Do you love Japanese style and want to design your apartment based on the prototype of the Land of the Rising Sun? It won't be hard. But it should be understood that, despite the minimalism characteristic of the Japanese interior, there will be a lot of financial investments. This is due to the fact that residents of eastern countries prefer to decorate the interior with natural materials. Look for ideas and tips on creating an apartment design below.
Which people should prefer Japanese style
If you are a fan of we alth and luxury, then the interior, made according to the prototype of the house of an oriental person, will definitely not suit you. Here you can not see luxury, brilliance or any excesses. In Japanese interiors, everything is restrained and strict. The dominant minimalism sets its own atmosphere. In such a laconic apartment, a person's soul rests. The Japanese are accustomed to leaving all worldly problems outside the front door. That is why their dwelling looks like a kind of Eden. There is practically no furniture anddecorative elements, which means there is no mess.
The Japanese believe that the house should be a continuation of nature, its organic addition. Of course, this opinion was established due to territorial features. Due to frequent earthquakes, people did not build heavy monolithic structures. They used to build their houses out of bamboo and paper. In Russian climatic conditions, such a building will not survive even one winter. But the prototype of interior decoration is widely used. Its adherents are people who do not want to live for show. They want to be able to relax and unwind at home.
Kitchen
Japanese style in the interior is minimalism. This is the effect that needs to be achieved. In Japan, unlike in Russia, a house is one big room. Our compatriots are not used to this. Therefore, the houses and apartments of Russians are divided into small rooms. How can you design a Japanese-style kitchen? It should be understood that all the furniture of the Eastern people is low and squat. It is clear that the kitchen counter will be impossible to make below human height, but the dining table can be made low.
If you are not used to sitting on the floor, which is how they eat in Japan, then get a wooden table and chairs to match it. But it should not be a massive oak thing, but something light. For example, a set of pine. And where to put the equipment? If you are designing a Japanese-style kitchen, then give preference to built-in appliances. Yes, in this way you will greatly reduce the space, but the interiorwill become more similar to its prototype. Of course, you need to understand that you should not create eclecticism. That is, when creating a Japanese-style kitchen, do not load it with unnecessary items. A dishwasher or washing machine will look especially inappropriate in such an interior.
Living room
Creating a Japanese-style hall is quite problematic. Why? In the Land of the Rising Sun, it is not customary to clutter up rooms with appliances. That is, there can be no talk of any TVs and music centers. The same applies to furniture. Since there are no rooms in Japan, they don't have a living room either. People do all their leisure activities at a low table, where tea ceremonies are held. Therefore, if you want to make a Japanese-style room, you will have to give up excess furniture. Choose a wooden sofa, and replace the chairs with soft ottomans. Yes, it will not be quite Japanese, but our contemporaries are not taught from childhood to sit with their legs tucked in.
What can decorate the living room interior? Decorative niches. Yes, drywall constructions are out of fashion, but if you can’t make niches in another way, don’t be afraid to use such panels. What to put in niches? You can buy a couple of ceramic Japanese vases and a few figurines. But family photos and soft toys will look out of place. Windows in Japan are not decorated with fresh flowers. The traditional plant is the dwarf pine. Usually a pot with such a plant is placed on the floor, closer to the window.
Bedroom
Apartment inJapanese style involves a minimum amount of furniture. Therefore, the bedroom should be decorated very ascetically. In the center of the room should be a low wooden bed or a mattress on a low pedestal. But the citizens of our country still prefer beds. The Japanese do not recognize any pillows. But here, too, you can indulge yourself. The bed is covered with silk sheets. There should not be any decorative elements in the bedroom. Also, there are no niches and plants in it. A person, plunging into sleep, should be relaxed. His gaze should wander around the room and not stop at anything. Such contemplation of monotonous surfaces can be compared to a kind of meditation.
If you can't imagine a room without any decorations, you can hang a mat on the wall. The same rug can be put under your feet. Such bedding looks ascetic and discreet. But some artists can depict an unpretentious drawing of the everyday genre on the mats. Engravings are also popular. You can place them above the bed. If you prefer painting, then hang a picture made in the technique of batik.
