How to do it right: choose lamps for your home

The main features of loft-style lighting

Particular importance in the interior decor is attached to the manufacturability of all lighting fixtures. They may not look delicate or too decorative. The materials used for their manufacture imply geometric shapes and large expressive details.

Lighting for a loft-style room must be diffused. The main lamp will be a ceiling lamp: a chandelier or an imitation of a lamp in an industrial building. In support of him, local lighting is randomly installed around the room. Small lamps repeat the details of the main one and are designed for enhanced illumination of certain areas and areas of the room.

In tall rooms, it is recommended to arrange lighting with adjustable height. This is not only convenient, but also creates an additional resemblance to an industrial interior. Lamps are suspended on long lengths of wire so that they can be raised to the ceiling or lowered if a brighter light is needed in the workplace.

Varieties of lamps for loft-style studio design may include the following types:

• ceiling suspended (on chains or ropes);
• floor standing lamps made of appropriate materials;
• wall (sconces, movable);
• point and LED in combination with thin tubes or flexible stands, fixed above tables or in swivel cases.

The dimensions of the loft room (most often this is how the studio is designed) allow you to combine different zones in it. Each of them can be highlighted with special lighting. While maintaining the general style solution of the lamps, the spectrum and power of the lighting fixtures are changed: in the recreation area, the light can be soft and with a warm spectrum, and in the working area (for example, above the kitchen table), it is better to hang bright lamps.

Implementing the proposed ideas for using lamps made by yourself, you can decorate a room in the loft style not only fashionably, but also conveniently.

Design options

Another option for a loft-style chandelier.

The style solution for the luminaire depends on the overall design.

In a loft room, non-standard wall finishes are often used: brickwork (whitewashed and unpainted), imitation of concrete blocks in the masonry, or rough types of plaster (unaligned wall).

For a harmonious combination of these surfaces and the materials used for the manufacture of lamps, simple design options for the bases and racks of the latter are used.

Industrial lamps

Industrial means not only lighting devices used in industrial premises. A lamp of this type can combine metal parts that make up the base of the structure, and the electrical elements themselves (cord, sockets, lamps) attached to them in accordance with the manufacturer's imagination.

Cases and large parts can be painted in discreet colors (silver and gold metallic, off-white, black), they go well with the color and texture of the walls in an industrial-style room. You can include a bright accent in the coloring: paint a single lampshade or a large switch red, make a catchy inscription "Alarm!" On a flat part. or display an alarm symbol (exclamation mark in a triangle, radiation hazard icon, etc.).

Retro lamps

A retro style lamp for a loft room does not imply the use of grandmother's fabric lampshades. In the design of the lamp, you need to use the metal or wooden base of the old floor lamp, providing it with an unusual cap (from a washing machine drum, fine mesh or die-cut, roughly processed wooden parts, etc.).

Non-standard items can be used as decor details:

• large rings;
• gears;
• details of mechanisms.

A lamp of this type will not only look antique, but also acquire a steampunk effect.

Original design ideas

Looking at original lamps in stores or in illustrations, it is easy to find that they are made from simple materials.It is not difficult to reproduce the most unusual lamp by carefully examining the location and connection of parts. Self-production of a lighting device using the ideas of designers will not only help to save money, but also allow you to most harmoniously fit your own product into the interior.

Amazing loft style chandelier.

Many design items are easy to reproduce at home:

1. A bundle of wires with cartridges is fixed on a round wooden base. The main difficulty is to buy incandescent lamps with large bulbs of an unusual shape.
   When the structure is assembled, its base is fixed to the ceiling and connected, the bundle is pulled together about the middle of the length of the wires.
2. Using a large faucet, you can make a wall-type designer item. If it is ball type, move the valve to the open position and pass the electrical cable through the hole.
   A valve of a different type will have to be disassembled and its inner part dismantled.
   The diameter of the tap is selected so that an incandescent lamp holder or LED element fits inside.
3. Numerous bent tubes combined with LEDs will help recreate expensive designer pieces. Tubes are easy to obtain from a car dealer, and if you have an old refrigerator, you can use parts of its radiator. The parts are connected with clamps and bolts, and the wires are best hidden inside structural elements.
4. An original lampshade for a loft room can be made from a piece of large diameter copper or aluminum pipe (7-10 cm). The lower end must be cut off at an acute angle, the upper end must be rounded off with hammer blows. Pass the end of the wire inside, attach the socket and the lamp, and then lower the pipe, hiding the lighting equipment inside.

The choice of a lamp for the interior of the room

For premises designed in such styles as high-tech, minimalism, techno, avant-garde, Scandinavian style or Gothic, outwardly simple lamps without excessive decor are often used with white or milky shades, in which one or two bulbs are installed.

