Lots of light and space, maximum functionality with minimal interior furnishing, zoning of the area, beauty in simplicity – all this is the style of Japan.
It is worth recalling that when decorating a house or apartment in Japanese style, traditional ethnic techniques are taken as a basis. Therefore, everything that will relate to the following description of the features of this direction is taken from long-gone times, but preserved by the Japanese people.
Playing with Space
The traditional Japanese dwelling had no internal walls. In good weather, the outer walls – screens – were slid open, revealing views of gardens and artificial ponds. A complete unity with nature arose, and the house became an extension of the landscape.What does modern architecture offer to lovers of Eastern culture? Windows! Windows with continuous glazing around the entire perimeter, for example, of two end walls. Ideally, to form a Japanese style, you need a studio or at least rooms with impeccably large area. It is these that will have to be divided, cut, and zoned by purpose.
In addition, floor and wall surfaces are maximally exposed, giving space full power, forcing one to think about built-in appliances, niches, and masking details.
Light to Light
One gets the impression that light for a Japanese person is the basis of survival, and in the dark he will wither, because in his cells, like a flower, photosynthesis will stop. Therefore, a modern dwelling inspired by Japan must become a source of a second sun.In modern conditions, achieving such radiance is very simple with the same windows and new lighting fixtures. All lamps are masked in rice paper lampshades. Today, designers offer worthy analogues to real Eastern lamps from more accessible and therefore cheaper materials.
Lamps can be different: sconces, floor lamps, pendants, but with a design simplified to a metal or wooden frame covered with paper or decorated with frosted glass inserts.
They say that the Land of the Rising Sun is a land of contrasts. Therefore, light here lives by its own laws. During the day there is a lot of it, in the evening there is little. This means that light sources should have a dim glow.
Texture and Naturalness
The culture of Japan is based on the balance of opposites. In an interior with an Eastern flavor, natural materials coexist with those produced by man. Such a balance calls for unity with primordial matter and even with oneself.Japanese textures and materials are rice and maple, vine and stone, bamboo and cedar. Furniture is made from them – from tea tables to sleeping loungers. They also weave mats for the floor, make screens, lamps, and dishes.
Furniture from the Japanese world is always miniature, built into niches, of regular shape, with sliding doors and minimal decoration.
Among textiles, silk assortment is especially highlighted, which probably only a child does not know about. And for some reason, cotton satins and twills obtained on a loom are unfairly forgotten, as well as products made from silk threads and wool. For example, terimen (miniature fabric sculptures), kinusai (pictures from silk threads), mizuhiki (the art of tying decorative knots), but that's not all. As textile products, Japanese style uses mattresses and sleeping pillows. Progress has replaced tatami mats with thin carpets of regular shape with short pile.
I also want to dwell on the traditional color palette. It corresponds to the concept of "natural" and is characterized by a calm range: dusty shades of milk, oil, rice, ash, plum and cherry blossoms, fresh grass and dry tea.
Japanese Hospitality
A living room inspired by Japanese ethnicity has a traditional rectangular space, a large carpet or several small ones in the functional areas of dining and relaxation. These areas are divided by a sliding screen, linen curtains, or mats on the floor.Japanese style is characterized by a square or rectangular table on low legs with a massive tabletop. It is not always given a place in the center of the room; the dining area can be shifted to one of the walls. The table is surrounded by hard cushions for sitting on knees. Modern design allows simply low poufs, sometimes with backs.
Furniture of a Japanese living room includes low chests and cabinets, narrow shelving, and narrow wall-mounted wooden modules. It is in them that the television monster and other household appliances are hidden.
Windows in such a room are covered with transparent textile panels to the floor.
Sleeping Japanese Style
It can be said that a Japanese bedroom is a single bed, a bed with a large flat mattress. That is a fact. Today, small but functional pieces of furniture are added to Eastern design: bedside tables and small tables, linen chests, narrow shelves.The walls are decorated with paintings, reproductions of Japanese authors, fans, paintings, Japanese calligraphy. Otherwise, the bedroom differs little from a Japanese-style hall.
Kitchen with Japanese Flavor
The kitchen space of the Japanese is a continuous high-tech that has to be disguised. The perimeter of the kitchen turns into a smooth wall of cabinets with a continuous countertop.The stove in such an interior is represented by a hob and an electric oven. The dining table is chosen classic, with place settings and chairs standing next to it.
The ceiling is given a complex geometric shape in the form of wooden beams along its perimeter. Lighting is placed spotwise, emphasizing food preparation areas. The color scheme leans towards natural shades with splashes of bright spots and accessories.
Afterword
It is not worth combining Japanese style with Chinese direction, because in China it is not customary to take off shoes when entering, unlike Japan. Also, one must remember that the former profess Taoism and Confucianism, while the latter profess Shintoism.And for dessert: the national symbol of China is a collective character – the dragon, while in the Land of the Rising Sun it is the sakura. This last comparison alone suggests different attitudes toward interior styles, which are sometimes combined under the single name "Eastern."