.

Industrial furniture for the living room

Industrial style accent chairs

Our accent chairs come in a myriad of styles, colours and materials, adding a pop of colour and an extra seat when you need it most.

Purdy accent chair

Our Purdy accent chair is bang on trend. Both its vibrant mustard upholstery and rounded barrel shape encapsulate the retro 70s, illuminating a cosy corner of your industrial living room with a warm, bohemian vibe.

Panama accent chair

The distressed effect of the mottled mid-grey leather which covers our Panama accent chair. Its sophistication means it can stand alone on its own four black metal feet, spiky and flared. It’s perfect for this theme as it fits industrial style to a T, however, due to its metallic colouring, you may want to dress it up with a bright cushion or throw.

Industrial coffee table

Industrial coffee table with drawers

With statement metal bases and a natural solid oak finish, the Boston coffee table is the perfect way to go if you want to make a statement of your coffee table. The two subtle, flat fronted drawers on either side, help you keep your living room tidy, akin to the industrial look.

Industrial coffee table with storage

The hard industrial lines of our boxy Brooklyn coffee table also hold plenty of storage. A real gem, storage space can not only be found in sturdy drawers, but also an open silhouette to encourage airflow and provide a shelved display section where you can let the character of your room shine.

Industrial TV stand

Both our contemporary chic Brooklyn and Boston range offer small TV stands that are characterful options for propping up your black box. Add floral features to keep these pieces from appearing too dark.

They both have shelf and cupboard storage, giving you the ability to securely and safely set up your devices as well as easily clear away any wiring. The Brooklyn TV stand is open backed, whereas our Boston TV stand has cut holes for cables.

Industrial TV stand with storage

Our large TV stands are the better option if you love your TV widescreen and HD, offering a sleek and sturdy base to hold up your black box. They also offer much more storage having bases with a central shelving section that’s flanked by two cupboard storage areas. Find industrial TV stands with storage in our Brooklyn and Boston ranges.

Industrial bookcase

Tall industrial bookcase

If you want the classic industrial look (minimal detailing, effortless design), opt for the Brooklyn bookcase. Its skeletal, plain-fronted design leaves the books, ornaments or houseplants to be the feature, while still providing plenty of shelf space and other storage - perhaps you could bundle away some blankets in the bottom floor? Perfect for those cold winter nights, snuggled up with a bestseller and a cup of tea.

For a bookcase that’s more of a statement, our Boston bookcase will have a strong presence in your living room. Strong oak makes up its solid backs and bases with a gorgeous wood panelling detail. It even comes in-built with its own bookends for stylish segmentation, allowing you to give pride of place to personal accessories and framed photographs.

Small industrial bookcase

Small bookcases like ones from our Brooklyn or Boston ranges are not only industrial, but also a handy way to sneak in extra storage space next to any half-height and partition walls or when you need to break up your zones. Tall pieces can often feel cumbersome, but small bookshelves are just right.

Industrial sideboard

A sturdy solid oak sideboard will house all your storage needs and we have industrial sideboards to fit a whole manner of tricky corners or gaping holes that need to be filled. Our Brooklyn and Boston small sideboards can slot in just where you need them the most, whereas the larger Brooklyn and Boston sideboards will sit at the heart of your home, giving a meaningful place to all your bits and bobs.

If you want to supersize your storage, however, you have to see our Boston extra wide sideboard. With two double cupboards and four deep drawers, your home will never be cluttered again. Importantly, it’s stylish and not awkward thanks to its sleekness: unique grain and knot patterns cover the surfaces and metal accent strips and sleigh legs offset the natural oak.

Industrial console table

All our industrial style console tables come with drawers, keeping clutter out of sight. For one with a unique frame, go for Boston’s slight Scandi style. If you’re looking for that little bit more storage space, choose Brooklyn: it has a useful low display shelf. Either way, console tables with drawers are perfect add-ons for your industrial living room.

Industrial side table

Because industrial encapsulates characterful and functional furniture, why not use the ultra-minimalist Brooklyn or Boston dressing table stools as side table? Not only can they easily slot next to your sofa or accent chair so you have close access to lamps and coasters, but they can also be moved around without a second thought when you need an extra spot in your seating area. However, if it’s storage you’re after, the twin shelves of our Boston side table will be most useful to you.

With earthy tones and corrugated metals, it’s easy to see why modern industrial furniture is an always on-trend option for your living room. If you’d like more styling advice and inspiration for your living room, take a look at our blog. There are a number of style and trend pieces available for you to read at your leisure.