How to Get Industrial Style in Your Space

The owners of this Atlanta townhome often select artwork in their world travels. Here, black, white and metallic pieces help carry the home's color story into the living room. The scale of the artwork help ground the two-story space, making it feel more intimate.

Homeowner Chad Alford had always wanted to live in a New York City loft, so his partner Tomas Frenes designed their townhome in Atlanta's Cabbagetown neighborhood to look like urban buildings in the Big Apple. The design of this living room picks up the architecture's urban edginess—exposed beams, metal ducts—and incorporates them into the look. A spiral staircase leads between the two levels. The barstools and coffee table are metal, the sofa black leather with nailhead trim.

Custom doors with smoked glass are made to look like the windows on Manhattan buildings, and exposed ceiling beams and ductwork enhance the industrial look.

Translucent smoked glass sliding doors close to create privacy while still filtering light into this space off the main living area. The room's primary purpose is as a home office, though it is easily transformed into a guest room by rolling the coffee table to the side and opening the sofa bed. The 1950s vintage book case came from an aviation school.