Steampunk style brings together the elegance of the Victorian era and the raw edge of industrial design. With rich colors, vintage furniture, and mechanical decor, you can transform any room into a bold, imaginative space.
Enthusiasts combine these elements together to create visually unique and textured spaces. Here are some key components of steampunk style that you can use to create a unique look in your home.
Victorian Style
Steampunk is rooted in Victorian-era style, so it is helpful to draw upon the colors, textures, and style of Victorian interior design when trying to implement the steampunk look.
Victorian interior design was known for its use of rich colors, ornamental pieces and patterns, and luxurious materials. Colors that were used prominently during the Victorian period were ruby red, burgundy, dark green, navy blue, and brown.
Victorian furniture was crafted from dark wood and heavily ornamented with rounded cushion styles. The Victorians were known for their display of ornamental wallpaper and floor tiles, which vied with heavy draperies and ornate picture arrangements. These and other decorative elements, like stained glass windows and embossed ceiling tiles, which can give color and texture to steampunk room designs.
Industrial Aesthetic
The Victorian and Industrial eras coexisted at the same time, so it is not unusual to pair these eras together. What is unique about steampunk style is the overt way it displays industrial-age equipment and technology within interior spaces.
Steampunk interiors will overtly display industrial materials such as brass, copper, brick, and weathered wood to highlight architectural elements and as decor. Industrial mechanisms like pipes, gears, and rivets are another popular feature in steampunk style.
Steampunk designers use these items and materials in furniture, fixtures, and decorative elements.
Vintage and Antique Furniture
Steampunk style utilizes many stylistic periods, so it is helpful to look for furniture and decor among vintage and antique stores. Look for plush and comfortable furniture in luxurious fabrics and coverings like velvet and leather. Most pieces that look fitting in steampunk style are weathered and worn.
Clockwork Accessories
Clocks are integral to steampunk style, both because of steampunk’s emphasis on time travel and industrial mechanisms. Use large and ornate wall clocks, pocket watches, and other time-keeping devices to create focal points and decorative elements on walls and decor on bookcases and shelves.
Lighting
Lighting is crucial in steampunk design for creating a layered background and as a way to display unusual steampunk light fixtures. Steampunk light fixtures often feature Edison-style bulbs, exposed wiring, and pipework typical of industrial machinery. Atique-style lamps and fixtures are other options for steampunk lighting design.
Travel Decor
Steampunk style is associated with steam-powered travel as well as time travel. Travel accessories like globes, maps, suitcases, and trunks, as well as navigational instruments like compasses and sextants, add an adventurous layer to your steampunk design. You can display their items on walls or as part of bookcase and shelf decor.
Vintage Books and Accessories
Browse through vintage and antique stores for decor to display in your steampunk design. Look for items like books, old pictures, machinery, trophies, bottles, statuary, locks and keys, mirrors, typewriters, candlesticks, vintage fans, and other vintage decor. These items are useful as table and shelf accessories to give your steampunk design more character.
Kitchens
Because of its utilitarian nature, the kitchen is the ideal place to implement some steampunk-style features. Replace your drawer and cabinet knobs and pulls with something more industrial. Look for industrial options in steampunk materials like brass, copper, or iron. Display a light fixture with Edison bulbs and a pipe-work body. Install some open shelving to display a few well-chosen pieces of vintage decor. Replace a few of your small kitchen appliances, like a coffee maker or toaster, with a retro-style machine.
Living Rooms
Living rooms are ideal for optimizing the luxurious materials and unique decor associated with steampunk design. Begin with a rich color palette, including some options like rich red, brown, aubergine, charcoal, deep blue, and forest green.
Use these colors for upholstery, wallcoverings, paint colors, and draperies. Mix in vintage furniture pieces in leather and velvet for sofas and chairs, and pair them with industrial coffee and side tables. Opt for industrial and vintage lighting for your overhead and task lighting accessories. Display vintage decor on coffee tables, side tables, shelves, and bookcases.
Bathrooms
Give your bathroom a steampunk twist with industrial-style plumbing fixtures, exposed copper pipes, and vintage lighting. Add a statement mirror—either ornate or industrial—and use rich wall colors or patterned wallpaper for depth. Finish the look with vintage art or mechanical decor to create a bold focal point.
Dining Room
Create a striking steampunk dining space with a table that blends industrial and vintage elements—like one featuring iron legs, mechanical detailing, and a rich wood or glass top.
Pair it with elegant dining chairs upholstered in velvet or patterned fabrics, or opt for chairs with visible rivets and dark wood frames for an industrial edge.
