The Japanese know a lot about the most relaxing styles of home interiors known in the history of mankind. Our age is spent in constant hustle and bustle and endless work weekdays, so we are not at all surprised when designers from all over the world have adopted some of the traditions of Japanese room decorating.
If you have ever been in a Japanese home, you probably wondered at the lack of ornamentation and the general simplicity that reigns in their premises. Japanese designers are not only famous for their minimalism and simplicity, but they also use natural themes when decorating their homes.
If you decide to incorporate the main fundamentals of Japanese decorations for home, you will quickly notice how the interior will come into perfect order. We’ve picked up some ideas for you that will turn your room design into something interesting.
Some Japanese Home Decor Ideas
Minimalism In Everything, So Let’s Accentuate It
Before we tell you all the details and ideas of the Japanese room decoration approach, we should not forget about the principles of minimalism. Japanese designers do away with excessive pretentiousness in favor of minimalism, so absolutely any item in the house that you decide to use as a decoration should not be an empty trinket. It should either be functional or an aesthetic addition to the overall atmosphere.
Create As Much Open Space As Possible
Here we go back to the basics of minimalism again. If you decide to decorate your home in the Japanese home furnishing, you need to leave as much open space as possible. An atmosphere where order reigns over everything will willy-nilly reassure you and any guest who drops by for a cup of coffee. Among other things, less housework helps activate another equally important part of Japanese house decorations: a celebration of the natural world.
Use Earthy Wood Colors
Along with minimalism, there is another unshakable trait in Japanese homes: respect for nature, which the Japanese show in everything. It is therefore quite clear to everyone why wood is a popular material for floors and walls in Japanese homes. If for some reason you cannot afford to remodel the house with the introduction of wood, you can add some external Japanese decoration in the rooms. For example, you can buy wooden furniture to add a little Japanese flavor to the overall design.
Let The Sun Prevail In The Home: Natural Lighting
Since the Japanese are led by nature, most Japanese designs strive to have as much sunlight in the home as possible. Huge glass windows or doors that slide open are a great idea to bring more warmth and light from the heavenly light into the rooms of your home. You can also incorporate white, which is a great complement to the natural light. If you do want to make more use of artificial light, make sure that it is as soft and sun-like as possible.
Shoji: Regular Sliding Doors
Sliding doors, known among designers as shoji, are the most recognizable part of traditional Japanese decor and the hallmark of this nation’s homes. These sliding doors, usually assembled from a frame of wood and paper, create a sense of space-saving and bring an incredible atmosphere and style that will abstract away the everyday hustle and bustle without looking cluttered. Think of a few openings where you can bring exactly sliding doors into the decor.
Modern Glass Shoji
If you do not like the traditional Japanese doors made of wood and paper with screens, then we advise you to pay attention to the use of glass in the Japanese room decor. Today on the door market you can find a huge variety of glass sliding doors, the principle of which is similar to the standard Japanese shoji. You do not have to use them to enter the room, they can fit perfectly into the interior of the closet.
Light Up Some Lanterns
Paper lanterns, too, have long been important not only to Japan, but to all of Asian culture. Although the modern Japanese home decor is to put candles in them, nowadays you should not risk the safety of your home and its inhabitants, so in today’s market you can find a bunch of Japanese lanterns, which contain special electric bulbs inside. Such a lantern will fit perfectly into the atmosphere of general minimalism and will decorate your home in a great way.
A Warm Ofuro
Many Japanese people use a refreshing warm bath in their homes, which they call an ofuro. They used to be used for important rituals to purify the soul and body. Now you can buy them made of any material, be it wood, steel or plastic, and they are more reminiscent of whirlpool baths in terms of functionality. For a true sense of the effects of the Ofuro, we advise using a wooden finish and a standard square design.
Cultivating Bonsai Trees
If you are interested in gardening and take pride in personally growing a garden behind the house, you can grow a Japanese tree, known as a bonsai, right in your own home. For centuries, the Japanese have cherished the tradition of growing this tree in their homes. They are made to be admired and relaxed because of their stunning beauty. It’s easy enough to buy a bonsai tree online with detailed instructions for those who are just discovering the delights of gardening.
