Industrial Boho Decor: How to Use this Easy Modern Trend in Your Home

I have had quite a lot of new followers in the last few weeks and the question I get asked the most is, what is your interior style?

I find this such a difficult question to answer as I am definitely a mixture of several different styles.

But I would say the two most defining design styles in my home are Industrial Boho and Biophilic Design.

Biophilic design has seen a huge rise in popularity in the last few years, I wrote a blog post about this back in 2019.

It is a style centred around light, natural materials like wood, stone, rattan and jute and a lot of plants!

However, what is industrial boho decor? This term is quite new to me. I recently came across it when I was searching Pinterest to find a definition for my interior décor, mainly in our newly renovated kitchen.

I think it is quite self-explanatory; a bit of industrial décor for a strong, almost masculine look, with some bohemian elements like tasselled cushions, plants and wall hangings to soften it overall.

Industrial Design

When we think of Industrial spaces, we immediately think of New York style loft apartments or open-plan office areas.

They can often appear cold and minimalist, with harsh straight lines and raw materials taking centre stage.

Piping and steel joists are left exposed which provides an almost unfinished look but can lend itself to a wonderfully relaxed environment. 

Raw, imperfect and exposed are the keywords when it comes to creating an industrial-style home.

Colours are kept to a monochrome or neutral palette as if the room has been weathered by outside elements.

It is not all about exposed brickwork either, you can bring other rustic qualities to a room to make it look industrial.

Go for lime-washed walls and concrete pillars or use wallpapers that have a rustic quality to their design.

Read more >>>

How to Leave Steel Beams Exposed for a Beautiful Industrial Kitchen

Bohemian décor

Boho décor, on the other hand, is all about layering up, soft edges, a lack of structure and a carefree approach to decorating.

A bit like industrial design, boho incorporates earthy hues like white, brown, rust colours and mustard (although keep the black to a minimum) and vintage pieces scattered throughout.

Boho décor incorporates an eclectic mix of natural elements, patterns and textures.

You can add lots of patterns and textures in the form of wallpaper, wall murals or wall stickers to give your home an individual style.

Perfect for my Biophilic loving nature.

Industrial Boho Decor

This is why Industrial interior design and bohemian décor are so perfect for one another.

Whilst Industrial design sees lots of sharp lines, monochrome colours and rustic elements, boho décor can soften this look and enhance natural elements, like the exposed brickwork and steel beams with plants, texture, woven cushions and a relaxing vibe.

It is quite an easy style to implement as well. The Industrial element is all down to how you initially plan the room.

Look at the walls, doors and floors and look at what natural materials you could use or expose to give it an industrial feel.

Boho décor is all down to the detail – woven, wool, plants, macramé, trinkets, ornaments and nature-inspired art.

If you want to apply Industrial Boho decor to your home, here are a few ideas to get you started…

Keep things exposed

Brick walls, steel beams and concrete walls are all good places to start when it comes to Industrial boho style.

One of the best decisions I made when designing our new kitchen was to keep the RSJs (rolled steel joists) exposed.

We live in a 1960s home which was devoid of character and original features, so keeping the steel beam exposed gave our kitchen a real feature and something to talk about.

Indeed, everyone mentions the steel beams when they first walk into the kitchen and was a defining feature when creating our industrial boho kitchen. 

Brick walls are also a good way to bring an industrial boho and rustic element to your home.

Either leave a wall exposed when you are building a new wall or extension, or use Brick Slips to create an extremely realistic brick wall effect.

I am currently working on using brick slips on our walls in the kitchen and I can’t wait to show you the results!

Raw materials

A bit like exposed brick and steel work, raw materials work so well in an Industrial Boho decor home.

Pairing the exposed brickwork with macramé hangings gives the rustic wall a softer look.

Putting up wooden shelves with steel brackets and displaying all your plants is the perfect Industrial Boho mix.

Industrial boho decor furniture

I love industrial furniture. We have a rustic bookshelf made of steel and wooden shelves in our kitchen and a herringbone effect wooden coffee table with a steel frame.

By placing lots of books, plants and little trinkets on our furniture, we can create a relaxed boho vibe and again soften the harsh lines of the steel frames.

