Putting the seams in order
After all the preparations, there will definitely be voids in the seams, in addition to this, the removed ones should be returned to their place.
bricks, if any. For these purposes, we need a putty. For interior work in rooms with a small
moisture is quite suitable for gypsum plaster "fugen", for outdoor work or wet rooms well suited
tile adhesive.
Using putty, bricks are inserted back, all voids and shells in the seams, holes and porous
places on the brick should also be hammered. No masters are required for this, it is enough to do with your own
with your fingers and a frequently rinsed sponge. Having covered the seam with a finger, we follow it with a sponge and remove all unnecessary, such
the operation is within the power of anyone! It is best to do this operation twice, be sure to skip something at a time.
After covering and drying the seams, it is useful to clean the whole thing with sandpaper, knock down all the burrs
on putty.
White brick
Loft, basically, everyone associates with red brick walls, and preferably with pieces of cement, as if they decided not to finish the renovation and live just like that. But white is as natural to brick as red. It does not stand out as much and attracts less attention, but, at the same time, it is less authentic and does not retain the atmosphere of the factory premises. A combined option is also possible - to leave one of the walls according to the canons of the style.
White brick for the apron, and the walls in red
You don't have to use real brick. You can buy in the store "brick" blanks or a special roller to create the appropriate texture. This is a good option if you are doing purely cosmetic repairs and do not want to "disassemble" the wall.
A completely white bedroom will look beautiful: a wall trimmed with a white brick, a snow-white ceiling, bedside tables, a chest of drawers, a work desk and a light beige bed. The floors can be covered with natural wood of the correct species. Additionally, the interior will be decorated with black and white paintings and some unusual lamps.
White brick in the bedroom
Features of the loft style
A characteristic feature of loft design is not only brickwork, but also many other features that make the interior recognizable and aesthetic. This design direction itself originated in America in the 30s of the last century, when, due to the crisis, many people in cities were forced to rent premises in former factories and plants. From here the style got its famous industrialism and brutality.
In addition to bare brick and concrete walls, the loft design is characterized by an abundance of natural light. In the production areas, huge windows were installed that let in enough sunlight to illuminate large industrial areas.
Only the most necessary interior items are used as furniture in the loft, without which it is impossible to live normally in the room - beds, sofas, armchairs, tables, chairs, shelves, etc. All of them must also be made in the same industrial style, only in this In this case, the apartment will look attractive and aesthetically pleasing.
The most popular colors in the loft interior: gray, brown, beige, black. Usually, cool shades and many light colors are used, making the room visually even more spacious and cozy.
Decor
The formation of the interior does not end with decoration, installation of cabinets, upholstered furniture. Completeness of the interior is given by various design items.It is not difficult to do it yourself, but a professional decorator will do it according to all the canons of style.
Wood décor in the form of an ordinary board of hammered boards looks very appropriate on a brick wall. For this purpose, they are selected with a pronounced woodiness: knots, sapwood, cracks, aging, etc.
Loft paintings, graffiti, black and white photos, printing on billboards, posters, posters of art and pop themes of the past. Ideally symbolize the theme of the loft, the way of life of people of past years.
Wall decor is formed using vintage curly frames from old paintings, mirrors. A combination of a couple of three of these objects creates an interesting composition.
A window frame with peeling paint with old glass, a mirror or black and white photos placed in it is a hand-made technique to maintain style.
Loft wall lamps are an important attribute of the brutal character of the interior. Their shades are made of sheet metal, and their bases are made of metal parts of mechanisms, machine tools, pipes. Spotlights, spots and large light bulbs - everything will emphasize the style.
How to make an imitation of brickwork with your own hands
Imitation of a brick wall - fashionable way of interior decoration... You can do it yourself by following the step-by-step instructions.
Imitation brickwork
You will need:
- Primer.
- Plaster.
- Tile adhesive
- A spatula or special gloves for applying the solution.
