If you want to create an Asian interior, the first step is to familiarise yourself with the culture of the world’s largest continent. The concept of the Asian style is mainly based on influences from the Far East, Korea, China, Japan, Malaysia, and Thailand. All these countries and their cultures are very exotic and fascinating. Western designers are strongly influenced by oriental interior design, particularly in Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles. If you want to soak up the Asian interior design styles, check out this article! We’ve compiled the best from each region so you can create different settings that will transport you to these exclusive destinations. If you haven’t read the first part of this blog, check it out now!
Living Room
Here we note the first significant differences between the three Asian cultures; despite their apparent similarities. The first thing you should know is that the rooms in Chinese decoration tend to be really spacious. They include sofas, a small table for tea, meetings, ceremonies, or other activities they require sitting on the floor. Still, despite everything, in China, it is customary to see a dining table. The same thing happens in Korean decoration. Although this trend is gaining strength in Japan, it is actually more of an assimilation of Western environments. The Chinese dining room decoration is very different from what we are used to seeing in Europe or America, and those details must be respected.
Chinese dining is truly a place that stands out for its character, from the finishing of the furniture to the lamps’ colors and the dishes’ ornamentation. And it is that sitting down to eat with the family is highly respected in China, the same as when sharing in the living room. All this is obviously very different in Japanese culture, being that in the Japanese style, the coffee table in the living room is also the dining room; they can even have a stove to heat tea or cook on site. While Chinese decoration can implement a low stone table, the Japanese always use dark wood, so it depends on what style you want to adopt, with Korean being the one that stands out the least in this part.
Kitchen
Minimalism and simplification stand out in Asian kitchens, and you will likely suffer a tremendous culture shock when you want to adapt your kitchen. In most Asian kitchens, there is no island. The workspace is tiny (and the furniture is small since Asians are usually very tall). Although everything is arranged to be functional, if you are in love with your large kitchen, the best thing is to give up the idea of “copying” the culture and simply adding decorative elements, thus achieving a fusion of both concepts in decoration. In any case, you can add a more tangible experience the moment you start adding spices and Asian foods; that the aroma of your kitchen is the definitive decoration but does not reduce space.
Bathroom
The bathroom is a very intimate, functional space full of technology in Asian culture. Nowadays, it is strange not to have a toilet with more than one built-in function (if you live in Asia).
Depending on the type of bathroom you want to decorate, a large or a small one; you will have to vary things a bit:
- If it is a tiny bathroom (in china), you can choose to add a shower without a partition between the sink and the toilet. It is customary in Asia that the shower is irrigation but obtained from the same tap as the sink.
- It is also common that, in small bathrooms (in Korea), both the sink and the toilet are together in one piece. But in addition to this sink, there must be another totally isolated; Well, there must always be a separation between where you clean your teeth and where you do your physiological needs.
- Finally, the bathroom in Japan is the most exquisite, and it is that they have a great culture towards the water as a source of life. So there is not only the separation between the shower and the rest of the elements. There is also a dedicated faucet for foot hygiene and usually enough space and a seat to take a steamy shower.
Other Great Similarities
Meetings on the floor are traditional in Asian culture, but their knees are not made of steel; And although they are used to assuming the seiza position, the flooring in Korean and Japanese houses is usually not concrete or wood, but instead ceramic. The ideal is to have a tatami, a very soft and noble laminate floor where the knees do not hurt. Furthermore, as wood is an excellent conductor of heat, heating in Asian countries is usually below the ground. So during the winter months, your feet will feel warm if you decide to apply this concept in your decoration and design.
Another important factor that you should consider is: forget about the keys. Electronic locks exist in practically every house in Asia. The buildings have an electronic card security system, and all doors use 6-digit code locks. And, to truly embrace the Asian style, many technologies must be given a chance. For example, Japanese and Chinese are used to having switched on the walls; lamps were turned directly from the bulb by pulling a string. That trend of having “clean” walls has now become a master control on the wall from where you can control everything in the house, and the lights are usually turned on with voice commands or by weight sensors on the floor. Of course, the current outlets are still and; switches are not that they are forbidden, but actually, they are hardly used anymore. The same is true for the Japanese bedroom; Seeking greater use of space, the Japanese choose to save their “bed” during the day, thus gaining several square meters. Obviously, this is achieved by dispensing with the bed concept we are used to; they use a “futon.”
So, do you feel ready to take that decorative leap? If so, and you’re doing remodeling, we’d like to see photos of your new home! Drop them down in the comment section below!