How to make repairs in the loft style with your own hands inexpensively

The renovation ended the way you feared: the foreman disappeared with an advance payment, the painter sleeps with a bag on his head, and the apartment is half-ready, like a good steak. But until you find a new team, you have to live here somehow and even receive guests.

“In a loft, there should be a feeling that there really was an attic or an abandoned workshop here,” Fedor began his exciting story. - Sloppy finishes, bare and raw walls, brickwork and imitation of collapsed plaster. Open engineering communications, ventilation and wiring ".

“This style initially assumed savings on finishing materials. The main difference in finishing has always been the naturalness and roughness of the surfaces, so you shouldn't worry about some unrealistic estimate and colossal labor costs. "

It's a paradox, but in order to pass off an unfinished renovation for a loft, you will have to destroy almost more than create. Therefore, stock up on a set of tools, in which, in addition to a hammer and a drill, there will be a set of good chisels. You will also need plaster, paint cans of several colors, parquet varnish, metal tubes for electrical wiring, corrugation for ventilation. Furniture, lamps and small design elements, which will be discussed later, can be collected from relatives and friends or walk through flea markets for this. With a great desire and some luck, you can keep within 40-50 thousand.

“Loft style just needs space. If there is an opportunity to remove any walls, it must be done, "Fyodor insisted sternly.

The word of a specialist is law. If the apartment has plasterboard partitions, you can demolish them on your own, an ordinary sledgehammer is enough. Put on a construction helmet and a respirator, then there will be a chance not to get hurt. Before the start of the show, it would be good to arrange a redevelopment, otherwise there will be problems when selling an apartment. And check the floor plan of the apartment to make sure the wall is not load-bearing. Otherwise, the whole house will turn into one large loft, from which rescuers will pick out your angry neighbors.

“Concrete is more suitable for the background wall material. A concrete wall can be not only homogeneous, but also structured. You can even paint over the wall with graffiti, ”the expert continued.

If the workers managed to level the walls, good. Not in time - even better. In a new building, wash the concrete wall, wait for it to dry, and paint it with spray paint. If someone lived in the apartment before, pieces of plaster may remain on the wall peeled to concrete - go over with a fine sandpaper before washing. Finish off by walking along the wall with the chisel and scratching and chipping it multiple times to add brutality.

“You can always turn to a specialist for an individual order,” Fyodor persuaded, distributing business cards. “In the manufacture of lamps, the same materials are used as for furniture: glass, wood, raw metal.”

The lamp can be more expensive than the rest of the pseudoloft filling. In such an interior, a lone lamp on a wire asks, but design options are more expensive than Kremlin stars, and an ordinary lamp will turn a loft into a switchman's booth. A compromise - street lamps in the form of old-fashioned lamps. Among them there are those that need to be hung on the wall - they are suitable for the role of a sconce.

“If the base of the floor is made of planks, it is not even possible to remove it, but simply to process it and paint it with a colorless varnish. This floor should be slightly diluted with a bright shaggy rug. "

A rug or bearskin - at your discretion. If the base is wooden and you followed the expert's advice, this is already enough. Worse, if only a screed was made on the floor: even to the inhabitants of the Bastille, the concrete under their feet would have seemed harsh. But get some old, worn rugs in different sizes and colors, and throw them overlapping on the floor as if you were meant to. First, carpets must be cleaned and disinfected: old age must be dignified.

“The oversized retro armchair is the perfect complement to the current coffee table made of untreated riveted metal and wood. And a rare chest of drawers with twisted legs can be combined with a rack made of water pipes, ”Fyodor boasted of his work.

If you are not ready to spend part of your gold and foreign exchange reserves on an up-to-date coffee table, take into account the main principle of the loft style: the combination of the incongruous and the aesthetics of devastation. Of course, steampunk is good, but if you look for people who want to get rid of unnecessary furniture, then you will get hold of at least a beanbag chair, an old lacquered piano and cast-iron chairs for the garden. All of this will work for your design.