- Cardboard or linoleum to create a blank.
- Skin.
- Narrow masking tape.
- Acrylic paint.
- Brush or foam sponge.
Markup
First of all, you need to prepare the walls for further construction work. Clean the surface: remove the wallpaper, level the wall, smooth the surface with sandpaper.
After that, make a model of the brick. To do this, you can use either a piece of linoleum or cardboard. The standard size is 25 x 6.5 centimeters. On the sketch, it is necessary to mark the seams and mark indents of one and a half centimeters along the entire perimeter of the model from the outside. Sew one more seam in the middle to create an imitation of a brick made of two halves.
Brick models can be made from regular cardboard
IMPORTANT: you need to start laying out from the bottom - from the floor, gradually moving up. It will make your job easier.
From the bottom, you need to retreat about 10 centimeters. After that, with a simple pencil, circle the first corner "brick". You need to start with this area because it is most difficult to make accurate markings on it. Then move to the edges, gradually moving towards the center of the wall.
Primer
The next step in creating a simulated brick wall is a primer. You can take any tool, except for concrete contact. It is divorced in the usual way indicated on the label. Apply the solution to the wall using a roller. This must be done in order for the imitation to be strong and clear. Don't worry about the markup: it will stay where it was.
Wall priming
Application of the solution
At the junction of the "bricks", stick masking tape. It is recommended that you start with horizontal lines and then work your way up to vertical ones. The sticker must be overlapped.
IMPORTANT! Protect the floor with old newspaper or film. A mortar for imitation bricks is prepared from plaster and tile adhesive in a one-to-one ratio.
A mortar for imitation bricks is prepared from plaster and tile adhesive in a one-to-one ratio.
Using a spatula, apply the resulting solution to the wall. You can also do this with your hands, but do not forget to wear special construction gloves. The layer thickness should be within five millimeters.
Applying mortar to the wall
Using masking tape
Find the ends of the masking tape and pull on them. Thanks to this, the space between the "bricks" is cleared.This should be done quickly, immediately after you have applied the solution to the wall. If you hesitate a bit, you won't be able to peel off the tape. It is for this reason that gypsum is not used to make an imitation of a brick wall on your own (it solidifies within a few minutes).
Finishing
If you applied the solution unevenly, then you can give the imitation the desired shape using a chisel, spatula or ordinary tablespoon.
In this video, you will learn 5 ways to apply brick-like decor, from the simplest to the most difficult.
Painting
Sand the "bricks" to get rid of sharp corners, which can then cling to clothes. Clean the wall surface. To do this, remove construction dust with a broom or brush. Cover the wall with a primer again. Walk not only over the "bricks", but also along the seams between them. Then you can go directly to the painting process. Apply acrylic paint with a sponge to give the resulting wall a more natural color.
REFERENCE. After the paint has dried, you can age it a little. To do this, with a dry brush with gold paint, go over the surface of the resulting imitation.
You need to choose the color of the walls based on your preferences. The only rule, perhaps, will be that the color of the seams should be at least a few shades lighter than the color of the masonry, otherwise it will seem that a large amount of dirt has accumulated there.
The color of the seams must differ by several shades
To create the most cozy interior, use the traditional red paint. If you want to expand the space, then give preference to light shades - white, milky, light blue, pink. You can use dark colors, but they should be used in the interior in dosage so as not to turn the room into a kind of gloomy crypt.
After reading our separate article, you can find out how a loft style should look in white.
Watch the video how to make a brick wall out of plaster with your own hands.
Living room and bedroom decoration
The living room is traditionally considered the most spacious room in any house and apartment, so it is easiest to decorate the interior here, observing all the traditions of a loft. The main requirements are good lighting and a minimum of furniture. In this case, it is quite easy to pick up the wallpaper. You should not give preference to only cold shades - several walls should be decorated in light and warm colors.