Walls
The Japanese attach great importance to paper. The wallpaper they use is a one-color material, often on a fabric basis. Pronounced texture on such wall decor is rare, and drawings are even rarer. But in Russian interiors, Japanese-style wallpapers most often have drawings of sakura. This version of the wall covering is suitable for an interior in which several stylistic directions are intertwined. For example,you can highlight one wall with wood wallpaper. But in this case, all other vertical surfaces should be light.
Japanese-style wallpaper is always something light. People living in the East believe that white, milky, beige and peach colors are soothing. And another favorite design technique of the Japanese is to use dark decorative inserts with light walls. In this case, a good contrast is created, which can emphasize both the geometry of the room and objects. So if you are still in doubt about how to make Japanese-style walls, cast aside doubts. Use light wallpaper. Or you can just whitewash the walls. But in this case, the vertical planes of the house or apartment must be perfectly even.
Floors
If you can still afford to save on wall coverings, then you will have to invest in flooring. The Japanese are very fond of wood, so they use it everywhere. And floors are no exception. It is clear that it is pointless to cover floors with bamboo, and cork is very expensive. Choose the right parquet option. Of course, if your finances are very limited, then you can lay the floor with a laminate that will imitate a wooden floor. But believe me, the effect will not be the same. If you want to add coziness to living rooms, you can put Japanese-style tatami under furniture.
Well, how to decorate the floors in the bathroom? Putting a wooden floor in a room with high humidity is a bad idea. Therefore, you can use a stone. It is also a natural materialwhich, if treated with a special impregnation, will not become damp and moldy.
The Japanese, like our compatriots, take off their shoes at home. And to keep your feet warm, you can purchase or knit Japanese-style footprints. These peculiar slippers, resembling socks, will be the most appropriate shoes in an apartment with an oriental interior. If you don't have enough home shoes to distribute to all your guests, don't worry. The Japanese walk around the house either barefoot or in socks.
Furniture
Have you chosen wallpaper and flooring? Now it remains to buy Japanese-style furniture. What should it be? All interior items of a Japanese apartment should be made from natural materials. Therefore, give preference to wooden furniture. If it seems to you that a wooden sofa or bed is too austere, you can choose models with soft pillows. The fabric must be either cotton or silk. It is these materials that are most often used by the Japanese. They despise synthetics.
Wooden furniture should not be carved. The Japanese are well versed in arts and crafts. But still, they do not decorate the objects of their everyday life. The interiors of Japanese houses are dominated by straight lines and strict silhouettes. And this applies not only to cabinet furniture. Shelves and racks, which are found in the apartment in a minimum amount, should also have a geometric shape. Tables and chairs should be chosen squat. The Japanese spend most of their leisure time on the floor, but for our compatriots, such a life brings a lotinconvenience. Therefore, you can choose ordinary tables and chairs, just not in elegant shapes, but in a more chunky design.
Light
A Japanese-style house should be done in light colors. Dark details are accents. Bright rooms always seem larger than they really are. Our compatriots are accustomed to natural light from windows. But the Japanese most often close the windows with rice paper. What for? The fact is that low cornices hang over all the windows in the houses, which block it from slanting rains. Therefore, the view from the Japanese apartments is not the most interesting. In order not to look at the wooden cornices, people simply curtain the windows. Moreover, such paper curtains do not open either at night or during the day. Yes, the paper transmits light, but it cannot be said that the room is well lit. That's why the Japanese use lamps.
Today such shades are very popular in Russia. They consist of a metal frame on which fabric or paper is stretched. But it should be noted that such Japanese-style lamps give too subdued and diffused light. Therefore, in Japanese houses there is always a slight twilight. Although people are used to it. After a walk under the bright sun, coolness and shade in your own apartment are perceived as a blessing. Therefore, if you decide to make a Japanese-style interior, you should use a large number of paper lamps. And to dim natural light, you can insert stained glass or frosted glass into the windows.
Details
Japanese-style house is different from dwellingEuropean by the absence of a large number of decorative items. Eastern people prefer asceticism. It seems to them that it makes no sense to become attached to things. This is what Buddhism teaches. But despite this, the Japanese respect art. On their walls you can find engravings and batiks. Most often, such works of art are triptychs.
The Japanese give great importance to fabrics when decorating a home. Our compatriots often see a Japanese-style dress in pictures. These colored robes do not look too austere. But home textiles are very different in color and pattern from everyday clothes. The fabrics that decorate the home are usually light in color and discreet in decor. These can be images of a floral ornament or a strip of hieroglyphs.
