Achieving an Industrial-Style Kitchen

The combination of raw and refined is what makes a well-executed industrial kitchen unique. It’s characterised by letting bricks and concrete speak for themselves – as they would in the old workshops that inspired this style – offset by bright colours and more polished details that deliver functional space.

Best of all, you can achieve a great looking industrial kitchen in your home, without needing to entirely renovate. Whether you’re in a traditional ‘70s home, a freshly converted warehouse or a contemporary Aussie home, here are some tips on how to industrialise your kitchen in style!

It’s All About The Colour

Industrial kitchens rely on a low key, high impact palette. Think muted monochrome, contrasting greys and matte blacks with stark whites. This lays the foundation for an industrial look and feel, plus allows you to get more creative with highlights and feature pieces.

Leave your brickwork exposed and combine that with black stone bench tops, then add vibrant timber accents. Then add appropriate but bright hardware as accents – brass taps, spouts and handles, for example. Finally, don’t be afraid to add just a dash of bright colour – maybe some natural greenery in the form of indoor plants, or even a handful of more brightly coloured furniture like vintage yellow bar stools?

Functionality and Space

Have your storage do double duty with floating cabinets and shelves. This can greatly increase your storage capacity and by floating them you can actually enhance your sense of space by giving the illusion of depth. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that it looks fantastic! For a cheap but effective solution, stack some old timber planks on bricks. It’s easy, looks amazing and is about as industrial as it gets!

Feel Good Texture

Industrial style really comes to life through texture and materiality – so start from the ground up. Sometimes the best floor covering, is nothing at all! Industrial kitchens are the perfect place for polished concrete – it isn’t just easy to clean up spills… it ages beautifully, makes a great canvas for virtually any cabinetry and furniture, plus it looks great itself.

Similarly, a stone splashback is both useful and beautiful, particularly when paired with a matching stone benchtop.

Exposed bricks make for great industrial feature walls, but they might not be achievable. Instead, get creative with paint! You can do amazing things with texture, like a concrete look, or try building up a single wall with dark paint to contrast with the rest of the room.

Let There Be Light

Light can make or break your room and the same goes for an industrial kitchen. Wire frame pendant lights are readily available and affordable, like warm copper or cooler silver-look pieces, and make great features hanging from your kitchen ceiling. When it comes to the light itself, lean more towards warmer yellow light rather than stark cool whites.

Cabinets – Stun with Storage

An industrial kitchen can live or die through its cabinets. Sure, you can restyle your existing ones to decent effect, but a flat pack cabinet set is an affordable way to take things even further. Stainless, timber, dark and matte – they’ve all got pros and cons. Stainless steel is easy to maintain for example, while timber adds warmth which will offset some of the more muted colours you’ve already used. We think a simple cabinet set in dark blue can really make your feature pieces pop, like that brass tap ware we mentioned earlier. Or to make the whole room pop, go for stainless steel!