Here are a few more wisdoms that will help you make an exact replica of an elite loft at an affordable price and no worse than the original.

Quartblog constantly expands the boundaries of its reporting: we go to exhibitions, to visit, to workshops, to quests, and now the first trip to a restaurant for interior impressions is next in line. A guide to the Bromley Brothers restaurant and architect Alexander Kravtsov was given to us by a wood and paint master Dasha Geiler.

Very often, coming to a cafe or restaurant, we enjoy communication, food and the atmosphere in general, not noticing the details that set the desired mood. But in vain, because all the most interesting is in the details! The Brothers Bromley restaurant opened quite recently and was renovated as soon as possible before opening. The complete modification of the premises takes only two weeks. The concept of a loft-style interior with steam-punk elements was set by the story of the real brothers, after whom the establishment is named. In the middle of the 19th century, the Bromley brothers owned first a workshop for the manufacture of tools, and then the "Society of Mechanical Works of the Bromley Brothers", which produced machine tools, engines and steam engines that made the brothers famous far beyond the borders of Russia. The brothers led an active lifestyle: they traveled a lot, painted, photographed, engaged in scientific research, did something with their own hands. Alexander wanted to give this place the atmosphere of a studio, not devoid of the homeliness of a living room.

The architect Alexander Kravtsov, who was in charge of decorating the restaurant, told me that earlier there was another establishment here, from which all the furniture remained. Having an interior basis, Alexander was faced with the task of completely changing the style.

I believe that the interior of any restaurant starts from the front door. Each guest who arrives grabs the handle to enter, and from that moment on, he has to tune in a certain way. The door can be absolutely simple, as in our case, but one bright accent changes everything. Also, instead of commonplace waste bins, we installed pipes from the duct.

Alexander, together with the workers, modified almost all the furniture. The leitmotif that can be traced throughout the restaurant and even on the facade of the building is the bolts. They can be seen on the walls and on the bar. They emphasize geometry and tie the whole space together. The element is very simple and is also suitable for a loft-style interior.

Absolutely all the wooden furniture and panels that adorn the whole corner of the restaurant were repainted with Dasha Geiler's paints.Alexander recalls that when painting the panels, the workers deliberately left smudges to make the wood look like a workshop, in which imperfections are possible.

Deliberate negligence takes place in the loft style. The main thing to remember is that there should be only a few careless elements, otherwise the whole effect is lost, and guests may get the feeling that they have just come to a poorly renovated room.

The history of the bar counter and the suspension with lamps above it is curious. Machine filters are used as shades for lamps. They are also used in wall sconces.

Loft and steam punk décor is not always easy to find, plus it can be very expensive if bought in stores. Alexander shared with Kvartblog several interesting ideas that he implemented in the restaurant. So, ordinary gears and water pipes became part of the installation on the wall, and also turned into lamps by the windows. The flower pots are made from ordinary buckets, sawn in half and varnished on top.

Since finances and time were limited, inventiveness was used: a lot of things were literally done with our own hands. The decor on the shelves was collected from everywhere: from flea markets, industrial dumps and from small shops. Many parts of the former cars have turned into independent art objects.

As far as I know, when there is a house renovation, builders throw away a lot of things that can be recycled and turned into something interesting, as in our case. We put everything that we managed to collect in one place, and based on the items available, we made the decor that you see.

Alexander shared an interesting life hack for aging posters. The themed posters that hang on the walls were printed on watercolor paper and got an antique look thanks to tea bags.

Tea is a well-known dye, and with its help Alexander manually added color to the posters, as soon as he walked over the paper with a brush and sponge.

On the windows on one side of the restaurant, we see unusual curtains, over which a net is stretched. This is done not just for the sake of decoration, but from a functional point of view.