Modern types of light curtain rods are suitable for such rooms, evenly distributing the light fluxes in the room. Although lamps of this type seem to be somewhat simple in execution, they are technically perfect, easy to use and have the most economical option for using electricity.

Light cornice in interior design

If the rooms have a more familiar classic style, then the light sources should be chosen from the collections of the classic design direction. The decoration and wide range of colors of their shades are able to emphasize the comfort and soft home atmosphere of classic rooms.

Consistent with the style of classicism and always popular trends in interior design, such as baroque, country, Provence, Renaissance, Romanesque and Rococo. For them, graceful and sophisticated types of chic crystal chandeliers are suitable, which are often made in a single copy by leading lighting companies and are true masterpieces of real masters of this delicate craft.

Sometimes the room is decorated in an original and bold kitsch style. It is this style that combines seemingly incompatible things, deliberate mixing of colors and decor details pulled from different styles and eras. For such a colorfully decorated room, chandeliers, sconces and table lamps of a very different appearance and form of execution are suitable. Their varied and bizarre forms will contribute to the completeness of the overall colorful and chaotic interior design of the kitsch style.

For bohemian apartments located in the central districts of modern megacities, the aristocratic American "loft" style (translated from English loft - attic) is often used. In large industrial American cities, lofts became popular in the forties of the twentieth century.

Today, a loft is a large apartment, usually located in a former industrial building. It could be an old factory, a warehouse, or even a water tower. Load-bearing beams and metal support elements, antique brickwork need adequate lighting. The huge area of ​​this specific type of living space requires powerful luminaires of a fairly simple shape, with features of a standard, almost industrial design.

Specific types of interior decoration in an unusual, but already polar ethnic style are also becoming ubiquitous. Here, the design uses the design traditions of Japanese, Egyptian, Chinese, African and Oriental rooms. The role of lamps in such a design is reduced not only to lighting the room, but also in emphasizing the main feature of the entire interior, namely its ethnic orientation. Such styles of interior decoration also require lamps with a specific ethnic component in their design.

Luminaires for rooms with high humidity are distinguished by special requirements. These are urban small bathrooms and chic pools in huge country estates. Luminaires in such rooms should not only be beautiful and modern, but they should work stably and safely in an environment with high humidity. Therefore, they all have a high degree of moisture protection, as there is a mandatory mark in the passport for these types of electric lighting devices.

Beautiful examples in the interior

Antique chandeliers with embossed patterns look amazing in the living room - such a model requires a matching room design. The photographs show that often, together with such a chandelier, there are many mirrors and paintings in the living room. Best of all, the old atmosphere is conveyed by a wooden chandelier - such a lamp fits into almost any interior.

A vintage chandelier in a classic style tends to include a lot of bulbs and lights. This solution is appropriate for any room. Crystal models of lamps also look charming - they fit the retro and modern style. The interior, decorated in a modern style, makes such a lamp more aristocratic, looks very appropriate and gives charm.

We can conclude that vintage chandeliers are an excellent solution for the home. They are suitable for any room and harmoniously fit into many interior styles. A large selection of vintage lamps and chandeliers will help you make a good purchase.

How to make a vintage lamp with your own hands, see the video.

Iconic lamps

Loft-style floor, wall, ceiling lighting can be created using different lamps and fixtures. They can be the most original. It is quite possible to create lamps with your own hands. However, there are several of the most popular types of designs on sale that are associated with this particular style. These include:

• Jielde lamp. This is a floor-standing structure that can be installed on a table if desired. Outwardly, it resembles a table lamp. It has a large stand, from which comes a broken-shaped leg with hinges. It can be stretched or folded like an accordion. The design can have only 2 links. The lamp is located in a volumetric shade.
• Dear Ingo lamp. An iconic art object that allows you to create central lighting. There is a round hoop in the center of the composition. It has a lot of uprights that can bend in the center (on the hinges). Shades are attached to the racks, which may resemble spotlights, table lamps. Moreover, different lamps can be used in one composition. Outwardly, such a chandelier resembles the legs of a spider. It looks original and impressive.
• Suspended structures Beat light. They are distinguished by elegant but simple shapes. They are most often made of black or gold-colored metal.
• Projector lamp.The name speaks for itself. This is a floor lamp that resembles a spotlight. It is mounted on a tripod. It resembles a lighting fixture from a film studio of the 30-40s of the last century.
• Light Pod. Hanging lamp. Has round fields. In the center is an original lamp, such as Edison's.

These are the most interesting, popular forms of lamps that are used for interior decoration in the loft style.