Ikebana: The Delicate Art Of Flower Arrangement
The special art of flower arranging, the world-famous ikebana is a strict offshoot of Japanese art that gives your home a drop of nature’s beauty. More often than not, ikebana displays are placed in a fairly small place with a bunch of artwork that looks great against them and creates a sense of coziness and atmosphere.
Some flowers are used quite often just in Japan. For example, orchids and palm trees. But you should not dwell only on them, use any flowers that suit the style of your Japanese decorations. Feel free to experiment. You can place an ikebana next to a beautifully carved wooden painting or just a beautiful inscription with hieroglyphics for relaxation and contemplation.
Place A Shoe Rack In The Entryway
If you’ve ever been to Japan and visited someone’s house, you probably know that in that country it is customary to take off your shoes at the threshold of the house. In fact, the main purpose of a one-step entry zone is to keep guests from dragging dirt into your house and taking their shoes off at the entrance. You can hardly turn your house into a full-fledged Japanese analogue, but the good habit is worth adopting, so it is not unreasonable to buy a wooden shelf for shoes.
Meditation Space
Science has long concluded that Buddhist monks are telling the truth about their methods. If you practice meditation every day, you will get a lot of benefits both physically and psychologically, and it is completely free. So if you’ve decided to decorate your home in modern Japanese decor, why not set aside a meditation space where you and your family members can quietly spend time day in and day out.
Experiment With Tatami Mats
In Japan, it is not customary to buy high chairs or beds, unlike our Western tradition. What’s in their place? The Japanese use tatami for sitting and sleeping, and they are usually on the floor. If you do the same, you will surely be able to add a Japanese atmosphere to your home. Tatami mats for all tastes are widely available on today’s market, so you will find them without much difficulty.
If you don’t like to meditate just sitting in a secluded corner, you should consider creating a sandy zen garden right within the walls of your home. Those who have been practicing Zen for years often simply shovel the sand and stack the stones neatly. They claim that this helps them find true tranquility. You don’t have to make a very large sand garden to calm down. You can simply purchase a miniature garden to help you relax after a hard day at work.
Hang Meaningful Calligraphy
Also, like many Eastern countries, the Japanese have a long and fascinating history of skillful calligraphy. The Japanese have a custom in their homes to hang beautifully written poems in a designated niche dedicated to the artwork and beautiful Japanese home decorations in the form of flowers. If you want to have even more fun, why not enroll in a calligraphy course online and create your own artistic masterpiece that you can easily hang in your home and boast about your own achievement to all the guests?
Create An Inviting Tea Space
How can we talk about Japanese design without mentioning the country’s traditional drink, green tea. In fact, this culture has revolutionized the concept of the tea ceremony. Even if you’ve given up on tatami mats after our advice, you can always create a special place for tea – a great idea for gathering acquaintances in your home. To learn as much as you can about it, be sure to find out what japan home accessories chiatsu is. The result will unspeakably surprise you.
A Few Origami
There is another way to add Japanese culture to your gatherings – is to put origami on the table during the holiday. Better yet, we suggest that you take the paper, print out instructions for creating origami yourself and occupy your guests. This will immediately melt the ice in unfamiliar company.
A Koi
Japan is an island nation, so the sea has played an important role in both the myths of this country and in all styles of art. Putting water pieces in your home is a great option to pay tribute to such an important Japanese tradition and show respect for their culture, as well as honor Japan’s great navigators. The most obvious choice is to hang the famous “Great Wave” painting by Hokusai, but you might want to get a small or massive aquarium or maybe even a koi carp pond.
Woodblock Prints
We can offer you another artistic option for decorating your home, hang a couple of cool Japanese prints. It is better to hang them on the trees around your house. Many designers advise this particular design improvement, so it really works. An artful palette of vintage prints makes a favorable impression on guests and brings you personally great joy. If you are serious about turning your home into an island of Japanese culture, you can match the engraving to your bonsai plant.
Find Ways To Use Bamboo
Bamboo is often found in Japanese homes as a successful decorative element, and it is versatile for any design solution you come up with. You can do something bolder with your home and line the walls of your home with bamboo, or if you’re not ready for drastic solutions, you can simply purchase some bamboo furniture or picture frames. Whatever conclusion you come to, bamboo will add even more needed ambiance to your natural surroundings.
Buddhist Statuary
Today’s technogenic world, saturated with emotional tension, stress, and crazy dynamics that require both physical and moral costs, increasingly forces people to think about the possibility of solitude and inner peace.
