Steampunk style in the interior

Steampunk is a special trend in interior design that represents an alternative to the modern world. The emphasis of the style is romanticism and love for technique from the past Victorian era. Retro-futurism of this direction looks bewitching with its specially presented gloom and mystery. The beauty of engineering and technical progress plays a major role here, but this is not modern electronics, but old mechanisms and steam engines, underwater bathyscaphes and airships. Only those who are a true adherent of futurism and retro style will feel truly comfortable in such an environment.

The style appeared on the basis of the literary direction of fantasy, which was especially popular in the 80s of the last century. Opening the door to the world of science fiction, many loved the style and design that transports us to the world of the Victorian era. Today steampunk is one of the fashion trends that has its adherents. The fashion for room decoration in the style of futurism extends not only to living quarters.

The following features are characteristic of the steampunk direction.

• The blurring of the time frame. The unique feature of the style does not force us to abandon modern devices, but presents everyday things for us in such a way as if we would look at them through the eyes of a person who lived in the last century. The combination of modernity and antiquity is the highlight of the style. For example, to make objects look in retrospect, they are painted in the color of walnut, copper or patina, framed with wood, and decorated with metal rivets.

• Reproduction of the Victorian period. The steampunk room resembles a retro laboratory or the home of a tireless inventor. Images of Sherlock Holmes, the heroes of Jules Verne, involuntarily pop up in my memory.

• Unusual lighting fixtures. It is inappropriate to use the latest innovations in lighting technology here. For decoration, they use old gas horns, massive table lamps, large lamps with an incandescent spiral. From antique lighting fixtures, soft, subdued light pours and brings romantic dreams.

• Naturalness in everything. During the Victorian era, polymers were not yet discovered, so natural materials and fabrics are used to furnish the premises. This approach is the best possible way to emphasize the naturalism and good quality inherent in many antiques and objects.

• A shade of fantasy and romanticism. The interior from the first glance at it should remind you of distant travels. And it doesn't matter where this trip will be - to distant countries or in the future. Scientific thought and flight of imagination are closely intertwined in this style, creating a special exciting mood among those around.

Among modern design styles, the steampunk direction firmly occupies its niche and does not lose its relevance. Building a retro composition like this is considered a challenging but exciting task that experienced and professional designers can do.In some cases, a room decorated in a retro style begins to resemble a unique museum corner, in which every detail arouses interest and awakens the imagination.

An entire apartment or a study, a kitchen or a bathroom, a nursery or a living room - all this can be subordinated to the style of futurism. For to make it easier to understand the steampunk direction, you need to close your eyes and think for a moment about how the 21st century would look like in my imagination if I lived 100 years ago. Looking at the things we are accustomed to now, one might think how they would have been replaced in the Victorian era by people who lived before us. For example, a modern computer keyboard could be replaced with an old typewriter, and instead of plastic windows there would be portholes for an underwater bathyscaphe. The good thing about the fantasy style is that it allows you to add any subjects to the interior and does not limit your flight of thought.

To recreate the effect of antiquity that has come down to our days, the concept of naturalism and deliberate negligence is used. An intricate system of copper pipes can appear on a wall of old brickwork, and tall arches that tend to the ceiling provide an opportunity for a view of the night sky. And, of course, an old telescope on a tripod and a large half-faded globe will be located nearby.

To create a retro atmosphere, the surface of the walls is decorated with photo wallpaper, painted or plastered, sheathed with wood panels or finished with an imitation of old and rough brickwork. In general, the specifics of decorating wall surfaces directly depend on the concept of the entire interior. For example, walls are decorated in neutral monochrome colors and unobtrusive textures, if there are a large number of objects and small details in the room setting.

In this case, the wall will be an excellent backdrop for such an entourage. And vice versa, if the situation is restrained and few in number, then a special emphasis is placed on the walls - it can be textured wallpaper with a pattern or an imitation of old crumbling plaster covering the brickwork. Similar effects of an aged building can be placed in several places in the room at once, but this technique looks especially impressive in the corners with a transition to the ceiling surface.

When choosing wallpaper, you can use options with the image of airships, balloons with baskets, the image of parts in the form of drawings, clockwork, old wall maps.

For arranging the flooring, you can use dark laminate, parquet board, ceramic or porcelain stoneware tiles. But natural wood material in the form of a board will look most impressive. To decorate a kitchen or a bathroom, tiles that imitate marble or stone are used, and the tones should be chosen dark, discreet. Using an imitation stone on the floor, you can equip an imitation of paving stones or sea pebbles with their irregularities and roughness.

