Karen McCartney writes about the appeal of industrial style, illustrated with pins from her inspiring Pinterest board.  

What is so wonderful about industrial furniture is that it stays eternally true to its roots.

As artists moved into warehouse spaces in the seventies and eighties (because they were cheap and mostly in undesirable areas) they appropriated the trappings of their surroundings and became inventive about how and what they used. A working bench became a table, timber pallets a bed base and battered industrial lights were tamed for domestic use. The look has become sanitised and refined over the years but the appeal of the raw and hardworking remains and often these original pieces fetch high prices at auction.

Even in a smart interior the addition of an industrial piece acts as a foil to the new, imbuing it with greater character and adding interest to any room. The reason, you see, is that these items have lived an honest life, been functional and useful and the marks of their toil bring an authenticity that is hard to replicate in the freshly minted.

Nowadays we pair a metal articulated light with artfully ruffled linen sheets, or an old office cabinet with contemporary art and peeling paint with precision production pieces – and it always works. The colour palette works best in soft monochromes and within that almost anything goes. Check out my favourite pins to see just what I mean.


Image via Danish retailer House Doctor.

Victorian glass domes look amazing en masse and can house anything from a bird to a mini sculpture. The irridescent green of the chair brings a welcome hit of colour.


Image via Homelife.

There is something that just works about the mix of softly stacked throws and a slightly battered metal stool


Image - Anna Kern via skönahem.com

Simple white glazed tiles in a brick pattern combine with black-stained timber and a row of irregularly hung lightbulbs to give a smart industrial feel


Image - Jeroen van der Spek.

Using a chair as a side table and a graphite, old-style articulated lamp for night time reading, this bedroom set up is stylish and functional.


Image - Line Klein for Broste Copenhagen.

Artworks, objects, flowers, rugs, vases and an artfully placed swivel stool combine to create a stylish corner in a room