Style history

The name is rooted in English (loft - attic). This is no coincidence, because the first rooms, designed in this direction, were located just under the roof itself, in the attic. As a rule, these were buildings of the factory, warehouse, factory type. The attic space was set aside for the working area (studio, workshop, gallery, and others). Much later, the style began to be applied to the design of residential-type premises.

Fame, demand for the loft came in the middle of the 20th century. It originated in New York, when it was decided not to leave unused abandoned buildings. The founders of the direction are considered to be artists of the free direction.

It was they who, due to the lack of financial resources, rented premises in which there was no repair at all. The attics served as workshops for them, sometimes as living space. Much later, the American elite singled out the loft as a brand direction. That is why the abandoned attic space began to turn into the habitat of many low-income Americans.

The stylistic direction "loft" is distinguished by its simplicity and functionality. At the same time, it is distinguished by the abundant presence of rough elements in the decor, made of metal.

It is important to pay attention to the fact that not every attic room has built-in windows, therefore, artificial lighting plays a special role in creating the interior in question.

Lighting options in style: photo

Currently, complex systems are used to illuminate premises, which include general lighting, decorative and local lighting. Each of them has its own unique features and benefits.

Overhead lighting of rooms

This type of lamp is designed to illuminate an entire room or large areas. In other design directions, only chandeliers are mainly used for such lighting, and in a loft they are often combined with spotlights.

There is also the option of creating general lighting in the form of ceiling illumination using LED strips. Such devices cannot provide the room with the required amount of light, but they visually raise the ceiling, and high ceilings are one of the brightest markers of the loft.

In addition, for a loft room, the previously mentioned lamps on tires can be used as the upper main lighting. Their power and functionality is quite enough to provide residents with enough light.

Loft-style local lighting

Local lighting includes all lamps designed to illuminate not the entire room, but only individual zones in it. They are ideal for zoning living space in spacious loft spaces. Such lighting devices can simultaneously perform several important functions at once - not only divide the room into zones, but also emphasize the features and "chips" of the chosen style.

As local lighting can be used:

• lamps on tires;
• pendant lights on chains;
• lamps with metal shades;
• floor lighting devices;
• wall sconces.

Pendant lights are very suitable for dividing a space into zones, since they not only give you the light you need, but also look extremely bright in any interior, emphasize the purpose of the zone and make its operation more comfortable.

You can independently evaluate the possibilities of zoning a room based on a photo of loft-style lamps with their competent use in the interior.

Decorative lighting

Decorative lighting has only one functional purpose - the installed luminaires illuminate individual decorative elements and decorations installed in the room. To solve this problem, modern LED lamps, which are presented in a large number on the market, are perfect: spotlights, LED strips, tubes, filaments, etc.

They can also be used to permanently illuminate the ceiling or one of the walls, which can make your room that much more vibrant and personal.

Be sure to study the photo of loft lamps in the interior before going to the store. Sophisticated design solutions will help you make the right choice and decide in advance which lighting fixtures are right for your room.

Types of lamps for different types of premises

To illuminate various rooms in one apartment or house, designers from leading lighting manufacturers have developed sets of chandeliers, sconces, and all kinds of spotlights.

Large central chandeliers are always an important, and often even a decisive decorative element when decorating the interior of a living room. It is the chandeliers today that are distinguished by an unprecedented variety of styles, the number of bulbs, the dimensions of the chandelier itself, the material for the shades and pendants, as well as the amazing ability to create a fascinating play of light and shadow in the most modest room.

The choice of decor material for the chandelier is in a wide range from a simple polymer material to transparent crystal and the most delicate Murano glass alluring with its brooding mystery.

For general lighting, chandeliers are used not only with familiar and traditional lampshades, but also with transparent or reflective types of shades.

Loft lighting in the interior - what kind of lamps are used?

Before you start building a lighting system at home, you need to figure out which lamps are suitable for your interior.

Loft chandeliers in the interior

Loft chandeliers are made in an industrial style, therefore they are not distinguished by sophistication and grace. They are characterized by rough shapes and simple materials, devoid of decorativeness. Chandeliers in a room can be with one or more lamps, usually they have a drop-shaped or elongated shape.

At the same time, a loft is a flexible style that allows for some deviations from the standard. Sometimes really large chandeliers with decorative elements, glass shades or pendants are used for general lighting. Playing with contrast can complement the look of your room.

Pendant lights

Perhaps this is the most common type of luminaire used in loft-style decoration. They can be of different lengths and often use lighting devices in the same room that hang from the ceiling at different heights. This solution makes the interior more attractive and bright.

