The main Japanese influences on western interior design for most people are Zen and Feng Shui, so we will take a short look at them below.
Zen Interior Design
If you would like to bring some ideas of Zen into your home, the interior design will have to be minimalistic, peaceful and tranquil. Nature will be an essential part of creating that atmosphere.
Minimalism means simple, simple colours, nothing loud. Furniture and ornaments should be kept to a minimum too.
People associate Zen with Japan, but actually it is Chinese in origin. Zen is a form of Buddhism, so it is not really a style, but a life style, a state of being, a form of religion. Zen teaches meditation in order to gain enlightenment.
Therefore, in order to bring aspects of what we call Zen into your interior design, you will have to take all unnecessary articles out of your room and decorate with plain colours that will not sidetrack your mind. This is more difficult to accomplish than you might think, but do your best to picture what a monk's cell would be like to live in.
It is almost certainly sensible to make over only one room in your house in what we call a Zen style, because the majority Westerners would find it difficult to live without all their 'stuff'.
No knick-knacks, very little furniture and plain colours are the order of the day. So, it would be best to start by taking everything out of the room, because it is easier to put a few items back than to take a lot out. Then emulsion the walls white or off-white, maybe 'smoke white' - a very pale shade of grey.
An inspirational photograph with a Zen saying could go on a wall. Perhaps something by Matsuo Basho like: 'Do not seek to walk in the footsteps of the wise men of old, seek what they sought'.
Feng Shui Interior Design
'Feng Shui' is normally translated into English as 'Wind and Water' and it is the art of arranging objects to achieve harmony. Once again, Feng Shui originated in China, not Japan.
The real Feng Shui disciple uses the art not only for interior design but also to choose a house and a burial plot. Devotees believe that Feng Shui has an effect on health, prosperity and personal relationships.
Early Chinese Feng Shui used astronomy to discover the equilibrium between man and the universe and Feng Shui measuring devices have been found in tombs going back to 278 BC
Modern Feng Shui attempts to find places with good 'Qi' (pronounced 'Chi'). These areas are deemed to be good for humans to live in, others should not be settled but left as nature intended.
Qi means 'air' and is used to describe the flow of energy, perhaps based on solar energy. It is the balance between two entities and is the principal behind Feng Shui. The opposites in this balance are the 'Ying' and the 'Yang'.
Feng Shui was almost unheard of in the West until Richard Nixon went to China in 1972. Unfortunately, it has been re-invented in the West and now has been mixed up with magic and mysticism in the USA
Zen Interior Design
If you would like to bring some ideas of Zen into your home, the interior design will have to be minimalistic, peaceful and tranquil. Nature will be an essential part of creating that atmosphere.
Minimalism means simple, simple colours, nothing loud. Furniture and ornaments should be kept to a minimum too.
People associate Zen with Japan, but actually it is Chinese in origin. Zen is a form of Buddhism, so it is not really a style, but a life style, a state of being, a form of religion. Zen teaches meditation in order to gain enlightenment.
Therefore, in order to bring aspects of what we call Zen into your interior design, you will have to take all unnecessary articles out of your room and decorate with plain colours that will not sidetrack your mind. This is more difficult to accomplish than you might think, but do your best to picture what a monk's cell would be like to live in.
It is almost certainly sensible to make over only one room in your house in what we call a Zen style, because the majority Westerners would find it difficult to live without all their 'stuff'.
No knick-knacks, very little furniture and plain colours are the order of the day. So, it would be best to start by taking everything out of the room, because it is easier to put a few items back than to take a lot out. Then emulsion the walls white or off-white, maybe 'smoke white' - a very pale shade of grey.
An inspirational photograph with a Zen saying could go on a wall. Perhaps something by Matsuo Basho like: 'Do not seek to walk in the footsteps of the wise men of old, seek what they sought'.
Feng Shui Interior Design
'Feng Shui' is normally translated into English as 'Wind and Water' and it is the art of arranging objects to achieve harmony. Once again, Feng Shui originated in China, not Japan.
The real Feng Shui disciple uses the art not only for interior design but also to choose a house and a burial plot. Devotees believe that Feng Shui has an effect on health, prosperity and personal relationships.
Early Chinese Feng Shui used astronomy to discover the equilibrium between man and the universe and Feng Shui measuring devices have been found in tombs going back to 278 BC
Modern Feng Shui attempts to find places with good 'Qi' (pronounced 'Chi'). These areas are deemed to be good for humans to live in, others should not be settled but left as nature intended.
Qi means 'air' and is used to describe the flow of energy, perhaps based on solar energy. It is the balance between two entities and is the principal behind Feng Shui. The opposites in this balance are the 'Ying' and the 'Yang'.
Feng Shui was almost unheard of in the West until Richard Nixon went to China in 1972. Unfortunately, it has been re-invented in the West and now has been mixed up with magic and mysticism in the USA
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on several topics, but is currently involved with researching wrought iron candelabra. If you would like to know more or check out great offers, please go to our website at Wrought Iron Light.
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