Loft apartments were originally utilized by artists who needed shelter at a low cost. But currently, these have become chic and are adopted in urban dwellings. People of different professions and different income levels tend to create or have their own loft made. This is also the reason why we have brought in some handy loft apartment ideas that can help you shape yours up.
Loft apartments are not made by people irrespective of their income levels. For many, it is the only place they call home, while for someone it is a weekend retreat for their ultimate laidback time. Lofts have become a part of urban dwellings and occupied by several people from different income levels.
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Rooms in your loft apartment
The appeal of lofts is primarily the open floor plan with either no or tiny specific rooms. When you think of decorating a loft apartment, you need to be creative and imaginative. You need to know how to group furniture, use the right kind of paint, apply wallpaper if and where possible, and create individual spaces. The loft apartment ideas give you the freedom to express your own space and, in a way, you like it to be.
Now, you need to decide where you wish the different spaces to be. For example, you might want your loft to be a living room where you chill with your friends. It can also be a cozy bedroom that gives you a honeymooning vibe. Many people also apply loft apartment ideas for creating an interesting workspace.
The benefit of making loft apartments is that you can designate a place specific to what you like or the lifestyle you have. For example, if one part of the loft welcomes natural sunlight during the morning, it can become your home office. You can also make it a living room if you have pretty visuals to see outside the window.
Basic design ideas for your loft
You must choose paint, color schemes, or wallpapers to define every part of your loft apartment. But you also have to make sure that the prints and colors are working together. This is because one area flows into another, so the entire space should be in sync.
One of the smartest loft apartment ideas is to accent smaller areas like the foyer or bathroom, with bold prints for the wallpaper. You can also try bright colors for creating a contrast. If you prefer a color group to go with try different shades for different rooms. For example, your bedroom can be aubergine, while the living room is violet and dining is lavender. This way, all the rooms are in sync and gives you an ideal color scheme.
Separate the rooms by using bookcases, curtains, or folding screens that stand alone. On one end, there is no need to lose a natural open-air feel of what the loft offers, but it is also important to use structures to separate one part of it with the next. This makes sure that every space gets an individual identity.
You can install French doors for encasing the bedroom. Although you might like an open floor plan, you might want some privacy in the bedroom. You have to choose a corner in the loft bedroom and work on two walls that are already there. Install French doors for creating two walls. These come in various styles and help you avoid a closed-in feeling that concrete walls elicit.
It is smart to ease out the industrial feel of your loft by adding décor that contrasts. For this, you need to furnish individual spaces with vintage pieces and unique antiques. Add layers to sheer curtains on your windows rather than installing window dressing that adds harshness to space. You can use plenty of cushions and make your loft comfortable.
Loft apartment ideas
Lofts are covetable for several reasons, right from having high ceilings to spacious layouts, there can be a lot to do. However, designing it perfectly can be a challenge. You shouldn’t decorate it in a way that it looks like a stark warehouse. We have summed up a few of the best loft apartment ideas below that will help the space look cozy and pretty:
1. Neutral is the key
Following neutral colors helps ensure an easy flow all through the loft. For example, if you have an open kitchen that gives you the full view of the entry, living area, you need colors that blend and not distract. Try adding integrated appliances and features. The floating shelves contribute to the aesthetic appeal and the formal parts of your room stay formal.
2. Fasten lighting of wall
If you have high ceilings of the loft’s main floor that means you probably have a raised bedroom with lower ceilings. According to the looks, it is best to have furniture and other décors close to the floor. Of course, it is safer and easier to maintain. But if you’re someone who might be more prone to knock a floor lamp down or have little space for décor, it is best to hang overhead lights or wall-mounted sconces. Check out bedroom light designs that look similar to these loft apartment ideas.
3. Soften things up
To not make a spacious loft look overly cold or cavernous, you need to add things for softness and warmth. For this, you can add plush rugs, rounded items like table lamps or arched mirrors, to give a cozy feel. These ideas can make your loft more inviting and accepting. You can also add plants to give it a natural feel.
4. Pay attention to scale
It is important to pay attention to the scale of items that will help your loft look proportional. This too makes it more inviting and accepting. You need to make sure that the high ceilings or skylights don’t make everything look small. For that, you can hang curtains high and also add some vertical décor. One smart way to do both is by adding tall mirrors atop a mantle to give the empty space a more spacious feel.