For the living room, plain wallpaper with an ornamental pattern is suitable, which can be used to decorate one or several walls. The accent on such a loft background will be patterned glossy wallpaper imitating natural materials. For an accent area, a place around the fireplace, next to the TV, or behind the sofa is perfect.
A loft bedroom should be comfortable, relaxed and minimalistic, not overloaded with furniture and accessories. Accordingly, it is better to select monochromatic and not very bright canvases. The accent in such an interior can be materials with imitation or textured wallpaper. Most often, a bedside area is chosen for such purposes. Warm colors will add coziness to the bedroom. It is better to give preference to terracotta, sand and beige shades. In any interior, the classic white color for bedrooms will be appropriate.
A children's room is not recommended to be styled as a loft, since this style will be incomprehensible to children who need to create a comfortable home environment, saturated with bright colors. But for teenagers, a street-style room is quite a suitable option. Wallpaper with graffiti or with pictures from comics will be relevant here, but you should still rely on the tastes and preferences of the inhabitant of the room.
Creating a loft style with your own hands
A combination of new and aged textures, coatings and materials will be appropriate. By skillfully combining stylistic elements, it is possible to achieve an urban atmosphere.The loft-style entrance hall needs special attention, being the beginning of acquaintance with housing. This space implies enhanced lighting and predominantly light shades.
Most often, a gray coating is used. The kitchen is placed in the corner of the living room, giving it a small space. Loft-style kitchen design involves an abundance of metal and glass. The basis of the interior in the living room is a wooden floor, rough wall decoration and a weighty sofa. The place near the sofa is filled with furniture, avoiding cluttering the space. The bedroom is usually separated by a screen, partition or wall from the rest of the space. In a room with high ceilings, the sleeping area is taken out to the upper level.
It is much easier to decorate a loft-style house than an apartment. The exterior decoration of the dwelling reflects the lifestyle of the owners. The owners of brick houses often adhere to the urban style inside and outside the building. The desired image is created by a rough wall covering, and it is also necessary to consider many large windows and a dark color of the roof.
Wall treatment
If the object for the design is a dwelling with brick walls, this can be used as a decorative coating. Processing of the original texture of the wall will be required. You can bring the old brick to its normal state with your own hands or resort to the help of special masters. During the work, the brick is cleaned of dirt, cement residues and salt stains using acid-containing mixtures. Then the masonry must be washed and varnished. An uneven surface is rubbed and sanded. You can paint graffiti or paint a brick wall with paint.
Types of materials
For loft-style decoration, it is preferable to use simple, natural materials:
- Wood. This wall covering is in harmony with the wooden floor. It is better to leave the material in its untouched, slightly uncouth state, keeping the appearance of raw material;
- Concrete and plaster. Rough concrete walls add character to the style;
- Stone. When using this material, a feeling of comfort and tranquility is achieved;
- Metal. Most often, stainless steel is used, which is painted in black-graphite color. The walls and ceiling are decorated with metal pipes, beams and frames.
- Glass. Using glass walls and partitions, it is possible to preserve the volume of the room and to zone the space.
- Brickwork. A profitable interior solution in any room. With the help of bricks and other materials, you can place style accents, and make the space original and unique. The choice of brick color depends on the goals in the interior:
- white color will expand the space, filling it with light;
- red brick trim will add coziness to the room;
- accessories look good against the background of black brickwork.
How to do it yourself
Few people know, but it is quite possible to make loft-style bricks, which are popular nowadays, with your own hands. It will not take a lot of time and effort.
It will be very good if the walls in your home are originally made of bricks. In this case, you only need to wipe all the cracks, as well as clean the bricks from various stains and dirt. It will be necessary to get rid of dust and deposits. Then it remains only to cover the masonry with paint or varnish.
This is done like this:
- water-based formulations are used;
- dilute the coloring composition with water and mix well;
- water must be added until the mixture acquires a translucent tone;
- further, with the resulting composition, it is necessary to process each brick using a sponge;
- in the process of impregnation, the bricks will be painted;
- no need to process the entire base at once - start with a small area;
- after completing all the work, be sure to wait for the paint / varnish to harden.