Crittall doors and mirrors

These are all the rage in the interior world at the moment. Everyone is coveting steel Crittall doors and I can see why.

I have never really liked white UPVC door and window frames, they are just a bit, well, meh! Steel and aluminium doors in an anthracite grey tone create a real contrast to the décor inside your home and are extremely stylish

If you’re after another budget-friendly boho hack, why not try large door mats? Not only do door mats come in a range of light tones, and darker accent colours, but they’re also the perfect way to keep your home clean.

Practical, yet stylish, door mats can provide that extra bit of comfort your home needs. If you’re looking for an absorbent material, I’d recommend looking at coir. Due to its eco-friendly properties, it is highly water absorbent, and great for keeping those muddy shoe prints out of your home! Take a look at some on Make an Entrance today.

If you are looking to update your doors, you don’t have to fork out for new Crittall doors. I recently painted and added an extra frame to our utility internal door and used ribbed glass film to transform the look of the door.

Read more >>>

How to Create Stylish Faux Crittall Doors

It is now a real feature of our kitchen and is perfect for that Industrial Boho-style look.

Crittall style mirrors are also a quick and easy way to update your home décor.

Paint the frame black and add some electrical tape to the mirror and you have a ready-made crittall style mirror!

Or you could do what @jade.doutch did and buy self-adhesive mirror tiles and paint the wall behind it black. So simple and effective and wonderful for an Industrial boho bedroom setting.

Anything with a black frame can give you an industrial look, so if you don’t fancy crittall style mirrors, look for mirrors with a black metal frame. 

Concrete and lime-washed walls

Another trend that has seen a huge rise in popularity recently is lime-washing walls. It gives your walls a look of freshly plastered walls and brings real texture to the room.

Lime washing is perfect for an Industrial Boho decor as it provides a rustic and almost unfinished quality to the wall, whereas the texture is a nod to bohemian décor.

However, don’t get your paintbrush out just yet! There are plenty of wallpapers out there now that mimic concrete and lime-washed walls.

Depending on whether you like wallpapering or not, it is a quick way to add some rustic detail to your room.

Earthy tones

Industrial décor is very much monochrome and has strong contrasts, boho is a little softer and earthy.

Again, these two colour schemes work harmoniously together.

We have exposed RSJs in our kitchen and I recently decorated the living corner of this room. I started out with quite strong colours, but they didn’t fit in with the industrial theme of the kitchen.

I panelled part of the wall and painted it in a lovely neutral brown – Dulux Brave Ground, with biophilic-inspired wallpaper above it.

The mix of the earthy panelling, woodland wallpaper and exposed steel beams work so well together and are a brilliant example of how well Industrial Boho décor work together.

Completing this corner with a sofa.com Olive velvet sofa brings even more nature-inspired elements to the room.

Soft furnishings

Adding a lot of soft furnishings in your home helps soften the harsh lines of your industrial boho decor.

I have a lot of cushions with different textures, like macrame, pom poms, faux fur and pattern and they make the room feel cosy and inviting.

Lots of rugs in different patterns and textures are also a great way to soften the wooden floors and harsh lines of industrial design and help make a room feel welcoming.

Mixing neutral colours with black accents

Black accents are a strong feature of industrial design and you will find them in the steel doors, exposed steel beams and metal frames of your furniture.

By adding mirrors with black frames, black plant pots and curtain poles, you have a ready-made industrial theme.

Black pretty much goes with anything, so with all the black accents in place, colour is easy to add.

If you want to keep it to an Industrial Boho theme, add neutral and rustic colours like cream, browns, rusts, oranges, greens and mustards.

Accessorise

Finally, you’ve stripped your home back to the bare bones and given it an industrial boho decor feel, now it’s time to decorate!

Boho décor is all about filling your world with things your love, a carefree approach to displaying trinkets from your travels abroad, mixing pattern and texture and having asymmetric layouts.

Try not to use too much black, the black accents will come from the industrial design.

Use botanical and nature-inspired wallpaper and art and layer up your cushions, throws and rugs. But most importantly, make sure you add lots of plants! They’re good for the soul and the planet.

Do you think your home is Industrial Boho? Or would you like to give it a go and don’t know where to start? Ask any questions in the comments.

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