The steampunk style is characterized by the aspiration of the ceiling vault upward. The ideal option would be rooms with a high ceiling level, but if the apartment has standard dimensions, then the height of the ceilings is pulled out using light tints, accented backlighting directed upwards... Visually increases the height of the ceilings by using columns, arched structures, arches or steps that tend upward. The color scheme of the ceiling is traditionally chosen in light pastel colors, but in some cases the ceiling can be an imitation of the starry sky.The fuselage of an aircraft or the body of an airship can be mounted to the ceiling as a decoration.

You don't have to buy a new table or bed to create a futuristic interior. Objects can be found in Grandma's old attic, painted and given the look of antiquity, or you can walk through antique shops - old things will add their charm and beauty to the design. In some cases, pieces of furniture are made to order or do it yourself. Such things are simple and attract attention precisely because of their intricacy. Industrial cabinets, shelves, racks can also be used for design.

But the interior does not only consist of industrial and mechanical notes, it is necessary to tie it to the Victorian style. Representatives of that era can be called massive sofas and armchairs, upholstered in leather and trimmed with wallpaper nails. Such items should look solid and of high quality. These items emphasize the wealth and good taste of the owner of the room.

Furniture decor should be discreet and have signs of antiquity in the form of metal wallpaper nails, corners, hinges and locks. An important design element is the bookshelves with old books. Such an accessory creates the impression of transferring in time more than any other item. Things in the room can be stored in an original way using bulky suitcases, chests, shelves. An interesting addition can be an old watch, telephone, radio.

When choosing pieces of furniture, priority is given to wood, metal, glass, leather. The emphasis is on good quality or scientific orientation. Oversized cabinets or medical racks made of glass and metal, large tables or miniature coffee tables, massive leather sofas and armchairs, dressers and cupboards - all this will find application in a steampunk style interior.

The source of lighting in the interior can be large windows through which daylight enters the room. If the design concept so requires, windows can be covered with thin linen fabrics or draped with heavy curtains. Lighting should not be overly bright, lamps should create diffused light so that the room is in semi-darkness and filled with some mystery. Incandescent lamps without shades can be used as a lighting device.

Old floor lamps or lamps in a metal frame, in a glass jar, inside a tin pipe or in other hand-made structures are used as lighting equipment. Unusual lamps not only serve as a source of light, but also attract attention with their shape. When choosing lamps, one should be guided by simplicity and functionality; excessive pretentiousness in a style tending to industrial is inappropriate. If the design is dominated by the classics of the Victorian era, you can place chandeliers that match the style in an apartment with high ceilings.

The futuristic direction focuses on antiquity and scientific thought, it can be a scientist's laboratory, a traveler's cabin, a designer's workshop. The color palette should be restrained and natural shades that create coziness and do not distract from the main elements of the decor. For design, grayish-blue and reddish-brown tones of foggy London, muted golden and beige shades of the seabed, steel and copper highlights of metal parts, sky blue and deep blue colors of the sky can be used.

The atmosphere of the steampunk style is made up of decorative details.Such as ornaments on curtains, upholstery of upholstered furniture with natural leather, a combination of concrete and glass, metal and glowing lamps. You can convert old things into interior details with your own hands. For example, the base for the table can be the lower frame of the sewing machine, and the modified old floor lamp takes the form of a mysterious old lamp.

Instead of paintings, the walls are decorated with large gears of various sizes or with clockwork springs. An old Victorian candlestick, a lantern, a mirror frame will attract attention. Bolts and pistons, like other parts from technology, can become the basis for the manufacture of chairs or a table, a hanging shelf or a lamp.

Old photographs, engravings, paintings can become stylized decorations. Framed herbariums, old maps, barometers and telescopes, old typewriters, scales, metronomes and so on look original. An excellent decor option would be models of old ships, airplanes, paraplanes, airships. Jars, flasks, test tubes, flasks can be placed in medical-type glass cabinets. Steel armchairs and chairs, a globe with wheels, an old diver's helmet look interesting.

Victorian elegance combined with a world of science and fiction creates a magical and mesmerizing world in a single room.

The emphasis on technical focus makes the steampunk style attractive and unusual in its own way.

The combination of reddish copper and natural woods creates a striking combination that is characteristic of futurism.

The apartment looks unusual and exciting, stylized as the interior of an old submarine, where the main emphasis is placed on the flight of human engineering thought.

It is difficult to imagine the interior of the Victorian era without a massive leather sofa, which can be the centerpiece of the composition.

For information on how you can decorate a steampunk room, see the video below.