As you can see, the restaurant has very few walls to use. But here in the future some exhibitions and events may be held. On the net you can hang some kind of photo works, paintings and illustrations, as well as garlands or flower arrangements. This plane has yet to reveal its full potential.

It is curious that the colorful loft-style decor here plays in contrast with the feminine details in the Provence style (jars of lavender, frayed trays of flowers, lanterns, elegant dishes). Also worth noting are the floral-print pillows and the velor upholstery of some of the armchairs. This contrast allows the interior to be playful and cozy.

Lamps that look like spiders were made by Alexander himself. Retro cables, regular sockets and decorative incandescent bulbs (Edison bulbs) were used. The beauty of this lamp is that it can be transformed: the bulbs can be lifted and fixed on additional ceiling hooks, changing the lighting scheme.

The restaurant has a separate living area, which is especially conducive to cozy gatherings in the evening. Alexander is sure that this corner has yet to be overgrown with interesting wall decor and new details.

The appearance of the Bromley Brothers restaurant is still in development and formation. It will be filled with decor, details and become more sophisticated over time, but now there are many guests here who appreciate not only delicious food, but also the atmosphere that is created largely thanks to the interior.

We want the interior to be filled with non-random things, so we still have something to work on here.In general, I believe that a restaurant should live its own dynamic life and develop, as well as adapt to various events that will be held here. I hope we succeeded in creating the transforming interior we were striving for.

It was the most ordinary apartment built by the SU-155 company, and how well they know how, made in the best traditions of the Soviet general construction.

... (worse than ever, IMHO). In our case, a kopeck piece with two bathrooms

First, we decided to leave everything as it is to the maximum, not to level the walls and ceiling, we did nothing with them at all, but only varnished it. Installed Soviet radiators.

The main material is brick from it we made all the partitions and walls (where they were not) and some of the furniture. Bricks are the simplest they bought in the construction market.

Part of the wiring was done outside.

Fixtures (fitting), before painting.

Many elements were made by hand from scraps and leftover material, curtain rods were made from water pipes.

The furniture in the bathroom, in the kitchen and in the hallway is also made of bricks.

The painting on the wall in the hallway is hollowed out of concrete. The floor in the entire apartment is modern, self-leveling, micro-cement-based, this is done in DBSG.

From the remnants of micro-cement, we made almost all horizontal surfaces, such as: a countertop in the kitchen, a bedside table in the corridor, all shelves, a desk in the hallway and a toilet set in the bathroom. The work table can be used as a cosmetic one because of the integrated mirror.

More space and light thanks to the open top of the bathrooms.

The wardrobes in the bedroom are covered with curtains, the bed is in the center. All furniture and ideas for the implementation of the laboratory

archpole .

This project is on Style TV (the clip consists of two parts, after renovation and before):

The apartment is already in operation and quite successfully. Quite recently, an accident happened in this house at night, due to constant interruptions in hot water (the house is new). On the last technical floor, a hot water pipe burst and flooded the entire staircase, and 5 floors were badly damaged. The lamps in this apartment were damaged, they were flooded with water and textiles. While the neighbors will have to start all over again. That is why we have not regretted such a bold experiment.

05.11.2012
First big update:

I would like to more accurately focus on the fact that we tried to make an inexpensive repair that could serve as an analogue of all not expensive standard approaches.
As in the old joke: “”. - and money. I don’t need you with money, I can do it myself. "

We could easily find not the cheapest brick, but find the old one from the analysis of the Soviet or Tsarist period (this is not uncommon today) but very expensive. We took the cheapest and substandard one from the market.

We could use modern PANDOMO floors, they perfectly fit the loft style, but we used a little-known Russian analogue, because of its low cost. PANDOMO walls are also often used in expensive interiors.

We have the simplest and cheapest doors, cornices, lamps, sink, bathroom, toilet. and much more, while being reliable. We didn't change the windows, we just painted the existing ones.

