In recent decades, the industrial style has strongly attracted the attention of architects, designers and homeowners. However, few know its true origin. Following the rise of industrialization in the United States during the 1950s, many old industrial spaces, such as warehouses or factories, were abandoned in areas like New York's Soho. As a consequence, prices fell and became affordable housing alternatives for city dwellers. These new repurposed spaces were characterized by an aesthetic that mixed raw and exposed materials with modern elements and technologies, generating a strong aesthetic identity that was as rustic as it was sophisticated.
Today, industrialized-looking interiors are highly appreciated for the character of their materials, providing different shades, textures, brightness and opacity. There are, however, new materials that blend this weathered aesthetic with innovations that facilitate their installation and maintenance. Let's review the case of Aparici's Corten Tile Collection and its possible applications in different spaces of the home.
The kitchen: Metallic touches in open layouts
Increasingly, kitchens have ceased to be separate domestic spaces to become open spaces, integrated with the rest of the home. Thanks to these new configurations, its traditionally modern clean and white look has transformed into a more extraordinary and expressive aesthetic, which better connects the kitchen area with the living and dining rooms, and beyond. The industrial style can be successfully applied in open kitchens through ceramic flooring and/or wall tiles, giving visual continuity to the entire space and maintaining its ease of cleaning and daily use. Its metallic rustic appearance can be intensified through good lighting design and the careful selection of materials for countertops, furniture, and kitchen utensils on display. Using different tile formats and dimensions can enhance the effect, including squares, rectangles, and small mosaics.
The bathroom: Textured minimalism
Muted, neutral-leaning color palettes, large windows and plenty of natural, yet subdued, light characterize the typical industrial-style bathroom. With a minimalism in its furnishings and tones, it is destined as a spacious and simple space in which to relax. Adding a specific style or aesthetic can therefore be done through fittings, accessories and subtle spatial separations. Small hexagonal or square 5x5 mosaic tiles can be used to differentiate the bathing or shower areas, whereas larger formats can be used for simple yet striking floors in tones of grey or copper.
The living room: Stylish atmosphere
Ranging from rusty golds to metallized sapphires, the graphic and painterly appearance of corten tiles helps create a sophisticated yet evocative industrial atmosphere for the living room. Applied on walls and/or floors, its larger formats help to give greater continuity and magnitude to the space, even integrating adjacent outdoor zones. Combined with unique furniture and accessories, like those found at markets or family heirlooms, the space comes together. Finally, high ceilings and surfaces with other exposed materials, such as brick or concrete, generate a cohesive and stylish industrial identity.
The bedroom: Pared-down material contrasts
Similar to the bathroom, minimalism and pared-down colors are important in creating bedrooms which are simple without being dull: an unpretentious bed, exposed elements, warm low lighting and unfussy-looking floors. A classic combination is that of wood and weathered metallics, which can be achieved with the iron toned floor tiles, together with wooden accessories and accents. Here, sticking to a similar color palette through the room is key to having a coherent space that doesn't feel too busy, helping us unwind and retreat.
To intentionally recreate a style that arises spontaneously is a challenge, especially when it comes to contrasts: the perfect balance between the neat and the sloppy, the natural and the artificial, the neutral and the bold, the old and the new, the handcrafted and the industrial. It's no coincidence that the forerunners of this now timeless and natural-looking style were almost all artists. Corten tiles and its many shades play a perfect role in this search, as aesthetic as it is functional.
Learn more about Aparici's collections in our product catalog.
