Ideas to Create an Industrial Look for the Office

If you are thinking of industrial office design, you need ideas to create an industrial look for the office.  Luckily, we love sharing industrial office ideas. 

Industrial Reception Desk

Let’s start with the moment your clients walk thru your front door.  Are you going to have a reception desk?  If so, you might consider a wood reception desk.  Here is our latest rustic reception desk design.  We love the multi-dimensional nails contrasting with the lighter wood choice. 

For a more modern industrial reception desk, we combined reclaimed white cubicle frames with reclaimed wood tiles. 

One of our neighbors, Holloway Motorcycle Service, designed this industrial reception desk.  There are many feature we love.  The mixture of wood, metal, and concrete has a industrial, steampunk feel.  

Our favorite part of this front desk is the cantilevers to support the concrete transaction top.  Designed from repurposed car parts, we love the round pieces to balance out the design.  

The concrete top has gears cured in it.  We love that finishing touch.  

Industrial Coffee Table

As we move thru your reception area, it is time to think about a BAM piece for your coffee table. What is a BAM piece?  Named after one of our clients made this request to us, a BAM piece is that design piece that stops you and makes you say BAM, that is cool!

Our neighbors on Design Drive created a BAM piece with their coffee table.  Repurposed from a non-working piano in the building, they made this conversation starter coffee table.  We love this unique glass coffee table.  The glass top allows you to see the piano pieces.  The wood and oversized casters add to the industrial style.  

In our reception area, we also have a show-stopping coffee table.  We turned to the amazing April at Ingrain Studio.  She loves making round tree stumps beautiful. 

Our tree stump has her smooth as butter finish.  The stump is hackberry.  With the price of walnut so high, designers are turning to hackberry as an alternative. Native to the area and not a popular tree by homeowners due to honey drew drippings prone to mold, it makes a beautiful coffee table.  From the mobile metal base frame to the stump, we collaborated with April on the design. 

Waiting Room Chairs

We love that the fabric choice of your waiting room can match the design of your office.  Leather or leather looking vinyl is a popular choice for industrial office design. 

Waiting Room Chairs No Arms

We have Keilhauer Also chairs in waiting.  Waiting for you to pick some fabric.  These armless, stacking chairs with 4 post legs are an excellent choice for waiting rooms, break rooms, or guest side seating in private offices.   

We love what our friends at Transparent Brewery and The Chive Cafe and Market do!   We have shared goals of sustainability and quality.  They chose a low maintenance charcoal vinyl fabric to recover the Keilhauer chairs.  These chairs work everywhere from a restaurant to an office.  Against the reclaimed wood tables and the charcoal fabric, they have an industrial feel!

Come pick out your fabric and these chairs will work for your design!

Waiting Room Chairs with Arms

The Haworth Improv chairs are our choice chair for waiting room chairs with arms.  The chairs have four post legs and stacks to 10 high.  This is a commercially BIFMA rated waiting room chair. 

Industrial Style Booths

With the popularity of break out room areas in the office, these industrial style booths for standard or counter height tables could be an option. 

Industrial Office Desks

We shared several industrial office desk ideas in an earlier post.  One of our favorite industrial u shape desk designs is repurposing cubicle overheads by refacing it with a live wood edge piece. 

For a more modern look, we can reface the overhead fronts in plywood or a laminate.  Below we refaced a metal file cabinet front in plywood.   We could do this for the overheads. 

Industrial Style Office Cubicles 

So, how can you add some industrial style office cubicles in your office design.  We are going to show you some installs to get those ideas going!  

This cubicle install had several different needs in cubicle height and size.  Here were the small cubicles with pipe legs and the burlap seat cushion on a mobile pedestal.  The accent red matched the clients brand.  

For the large cubicles, the pipe legs were still chosen for the supports.  

We really like this cubicle install of Herman Miller Ethospace with the glass and black trim.  

Another industrial cubicle look is a darker fabric with glass.  These Steelcase cubicles compliment the design but really allows the wood accent wall and brick to be the stars of the space.  

Industrial Office Accessories

When it comes to creating an industrial look for the office, we love adding touches of rustic material. Burlap is an example of a metal we have used in our industrial office design.  In one install, we recovered the cubicle pedestal cushions with reclaimed burlap bags. 

Another example of incorporating burlap is with your favorite office plant.  This is an easy touch by placing an office plant in a reclaimed burlap bag.   Office plants are must have for any office.  We have office plant recommendations. 

There are so many ways you can give your office an industrial feel.  Start with a piece of furniture or fabric that you love.   Then, the rest of the design will follow as your compliment that piece.  And, don’t forget to Incorporate a BAM piece somewhere in your office! 

If you want an industrial office design, contact us!