Being true to raw materials

Chloe Hines Chloe Hines
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The design world is abundant and at times, quite overwhelming. However, this is one aspect that is enduring and always remains the most important: Materials.

With a beautiful plethora of paint swatches, textiles and decor, it can be easy to forget that the core of these items, is their material make up. Keeping it simple can be hard in a world of endless options, but letting the basic foundation of these products shine through is what is most important.  

Below, we have listed several ways in which you, as a homeowner, can let the raw beauty of these materials shine through and give your home a spark of original design.

Don't hide the beauty of wood

Pure, raw wood is one the most beautiful design features you can highlight in your home.  Here, we have shown the beauty of both wood ceilings and exposed wooden beams. But for the sake of this experiment, think of any wood in your home – whether it's old wood shelving, a repurposed wooden dining room table, or old wood floors.  

Forget staining or colouring your wood – simply sand it down, add some protector or a shine coating and leave it there!  Plenty of modern and minimalist furnishings and décor easily play with wood to create a cosy and romantic atmosphere no matter what your style is. See more examples of this project here!

Wood is durable, seasonal and most importantly, always in fashion with almost any home or area.

Raw stone walls

Raw stones are most often found in older homes and architectural designs – yet because of its durability, stability and ability to offer beautiful design, it is showing up more often in modern homes.  Raw stones can work in any area of your home – but due to it's hard surface, adding décor can be difficult.  So leaving exposed stone for a design technique is more useful in utilitarian areas such as kitchens and bathrooms.

Raw stone is beautiful in its ability to be broken, or even in bad condition, yet rather than being viewed as flawed or ugly, it can add character.  So put the dry wall and paint away and leave your stone as-is! As shown here, it can create a traditional, cosy cottage feel – or even work well in über modern environments.

Most importantly, it will last as long as your home, with little care and upkeep necessary!

Concrete structures

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Whether the exterior framework, or interior details of your home involve concrete – leave it exposed for a clean, minimalistic effect! This Casas Cube is a beautiful example of the design possibilities modernity has to offer.

In its limited colour palette and ability to let decor and outside structures show, concrete can be incredibly easy to work with.  Think concrete beams, columns and especially concrete flooring.  They provide excellent structural stability to your home, and leaving those structures exposed can add a special design element that is quite rare in most homes.

Expose your metallics

Most homes will have a combination of both concrete and metal structures. So taking the opportunity to expose one of the two should be an option for most homeowners.  When thinking of metal structures within you home – think of metal framework, metal beams and metal framing on interior structures, such as stairways.

This example is perfect in showing the many ways in which you can expose the metal structures in your home.  Take notice of the details – for example, the metal nuts and bolts connecting each stairway to the upper level. This particular homeowner has definitely made metal a key design feature of their home – from exposed stairways to metal dining room chairs and tables. 

Depending on the structure of your home, the options can be endless! Brazilian architects Vazio S/A are excellent at using structure of a home for interior decorating options!

Don't paint the bricks

Exposed brick walls have been a popular design feature in so many homes – you could even say, in some capacity, that they're coveted design features!  Adding both character and value to your home, leave walls exposed and raw – forget paint and maybe even forget décor! Let your walls speak for themselves! 

Exposed brick walls are brilliant in that they can truly work in any room in your home – no matter what style, size or lighting!  Don't have any original brick walls to expose? That's perfectly ok! You can either add your own brick wall as an accent feature, or buy thin overlays that you can easily plaster onto any wall in your home – and for a fraction of the cost! With an abundance of grout and brick colours and shades – you can truly create your own artistic design!

Exposed pipes and ducts

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For a more raw and industrial design feature in your home – think about the possibility of leaving pipes and ducts exposed.  Now, we know that most of the time, the thought of leaving typical metal pipes exposed might not seem like a great idea – but think of changing your pipes!

Pipes are definitely an item that should be inspected and changed in your home as often as need-be and when considering this – think of pipes that can double as stylistic features in your home – like pictured here. Copper and darker metal pipes – or any shade, can work wonderfully depending upon your style.  The great part about copper piping is that overtime as it oxidizes you will get the affect of a beautiful turquoise and teal colouring!

There are so many options in materials – and depending upon both your geographic location and style the materials available to you will greatly differ.  Don't let this discourage you, in fact, let it inspire you to show off your place in the world!

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