Tea ceremonies play a big role in the life of every Japanese. It goes without saying that the porcelain from which people drink tea must be of the highest quality. Painted mugs and teapots, saucers and bowls can all be considered small works of art.
Screens
Want to do something Japanese-style with your own hands? Create a screen. As mentioned above, there are no rooms in Japanese houses, so people use partitions. Screens replace walls. A person, when he wants to retire, can isolate himself from his household and meditate alone with himself. How to make such a screen? First you need to assemble a wooden frame of the desired size, and then use a construction stapler to attach silk or paper to it. Such partitions are light and translucent. This allows, blocking the room, notclutter up the room.
How are screens used in Japanese-style Russian apartments? Our compatriots use this decorative element only to decorate the room. It is rare to see a screen that is used for its intended purpose. Sometimes parents separate the children's rooms with a translucent partition so that each of them can feel alone. But more often, decorative screens with an interesting pattern on silk decorate women's boudoirs.
Hieroglyphs
When looking through various glossy magazines, one's gaze involuntarily clings to the Japanese style of clothing. It is unique, even despite the fact that Europe today imposes fashion on the whole world. Japan manages to successfully combine interesting decorative solutions both stemming from its own culture and borrowed from other countries. That is why Japanese household items, which have a rather ascetic appearance, can still be decorated with hieroglyphs. Some consider such signs sacred, and some believe that this is a tribute to fashion.
One way or another, bizarre hieroglyphs adorn chests of drawers, shelves and cupboards of the Eastern people. People can hang entire messages on the walls. Of course, such a technique will be stylistically justified. For example, a person can hang a beautiful mat or tatami carpet. A variety of inscriptions can be found on household items. For example, on mugs and even tablecloths.
Plants in the interior
Strange as it may seem, but plants in Japanese homes can be seen quite rarely. And why do residents of privatemanor to arrange a garden at home? They have the opportunity at any moment to go to the lawn next to the house and be alone with nature. But our compatriots do not have such an opportunity, and indoor flowers are part of the interior that is already familiar to everyone. Therefore, even when creating an apartment with a Japanese design, experts still place plants around the room. What could it be?
Dracaena Sandera is a bamboo-like plant. Some call it that. The branches of the plant are strong and really very similar to their Japanese prototype. Such a plant can not only decorate, but also divide the space of the room. Orchids, so beloved by our compatriots, are also suitable for the Japanese interior. They will bring liveliness and bright colors to a rather restrained interior. Fatsia and abutilon are plants that closely resemble the Japanese maple. Small trees are planted in flowerpots and placed around the room. Pots with plants can be placed even in the most remote corner of a bright room. For many people who don't start plants because they forget to water them, it will be nice to know that Fatsia and Abutilon don't need to be watered as often.
Landscape design
Nature for the Japanese is an integral part of life. Just like in the interior, in the exterior, the inhabitants of the East want to see more naturalness. Unlike the gardens we are used to, Japanese houses are surrounded by randomly planted plants. But the chaos here is very ordered. The Japanese style in landscape design is created by stones, low trees and grass cover. If you choose to playa piece of such a landscape near your house or in your country house, then do not try to find bizarre plants from the East. It is better to use local flowers, but arrange them in the style of a Japanese garden. First of all, you should ennoble the entire area and plant it with low-growing grass or moss. Now you need to lay out the stones in the future garden. This should be done in a chaotic manner, but in such a way that there are no compositional overbalances. Simply put, so as not to give the impression that the left is thick and the right is empty.
After the stones are laid out, you can start planting trees. Here you should focus only on your taste. You can plant cherry, apple, thuja or maple. Anything you please. No Japanese garden is complete without a pond. You can make a small pond on your site or put a fountain. Now you need to break the flower beds. It should be remembered that the color scheme of your garden should be rather muted. Green, gray, white and brown colors should be used. You can add some bright colors. But there should be no more than two. The garden, decorated in one color scheme, looks interesting. For example, you can plant all plants in white shades.
Paths should be placed in the garden. They should not be placed randomly, but in clear harmony with the composition. Paths can lead to trees, flower beds, a fountain and benches. If you like to sit in the shade of trees, put a bench under an apple tree, and if you want to sunbathe, then place it in the sun. If you wish, you cansit on big boulders. But if you decide to make stones benches, then do not forget to attach wooden seats to them.
