01. WHAT DOES JAPANDI STYLE EVEN MEAN?
Whether you have already know of the word Japandi or just heard it recently, Japandi style in the interior design world is anything but a new aesthetic.
Defined as a mashup of Japanese interiors and Scandinavian interiors (both of which have centuries worth of personal history), Laila Rietbergen, the author of Japandi Living, said that “Maybe some people think Japandi just happened, but the relationship between Japan and Scandinavia started a long time ago,”
This interior style focus on tranquil, minimalist, and functional interiors, the aesthetic also often translates into more than just the look of a home but a meaningful lifestyle that can help you to find beauty in simplicity, form connections to nature, and enjoy the simple pleasures of life.
02. WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS INSIDE JAPANDI STYLE?
Scandinavian interior design is known for its shape with clean lines, and neutral color paints, while Japanese interior design is renowned for its nature-infused elegance and its minimalism yet functional design.
Hence, Japandi interior design is the perfect fusion of Japanese and Scandinavian focusing on functional minimalistic designs that has simple clean lines with a neutral color palette.
03. HOW TO DESIGN JAPANDI STYLE?
Step 1: Use Neutral Color With An Natural Accent.
Using a neutral color palette is a crucial step to achieving the Japandi style in your home, and that neutral color palette in a room represents both Scandinavian and Japanese interior design that can bring simplicity, cleanliness, and calm into your space.
Neutral wall paint color can be achieved not only using white but also beige and light gray.
Wall Paint Color Ideas:
These wall paint colors then can easily pair well with other neutral elements in the room such as a light-colored fabric couch, neutral textured rug, and natural elements such as a coffee table, lounge chair, and cabinets made of light-finished solid wood.
Step 2: Open The Space And Let Natural Light In.
One design principle in Japanese interior design is to bring natural light into the space, hence the existence of windows facing outside is quite crucial.
If it is possible, you might also want to consider creating an open space that combines the living room, dining room, and kitchen to have one big open airy space.
The combination of open space without partition walls and natural light creates a perfect canvas for the Japandi interior style.
Step 3 : Keep The Lines Clean And Symmetrical.
Scandinavian design is famous for its house exterior’s clean lines, and that is also applied to the interior as well such as in wall trims, ceiling trims, and furniture shape, all are clean lines without many ornaments and complications.
On the other hand, Japanese design is like to use a symmetrical room layout, for examples placing two indoor plants on each corner while the couch in the middle become the centerpiece of the room.
You can try to combine these two design principle and creates the Japandi interior style in your home.
Step 4 : Choose Home Decor With Natural Materials.
Some of the materials that are favorites when creating a Japanese-inspired home are wood, stones, clay, concrete, and linen, but you can not just blindly throw them all into the mix.
We have to understand that the natural materials in Japandi style interior are best when used as an accent and still let the neutral color palette take the most part of the room.
Then, if you want to place several wooden elements in the room such as a chair, table, and cabinet, you have to consider using the same shade of wood so everything will match perfectly.
Step 05: Create Layers Of Texture.
When choosing the color of furniture fabrics, not only we have to consider the neutral color to match the wall color, but we have to think about the texture of the material as well.
Then after you have the perfect piece, you can create layers on top of the furniture using a textured throw blanket and throw pillow.
Layer Texturing Ideas:
This type of layering will create a sense of depth in to the room with its texture but because all of the layers are in neutral colors, you still maintaining the neutral color palette but with a depth of textures.
Step 06: Introduce Organic Natural Shape.
Choosing a clean-lined furniture does not mean its always in the shape of square, but you can also consider a curve such as wooden round coffee table or efen a round waoven rattan armchair.
And remember, the Japanese design like to bring nature into the space, so do not afraid to bring some indoor flowers or plants in a clean line shaped vase, or even an indoor tree!
Step 07: Declutter Your Space.
For the last step, all of the design principles above would be meaningless if you have a cluttered space full of knick knacks or whatnot.
One solution for this is to always have a multifunctional storage basket or organizer to easily store away all the things that laying around in your home.
Storage Solution Ideas:
And to support all the color palette that we discussed, you can wisely choose the basket and organizer that made of natural material such as rattan, straw, or hemp.
04. EXAMPLES OF JAPANDI STYLE.
Japandi Style Living Space.
In this great example of Japandi style living space, we can see how the neutral color palette plays out with the natural elements such as wooden coffee table feet, wooden armchair frame, wooden wall decor, and accent throw pillows.
The neutral color palette is made out of combination of warm hue white wall paint, light gray textured couch fabric with matching pillowcase, white marble coffee tabletop, and vase with neutral plants.
Japandi Style Kitchen.
Same as before, we can see in this example above how the combination between neutral color palette, natural materials, and the organized space create a perfect Japandi style interior design.
The clean lines on the kitchen island looks more interesting with a bit of curve on the edges, and not only aesthetically, it also works to make the island mora safe for the owners especially for the childrens.
All that clean lines complemented by a little contrast of the medium wood color on the stool chairs, kitchen under cabinets and the full ceiling panel.
Japandi Style Bedroom.
This bedroom interior design fair to say it showcases what Japandi style interior really is.
It has a neutral color palette, natural materials, layers of texture from the linen and the rug, natural lights, and even the symmetrical layout!
The clean lined bedside table catch my eyes because it is not only unique but also bring sense of nature alongside wooden stool and create a perfect harmony with a peeking trees on the window.