5. Add interior glass
Your bedroom space must stay private and not look like it is about to shrink the empty feel of the loft. For doing so, you can install interior glass doors. This might make your loft look formal but it is best for workspaces. Try French glass doors that stretch right up the ceiling and accentuates the height further.
6. Create different rooms
Here, creating different rooms doesn’t mean crafting out separate rooms. It just means grouping furniture although the loft. This means every part will look good individually and also summed up well together. Moreover, the kitchen blends in and disappears in the background while the living rooms and dining nook contrast both in design and color.
7. Play with a bonus space
If you think that the open deck on the top feels too exposed against the private spaces, you can turn it into another room. It can be your all-out game room to play pool, air hockey, foosball or ping-pong.
8. Home office
The upper level of your workspace can be quiet and contained. For this, you can turn the space into your workspace while the open bottom stays in your personal space. People who work from home would love the idea.
9. Blend in the ladder
By building a ladder and placing it onto the wall, it adds up visually and also improves the look of your floor space. The living space also looks bigger and adds architectural intrigue.
10. Don’t be afraid to add color
Don’t think that loft takes you away from the idea of using colors. Your own space can have vibrant hues that enliven without being overwhelming. You just need to make sure that the colors are not inconsistent. Since it is all about high ceilings, you need to give them attention by using lacquer.
11. Build a partial wall
If you create a partial wall that bisects your dining and living room, space spread more evenly. The results shouldn’t make the entire space look congested, and then you’d be good to go.
12. Hang a curtain
You can separate the bathroom area and closet from your bedroom with the help of a curtain. You can also hang it on the railing to add privacy. Curtains can cover for you at any place you’d want some privacy. Note that the mirrored wall can help you magnify the entire look of it.
What do you need to know before converting your loft?
Find out about things you need to know before your covert a loft:
1. Recap on the benefits
You need to understand what are the main benefits of converting into an alternative living space to at all start the process. Many people would rather create a loft than buy a new space that costs a lot more. Putting money into creating a bedroom is not only more exquisite but also cost-effective.
Your loft apartment can be your study room, media room, or workspace. You need to realize why at all you need it and what you plan to do with it.
2. Four types of loft conversion
There are four different loft conversion ideas. You need to know all of these and talk to your architect accordingly. These types are:
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Rooflight conversion
This type of loft conversion involves little or no structural work and that’s why it is cost-effective. This is suitable for high roofs with lots of headroom. Thus, your attic gets converted without the original shape of the roof. The only changes made here are the additions of windows.
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Dormer loft
It is the most popular type of conversion and helps you add light to space with lots of headroom. Here, you reshape the roof at the rear or side of your house to a huge flat-roofed box-like dormer. The space includes French doors and windows that are fitted for additional ventilation and light. If you want a balcony, you probably need planning permission.
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Hip to gable loft
Many side ends of terraces and semidetached houses, bungalows, and chalets have this kind of a setting. It makes the space look relatively small for properties with hipped roofs. The sloping or hipped side gets removed and the end wall is constructed straight to form a new vertical gable. You need to add a dormer to maximize your interior space.
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Roof lift conversion
If you don’t have much standing room in the main loft space, you can try getting a roof lift for raising the roof. For this, you need to remove the existing roof to adjust the pitch and ridgeline. You also need planning permission in order to do this. It is an elaborate type of loft conversion idea that makes sense of detached houses. In this way, you might also want to maximize your property value.
3. Interior design
Even before you start with the building work, you need to analyze what it looks like. You need to spend time visualizing and understanding how it looks overall. There are two ways to approach a project – you either get a designer or an architect to draw up the plans for you. You can use these plans as competitive tendering and let a contractor take over. You can also entrust the entire project to a loft making company that can work with precision.
4. Expect some mess
You have to accept that creating anything from scratch takes time and isn’t always perfect. Most loft making companies are aware of this and try their best to keep away any kind of mess or disturbance.
If you have major work to be done, like roof replacements, you need to appoint the right people to go through these messy works. It is important to make your loft look like how you expected it to be. For that, you need to take the necessary precautions and keep away the clutter.