A beautiful and common choice of finishes is an imitation made from a plaster mix.
This method has the following advantages:
- is inexpensive;
- is environmentally friendly;
- does not take up useful space in the room;
- available for self-conduct.
From materials and tools you will need:
- a separate container for diluting the solution;
- special adhesive for tiles and plaster mix;
- masking tape;
- narrow and wide spatulas;
- rules and level (it is better to take a laser or bubble).
First, you need to prepare the walls in the room for future decorative finishing. The surfaces must be cleaned of the old wallpaper, smooth out all the drops with sandpaper. In order for the mixture to lay down reliably, before laying the mortar, the walls should be treated with a primer using a roller or brush.
Now you need to mark the wall with masking tape. The usual parameters of a brick are 25x6.5 cm, and the indentation is 1.5 cm.First, you need to paste over the horizontal stripes, and then proceed to the vertical ones. To prepare the solution, we use glue and plaster in proportions of 50x50. After that, we apply the prepared composition with a spatula (it is allowed to do this manually, if desired). Avoid touching the ends of the tape.
After applying the composition, the adhesive tape must be removed between the separate "bricks". To give the masonry a more natural shape, you should use a chisel or a tablespoon. Then you need to clean the surface with sandpaper. Next, you will need to cover the bricks with a primer, and the seams between them.
If the treatment of walls with plaster mixes and paints and varnishes does not appeal to you, then you can turn to another common way to bring a brick wall into the interior - to glue wallpaper imitating brickwork. This surface does not have to be regularly looked after, spending extra money. You just need to wipe the dust off the canvas from time to time using a slightly damp cloth.
However, it must be borne in mind that in most cases such surfaces immediately give out their unnaturalness. Their appearance is much inferior to natural masonry, especially if the print itself on the canvases is made mediocre. It is not uncommon for such a finish to make the interior cheaper, sometimes making it ridiculous. That is why wallpaper for brickwork must be chosen especially carefully so as not to spoil the atmosphere in the house / apartment.
Brick wall - imitation
The simplest and most budgetary option for imitating a brick wall is wallpaper with a brick print. Such a surface is easy to care for - you can simply wipe it with a damp cloth. The disadvantage is the unnatural surface, and the end result does not look very attractive.
Another common option is a decorative brick-like stone. The surface of such a stone is covered with glaze, so with proper care it will last for a long time. And such a coating looks very natural, but this option is very expensive for the budget.
The most optimal and beautiful finishing option is a brick wall imitation of plaster.
The advantages of this method:
- does not require large financial costs
- environmental friendliness - there are no harmful substances in the plaster
- the space will not decrease - the layer is quite thin
- you can cope on your own, there is no need to call specialists
Materials and tools:
- bath - for directing the solution
- tile adhesive and plaster
- masking tape
- wide and narrow spatulas
- building rule and laser level
Loft in the interior
It is quite simple to give an apartment the image of a factory warehouse, a technical room, an attic in our time, due to the availability of projects, a large assortment of materials and relatively reasonable prices. The work is easy to do even by yourself, focusing on the finished projects of designers, photos on the Internet. But an apartment is a place intended for rest and the walls of the interior must correspond to this. Coziness, cleanliness, comfort, despite the coarse motives of style, are relevant for industrial projects.
Free creative people, students and other pioneers of the loft in America in the 30s, having no funds for repairs, did everything with their own hands and used for this purpose what they could get their hands on. And those parts of the industrial area for which there were not enough materials remained as they are.
Walls 4-5 meters high are not easy to decorate. And in aggregate with their not short length, an impressive area came out, which required such funds, which are few, some of the "discoverers" could afford. The maximum that was done to give at least some kind of refinement to the interior - the walls were painted with paint, decorated with improvised means. But this is rather an exception, often brick, wood or concrete surfaces remained intact.