Creating an island of harmony and mental equilibrium in your home will not only solve many personal problems but also saturate the interior decoration of the rooms. The picture of Buddha will not only help to distribute positive energetic flows in your house but also will let it look modern according to today’s fashionable requirements. Such a statuette will be very relevant because Asian motifs in the interior today are topical and preferable.
Cooling Stone Tones
We have already said enough words about using wood or bamboo, but now we want to talk about stone. It is another integral part of the design of many Japanese homes. Stone tiles or cladding go well with the tone of the wood and cool down the look of the rooms a bit. Any stone design goes well with any wood interior.
Irori Fireplace
To survive the bitter cold during the winter months, most Japanese designers have dug a large niche for a fire. Such a niche is called an irori. It looks like a square-shaped fireplace and is needed not only to heat your home but also to cook food on it or boil water for green tea. A central orori isn’t likely to be much of a match for modern homes, but it could easily be placed under the roof in the backyard as an homage for cozy gatherings with friends and relatives.
Adding Circlular Motifs
If you search Google for examples of Japanese design, you may notice that many homes of today bring clear circular patterns into the design. The circle is the simplest shape in geometry and is also a very important symbol in general Zen Buddhism. They will give your home the necessary twist while you follow the traditions of Japanese design.
Popular Colors In Japanese Design
In keeping with the natural beauty of the outside world, Japanese houses are usually executed in simple colors and shades. Brown (wooden elements) and green (plants) are predominant. Floors are most often made of wood, less often of gray stone, and most walls are replaced by partitions of opaque paper. As a result, we have a design with a simple color palette. How can you mimic this in your interior? Use wood shelving, wall panels and flooring made of natural materials. You can also add gray tones of stone on the floor or buy furniture of this color. And, of course, do not forget about greenery, for which you will need indoor plants. Give preference to simple non-flowery plants.
The Washing Machines
In Japan, washing machines with built-in dryers are popular. However, foreigners note that this is not particularly convenient: even if you set the drying mode for a few hours, the clothes will still end up a little damp. Another solution to this problem is a built-in bathroom hairdryer.
Children’s Room in the Tradition of Japanese Design
Children rarely find true satisfaction in asceticism, so the classic Japanese style is not really for them – they may be a little bored in such a room. Designers usually find a solution to the problem in some violation of the stylistic prescriptions.
Deviations from the norm relate, first and foremost, an increased dosage of decor, but then it must, of course, have a direct link to the oriental coloring. For a girl, for example, the sight of flowers will be pleasant, so you can paint the wall or drape it with a cloth printed on it blooming sakura. For a teenager interested in culture and history, a great souvenir would be a katana.
Regardless of the gender of the child does not have to so strictly follow the typical Japanese black and white design with minor inclusions of other shades – you should allow more liberties. The same big red circle on the white wall can be a decorative element without disturbing the atmosphere because it is the flag of Japan.
For Any Gamers
In this article, we have mainly looked at the traditional elements of Japanese style, but Japanese culture does not end there, and you should not stop there. You can also pay tribute to modern Japanese culture. You can decorate your room in the style of video games. You can dedicate it to the theme of a single Japanese game, or you can use several at once. If you have children who are fond of computer games, you can perfectly please them with this design.
Cute Kawaii Culture
The word “kawaii” means “cute”, “pretty”, “adorable” and is mostly used in reference to Japanese pop culture. Its most popular manifestations not only in Asia, but also in other parts of the world, are the cartoon Pokémon and Hello Kitty. If you still have the gentle, rosy creature in your soul that you once were, then you may as well surround yourself with all those sweet things from childhood that you still hold dear. But if you really, really want to, you can put a whole bunch of teddy bears on different shelves in the living room…
Or place pads with their images on the couch and chairs. “Oh, how cute is that!” – your girlfriends will exclaim. After all, for sure in the soul of every woman still sits (maybe even somewhere in a dark corner) a little girl. In the kitchen you can enjoy and cheer up the wallpaper on the walls with funny and cute cats or dishes with pictures of Hello Kitty, Pokemon or other kawaii creatures. By the way, you can always create room decor with your own hands in the style of kawaii. It’s not difficult at all! How cozy and calm it once was in your nursery, filled with stuffed animals and dolls in pink dresses with lace ruffles and frills.
