How we got the industrial look on a budget

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Self building is not cheap and as we prioritised getting the house energy efficient and putting in sustainable energy solutions, when it came to the design decisions we had to be smart with the little budget we had left.

We loved the polished concrete finish but knew this finish was expensive, however, when I did the numbers and compared it to the cost of tiles there wasn’t much difference between the two in the end.  We had to put a concrete floor down anyway so the cost of tiles, adhesive, grout and of course a tiler, when compared against the concrete polisher and installer was pretty much the same per sq metre.

The polished concrete runs across the whole first floor

Deciding on the polished concrete was the first ‘industrial’ design aspect that we added to the build.  We didn’t go full on industrial style with exposed beams and cabling etc but instead added some aesthetics that were inspired by industrial style interiors.

Crittal style windows and internal doors were next on the wish list

The windows were way outside our budget so instead, I worked with our window supplier and arranged for bars to be fitted onto our large dining area window.  It gives the appearance of a crittal window but as it’s PVC it worked out a 5th of the cost.

Internal steel crittal doors at the end of the hall were going to cost over £4k and instead we got a local joinery shop to make ours from wood.  They’re not exactly the design I had wanted but the look is still there for less than half the cost.

Then there was the  steel industrial style staircase which was non negotiable.  We had to find a budget friendly solution to this look.  So we got a concrete staircase and DIY’d the balustrade.  Yes, you read that right – a standard concrete staircase.  I then painted it with Frenchic Alfresco paint in Black Jack.  Two coats was all it needed and it’s still going strong two years later.  The steel balustrades were made by hubby and then sent to a paint sprayer to ensure we got a hard wearing and smooth finish.  Doing the stairs ourselves saved us over £8K! And the paint finish is still going strong over two years later!

Our industrial steel staircase has a painted concrete base

Hubby also made our industrial style coffee table and side tables from steel box section and reclaimed oak planks.  And I’ve upcycled some furniture to give it a more industrial look by adding reeded glass film, industrial style hardware and painting items black.  And we made the massive crittal style mirror from an old sliderobe door and black electrical tape.  Cost - £20!

One of my favourite projects was our brick slips wall in the bathroom.  We did this ourselves and love the warmth the brick slips add to the bathroom.  I added some vintage industrial style tiles and a vintage style vanity (in black) and it’s now my favourite room.  I’d love to add more bricks throughout the house but time and money is against us so instead I got some brick effect wallpaper from Woodchip and Magnolia and used it to surround the critall style window in the dining area.  Using the wallpaper like this is a budget friendly way to get the exposed brick look and the brick wallpapers from Woodchip and Magnolia are very real looking.

Using the brick slips with the industrial style lighting in the bathroom

The finishing touches added include industrial style lights from Industville and Homebase.

I hope this has given you some ideas for getting an expensive look for less. Let me know in the comments which project you like best!