Peculiarities
The loft style has its origins in New York in the 20th century. In those days, the authorities actively removed industrial enterprises from the city. The vacated areas were given to poor citizens, asking for mere pennies for rent. Without a lot of money, people began to live in an environment of iron, brick and wooden walls without any decoration. Sometimes such dull and harsh foundations were decorated with various decorations.
As for the urban bohemia, its representatives began to arrange all kinds of meetings in the once industrial buildings. Both architects and artists did not disregard such constructions. They let their fantasy free, decorating such brutal dwellings. Walls made of wood and bricks were covered with lime, well polished or varnished.
Today, the loft style has a lot of fans. Interiors designed in this direction rarely do without brick and stone walls. This finish has become a true tradition of the loft style. It is used both when decorating houses and when decorating city apartments. A variety of pieces of furniture look great against such a rough background - from expensive leather sofas to soft armchairs with ethnic patterns. That is why the loft is different - it often mixes many different stylistic directions.
Other important features of this famous style include the following aspects.
The presence of significant free space. Loft-style spaces usually have high ceilings and elongated windows. The interiors are full of sharp contrasts, zoning the available space.
In such environments, there are both antique details and the latest trends in fashion and technology. At the same time, various communications are often not closed by anything and remain in sight.
Brickwork on the walls is common in loft style. Moreover, the bricks themselves (natural or imitation) can have not only traditional red, but also gray, brown or other interesting color.
Cool and light colors prevail in such interiors, especially when it comes to finishing high ceilings. The use of white brickwork or the exposure of masonry areas is a traditional technique. In the future, the bricks can be painted or remain intact.
Unusual lighting fixtures and accessories are common details in loft interiors. Overly rich and pretentious elements are usually absent in these settings.
Brickwork of different colors is in trend today, especially if it is made in the loft style. These finishes look great in a wide variety of rooms. It can be not only a stylish living room, but also a kitchen or bedroom. In many rooms, imitation of natural stone is often installed. For example, it can be smooth brick-like tiles. The specified material is great for finishing the kitchen, because it is not susceptible to dirt and is easily cleaned of any stains if they appear.
The main thing is that all the details match each other in shade. The result is often very interesting and original ensembles that attract a lot of attention.
Tiles "hog" in the bathroom and in the kitchen
"Boar" is a tile that looks like a brick and is laid in such a way that two tiles touch where the other tile in the next row has the middle. In the kitchen, you can make an apron from the "hog" (it is easy to clean).
Cubes If you want a more brick-like look, we recommend using a matt white color.
Kitchen in white with hog tiles
White tile kitchen apron
The bathroom can be finished almost completely with such tiles, or by “dividing” the wall into two parts and finishing only the lower part with “boar”. In this case, for the top, it is better to take a large square tile.
Tile white hog in the bathroom
Useful Tips
If you decide to add loft-style bricks to the interior, then you should heed a number of professional tips so as not to spoil the appearance of the interior.
It is recommended to turn to imitation of masonry if you are equipping classic, Scandinavian or English, Provencal interiors. In such environments, it is desirable to be present in calmer colors - white, brown, sand, pastel.
If you want to glue the wallpaper under a brick, then you should look for the most realistic and high-quality options. Cheap items with unnatural bricks can ruin the interior.
If your home is not designed in the loft style, and you want to decorate it with a brick wall, then you should not worry. Such decorations look organically in interiors in Scandinavian, Provencal, English, Gothic, Mediterranean, eclectic, rustic (country) stylistic directions.
Bricks are often made of gypsum, but here you can face one serious problem - this material dries for a very long time, so when removing the tape / stencil, it can simply "crawl" (it will be very difficult to restore the damaged area), which will negatively affect the quality of the finish. That is why experts advise using plaster mixes instead of gypsum - it is easier to work with them.