The luminaires can be mounted on the ceiling itself or on decorative ceiling beams and run down on long cords or chains. Typically, such devices are placed over areas that require good general lighting, for example, over a sofa or dining table.

Suspended loft lamps in the interior can be made in a variety of designs. Sometimes these are lamps with a metal cap, or a round or oval cage with a lamp inside. Many variations of such devices can be found on the market.

Floor lighting fixtures for loft office

These include floor lamps, spotlights and decorative lamps made in the loft style in the widest range. They provide the users of the room with pleasant light, contribute to a comfortable stay and provide a peaceful mood.Their other advantage is mobility. If necessary, the luminaire can be moved to another area or room, or the light can be directed to the desired point.

Luminaires on tires

This is another popular type of loft lamps in the interior. Their main advantage is that they are placed on a rail mechanism, so their location in the room can be easily changed if necessary. Usually, rotary shades are installed on the rails, which gives the user even more opportunities to control the lighting in the room.

Illumination devices

A separate category of luminaires is backlighting - LED strips, tubes and small fluorescent lamps. Their main purpose is to illuminate individual interior elements or zones. In fact, they do not provide enough light for comfortable operation of the room, their main purpose is decorative - they decorate the space and make the room more aesthetic.

Best of all, the lighting in the room looks at night, it effectively highlights individual elements of the decor, gives the entire interior lightness and individual design.

Spotlights

Spotlights are multifunctional lighting products. They can be used both to illuminate individual zones and to provide rooms with artificial light, it all depends on the number and location of lighting devices. Some lamp models suggest the ability to change the direction of the luminous flux, which further expands the possibilities of using such lamps in a loft-style apartment.

Designer wall lamps

Sconces fit perfectly into any loft interior, since the market offers customers a very wide range of such lighting devices. They are usually used for local illumination of certain areas in the room, for example, seating areas next to the sofa, where residents like to sit with a book in their hands.

Views

Designers divide lighting into several types. The background or ceiling plays the role of the main light source that illuminates the entire room. For this, a chandelier or small lamps are used. Other accessories can be combined with ceiling lighting. For example, an electric fireplace will perfectly fit into the interior of a large spacious living room, it will play the role of additional lighting.

Spotlights with vertical, horizontal or diagonal luminous flux are installed on the wall or on the ceiling, singly or in a group. They can act as the main lighting. Spot lighting differs from background lighting by the ability to rotate - depending on the task. Some models can be adjusted in brightness and intensity.

Decorative lighting allows you to set accents in the interior of the living room. It only performs the function of highlighting some details. It is not very easy to “play” with light, but it is interesting. Decorative lighting can be used:

• in the niches of the walls;
• for individual parts - for example, figurines, decorative items, awards or cups;
• for pictures and photo frames;
• for aquarium.

For large living rooms with a fireplace, luxury table lamps in the form of candlesticks are suitable.

It is necessary to plan the lighting of the living room at the initial design stage. However, such a moment is not excluded when, after some time after the repair, it turns out that it is necessary to additionally add or remove extra light sources. So don't be afraid to combine multiple lighting options and use different appliances in the same living room. The main thing is that the lamp or sconce give the right amount of light and complement the style of the room.

Peculiarities

“Light, more light! "- this is the motto of the loft-style premises. Indeed, the huge open spaces under the high arches of beamed ceilings require skillful lighting, which can often only be created by an experienced designer.

The Loft style itself originated in the 1920s. The crisis hit American enterprises, forcing them to hastily curtail production and move it to the suburbs, and sell empty industrial buildings for a pittance. Bohemia immediately began to move into non-residential buildings in Manhattan, seeing the beauty of such premises. They did not break their heads over the arrangement: they brought in old furniture, and partially left the lighting fixtures that were already there.

Time passed, and the concept remained the same, but now loft chandeliers are not made from scrap materials, but from exclusive designer ones, and they are sometimes indecently expensive. However, a large selection of different options presented by style as a typical design allows you to choose a model for almost any wallet.

The loft imposes rather strict restrictions on the choice of material from which the chandeliers are made, on the colors and even on the intensity of the light bulbs. In addition, there are certain rules that indicate the placement of different types of chandeliers at different heights. All this is done with one single purpose - to divide the space as rationally as possible, highlighting each of the zones in a special way. “Functionality is above all,” says one of the style rules.

A certain type of chandelier is selected for each of the rooms. Initially, loft rooms did not have partitions and walls, the whole room was an apartment, so each of the functional areas was highlighted in its own way and with some kind of device. This point should also be considered when choosing a chandelier.

