Amazing Home Design Ideas Inspired By Urbex

Around 20,000 people globally take part in urbex, otherwise known as Urban Exploration. This little-known hobby is part history and part adventure, fuelled by curiosity and sometimes daring and danger. From abandoned underground stations, to workhouses, asylums and old manor houses, there are some incredible places to explore. The urbex trend has even begun to inspire interior design in homes. You can give your kitchen an industrial, post-apocalyptic feel, or bring abandoned stately home chic to your living area. Your walls could be a tribute to a bygone era or dark times that have since been forgotten. urbex can really inspire your home design and make it unique.

You can’t get more creepy than an abandoned castle, and there are plenty that you can explore in the UK, including Gwrych Castle in Abergele, and Fountains Abbey in Ripon, reportedly haunted by monks. You don’t need to live in a castle to use their gothic architecture as inspiration. In Great Dunmow, Essex, author John Trevellian decorated one of the bedrooms of his three-bedroomed ex-council house known as “Talliston” in the style of a haunted Scottish castle, and it even comes complete with it’s own 24 soundtrack. Talliston was featured on the Netflix series “Amazing Interiors.” In your own home, you could have a custom-made tower or brickwork installed to recreate the effect. For any custom build, industry experts Magnum Builders recommend using a designer to solidify your vision. Even in a modern luxury home, the gothic look can be contemporary, inspired by abandoned castles.

The classic red, white and blue design of The London Underground artwork is often used as inspiration in people’s homes. But for a real twist, look to the abandoned stations which have an incredible history. Down Street is one of the most well-known stations that you can visit, as it was once used as a bunker during World War II by Winston Churchill and his cabinet. The station was used in the movie “Creep.” To give your bathroom a creepy makeover, get inspired by the signage, lighting and tunnels of the abandoned stations, which include Brompton Road, Aldwych and Mark Lane, which gets used as a pop-up cinema. To legally explore these, you can book yourself onto a TFL tour.

There is nothing more creepy to inspire your living room than an abandoned funfair. Think bright, but faded colours, Ferris wheels and rollercoasters. For some inspiration, head to Pleasure Island, Cleethorpes, which was closed in 2016. The structures still stand, but nature is gradually taking over. Camelot Theme Park in Lancashire still has rides on site (although Knightrider has been dismantled). It’s not a safe place to explore, but there is much to be inspired by for some theme park home décor. Fabrics with Ferris wheels and carousels certainly shouldn’t be confined to children’s bedrooms, and you can easily bring an abandoned funfair theme into your living space.