Industrial style lighting is more diverse than you might think.

It may seem like just a design category of metal and raw materials, but industrial style lighting is more complex than first glance.

If you quickly scroll by the gathering of five industrial style lighting options above, you may not think too much beyond the obvious commonality of metal. But it’s more nuisanced. Admittedly I’m a design geek. And I should probably go to design therapy for my obsession.

When I look at the collage of metal lighting above, here’s what I see.

1. Industrial Mid-century Modern. One of my favorite trends is the mid-century modern look. This vintage inspired brass finish desk lamp, the Cyan Silverbelle Arc, has that style’s streamlined forms with a simple arc arm with shade. More than just an industrial desk lamp, it also has a detailed base that gives it the flexibility to fit in a more traditional space.

2. Industrial Farmhouse. At first this pairing of words might not make sense. Most of the time the word ‘farmhouse’ makes our brains jump to barnwood, distressed furniture, charming white sinks, and little charming accents of vintage pieces. Farmhouse inspired lighting also celebrates the simpler forms, and stresses functionality. The turn-of-the-century lantern look of this Dimond farmhouse antique brass desk lamp gives it that farmhouse look.

 3. Industrial Nautical. This desk lamp charms me with its nod to a little lighthouse. A truly charming industrial nautical look, the Hubbardton Forge Erlenmeyer desk lamp has a dark smoke finish with an exposed bulb in a glass tube.

4. Industrial Mechanical. For design geeks like me, industrial mechanical is the most authentic of the industrial styles. The idea of ‘industrial’ goes beyond just using metals in simple shapes and forms, this style celebrates the machine as authentically functional, and showcases the inner-workings of mechanized parts as pure unadorned simple beauty. For this John Richard Pulley desk lamp, it shows off one of my favorite simple machines, the pulley. While the light doesn’t need the pulley to work, the use of the pulley is a charming stunner.

5. Industrial Steampunk. It might be the most fun way to design with metal, the steampunk style allows designers to get creative with the shapes and colors of metal to create lighting and other design elements in truly unique ways. This lamp is from the Gun Metal Collection.

I’d love to know what you think of this industrial style lighting breakdown. Please share below in the comments or head over to Twitter or email and send me a note.

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