Views

For loft rooms, various chandeliers are selected, ordinary and not very. One of the most famous is the so-called spider - a heavy round structure with bulbs in a circle located on a frame that resembles spider legs. Nowadays, there are variations, for example, a spider on flexible legs-cords, picked up with a special device-holder, fixed to the ceiling.If you hang the bulbs on cords without a holder-device, you get another typical option for a loft.

Round Gothic chandeliers with candelabra are popular design solutions. Candles have long been replaced by electrical counterparts that imitate their shape and structure, but such majestic models are fastened using coarse chains, as in the old days.

Edison bulbs, which differ from Ilyich's models in the structure of incandescent elements, are used in the loft style, along with others. They do not need a floor lamp, since a dim, evenly burning light is soft in itself and does not need additional diffusion. If you hang a simple socket on a cord and turn on Edison's light bulb, you get another loft "chandelier". It is worth remembering that this type of lighting "eats up" a lot of electrical energy, be prepared to spend a lot.

Track suspensions are made of an aluminum rail on which several lamps are placed. The bus is the most mobile and versatile option of all of the above, it can be suspended at any height and supplemented with different types of bulbs that go well with each other. Ordinary Soviet plafonds, as in films about the war, fit well into the loft, especially if the remnants of the "native" paint have been preserved on them.

Retro lamps

Everything that can be attributed to the 20-30s of the last century can be safely used in a loft interior. The demand for retro lamps today is so great that it significantly exceeds their popularity at the time. They bring a certain vintage, special charm to the interior, adding originality, sophistication and exclusivity to the interior:

Edison lamps are a case when a light bulb has turned from just a light source into a design element. They spend prohibitively much, as for our rational-economical times, electricity, but they are bought for the sake of the unusual, warm light that they generate.In Edison lamps, thin filaments are not concentrated, as in modern incandescent lamps, but are stretched - in an unusual grille or spiral shape. That is why such a lamp does not shine - you can just look at it as they look at the sunset or the reflections of the fire. At the same time, the service life of such a lamp is up to 5 thousand hours, which is 4-5 times longer than the service life of a conventional lamp. These lamps are made according to authentic drawings of Edison lamps of the first half of the last century, often manufacturers even designate them by years, for example, 1910 or 1930. The best quality lamps are produced by Danes (Danlamp) and Americans (Ferrowatt), but Chinese "remakes" can be dangerous - some of them, due to non-compliance with the technology, may explode

Edison lamps will serve not only as a light source, but also as an excellent decor element.

A characteristic loft-style kitchen with an abundance of brick, wood and metal in the decoration. Edison lamps in combined track designs and wall lights highlight the overall theme

LED Edison lamps - beauty, as you know, requires sacrifice, but all waste has limits. A high-quality modern Edison lamp is not cheap, and it consumes too much. Therefore, you can make a compromise - LED lamps, stylized as Edison lamps. In appearance, they practically do not differ in anything, but inside the filament is replaced by vertical tubes. The light part turns out to be somewhat coarser, and the emitted light is sharper, but such lamps are 9 times more economical and last 5-6 times longer

Unique chandeliers

The loft style itself is already an unusual choice for decorating an apartment. And in order for the rooms to become absolutely unique, you can stop at the choice of designer lamps or make them yourself.

To make a loft lamp with your own hands, you need to use the same materials that were advised when choosing a purchased chandelier. The colors of the parts of the lighting fixture should be dark or pastel. Here are some examples of how you can make an attractive lighting fixture yourself:

Long cord lamp

This option is the simplest - a long cable and a lamp without a shade. An additional plus is that such a lamp is quite mobile and will create unique moving lighting.

However, for rooms in which concentration and attentiveness are important, this is also a disadvantage. This kind of light can be distracting.

Night light picture

Those who know how to draw well can depict a real masterpiece on canvas with acrylic paints. And attach an energy-saving light bulb behind the canvas. It will shine through in those parts of the painting that have not been painted with paint.

Those who cannot draw can do the same, only with an inscription or a simple pattern. You can paint the background black, leaving only a small glowing space in the form of a symbolic drawing or phrase.

If you still want to use a chandelier, you can make it from a regular jar with a piece of iron lid. In this case, it is also worth taking an energy-saving light bulb that will not heat the jar.

In the creation of decorative elements, imagination is important. Having realized the features of this style, you can, based on them, come up with many new ideas that have not been used by anyone before. For inspiration, it will not be superfluous to look on the Internet for photos of loft-style lamps or other creative images that will be combined with the main idea.

The enthusiasm to improve your home doesn't have to stop at the rooms. Those who live in a private house can think about decorating street lamps, based on the appearance of the chandeliers in the rooms. For guests, there will be an amazing house in which all the details are thought out and skillfully combined with each other from the gate to the living room.