It is very important that the apartment is located in the Moscow region, Odintsovo. The cost of such an apartment at the time of its acquisition is 2,900,000 rubles (according to the owner's statement), the market value today without renovation is 4,500,000 rubles. Investing a lot of money in renovation and decoration is not rational.

This is not our only experiment, in parallel with this project we made the simplest and most common option, hired an economy team, chose the most popular finishing materials among the people, not the cheapest, but also not expensive. And here's what happened:

The apartment is located in Lyubertsy, it is the same cost as the previous one, they are about the same area.

Perhaps this is the most common repair and decoration option in Russia (IMHO).

Which finish do you like?

Similar projects in my blog by tag: minus design.

Good photos on the Internet! And what about the residents of a single room, they also want to live in a luxurious spacious loft? In spite of skeptics, we will prove that a small loft-style apartment is not absurd, but reality. We will also show that the loft style is ideal when the budget for renovation is very small.

Because interior style is a way of life and the atmosphere of a home. Not the footage.

Many believe that the loft style is suitable only for apartments, maximum for a country house, they say, a loft is a huge industrial space, and it is unrealistic to recreate it on 40 square meters, which means there is nothing to write about here.

But the designers disagree - and they do an excellent job with small-sized projects in the loft style. The trouble is that residents of small apartments often don’t even have money for a designer. So, excuse me, dear designers, we will style our house like a loft with our own hands.

The fact is that the loft style is not so much an architectural format as a mood, a way of life. It all began with the fact that in the 1940s land in New York rose greatly in price, and industrialists had to move their factories and factories away from the big city. But the buildings remained.

The well-to-do people completely refused to move into the empty workshops, but the contingent is simpler, and especially creative people, the huge premises are quite suitable - both inexpensively, and an art studio-house in finished form. Because a little tidying up, arranging art objects and a few chairs - and here's a bohemian salon for exhibitions and performances, you can still live. So the loft style ceased to be an architectural indicator and turned into a way of thinking.

And this is the whole loft: this is asceticism, contentment with little, endless creative flight and refusal of luxury (although a chic velvet sofa looks great against the background of old plaster).

Do you understand? For a real loft style, five-meter ceilings are not so much important as the spirit of freedom. This is not a brick wall and pipes under the ceiling, but a creative eclectic interior, unthinkable without modern art in all its forms.

Even designers do not understand this line, but now you know: first of all, you need a creative interior, and secondly, an industrial one.

So, what should you change during the renovation so that you feel the same mood of an American loft in the apartment?

But you will have to start by looking for those very elements of the "abandoned factory". Because if initially industrial premises were turned into residential premises, then you, the owner of a typical apartment, will have to do the opposite, make an industrial object out of an apartment.

Here you will need to think: what in your apartment is similar to the view of a plant? It turns out that a whole system of water pipes was once hidden under the drywall, under the plaster of the bearing walls you can find old red brick, and cast-iron batteries, it is worth removing the decorative flap and painting them brighter, situations are ideal. So we look under the laminate, wondering what we have behind the suspended ceiling ... Bare concrete? Gorgeous - let's leave! True, it would be better to fill the floors with a special non-dusting mixture, but on a concrete ceiling, even metal suspensions may not have to be removed.

Many such "finds" will be found already during the repair process. Write down all observations in a notebook so that you can use them later when compiling a project yourself.

Materials and surfaces in a loft interior play a huge role. And if the walls of your Khrushchev are made of shingles, it doesn't matter, brick and concrete can be perfectly imitated with the same textured plasters.

The Italian decorative coatings manufacturer Loggia recommends choosing textures that combine luxury and rough industrial finishing.It is the loft style that allows you to use, say, a coating "like concrete" on one wall, and on the other - Venetian plaster or texture "like velvet" - and all this in one room! We recommend the following materials.

• Kymera is a unique coating not just with a rust effect, but a natural oxidized metal that even has magnetic properties.
• Marmo Romano - allows you to create a deep texture.
• Diamond - natural metal effect.