At the start of the year we bought a vacant akiya home in Japan after relocating here from the UK. Some would say we’re mad, but jumping out of our comfort zone and starting a new life has been every bit exhilarating as you’d imagine.
Needless to say, tackling my first design project on our own home in a whole new country was going to be part of a challenge in itself. Sourcing new suppliers, the language barrier, understanding the DIY market and how renovations are done here. It’s been a huge learning curve, but one that’s been exciting, interesting and enriched my design experience and understanding for why design is so very different here in Japan.
So, step inside our newly renovated Japanese living room, in my eyes, a perfect blend of Japanese, wabi sabi inspired design with a warm western approach.
Starting The Makeover
Japanese homes are incredibly different to western, and UK properties in general. A lot of this comes down to designing for practicality. But the construction and decoration of properties is totally different because of the high level of natural disasters Japan experiences.
Our home had been vacant for 3 years and is around 40 years old, the living room was extremely dated, had peeling and damaged wallpaper, faulty wiring and a lot of work to do!
This is the first time we’ve renovated a property whilst living in it and not started the works straight away. As we arrived in the middle of winter to around 5ft of snow, we had no choice but to take it easy and be patient for spring to arrive. In doing so, it really allowed me to consider the space, what worked well, to source suppliers and design the space intentionally.
The biggest learning curve for me here was that paint really isn’t much of a thing, Farrow and Ball Japan shared that painting the walls of houses isn’t very common and most people instead use a chemical wallpaper called “vinyl wallpaper.”
Traditional plaster isn’t often practiced here either, and is most likely due to the fact that earthquakes happen regularly here, and plaster isn’t flexible enough to meet with the demands of that movement.
However, I was over the mood to discover that Farrow and Ball stock their full range of colours here in Japan, and as you all know, I love F&B shades. Shades in the hardware stores here were muted and had about 10 to choose from, so this allowed me to incorporate some beautiful warm shades into the design.
The Finished Living Room
I adore this style of coffered ceiling style and I wanted to make it the key focus of the room as you step into the living room. Once the wallpaper, red and giant ceiling light had gone, it could breathe!
I went for a double drenching paint style here which involves the use of two paint shades around 1-2 shades apart from one another. It creates an intentional and flawless look as they both share the same undertones.
I achieved this finish with Red Earth and Naperon from Farrow and Ball. This ceiling was made for double drenching! It’s a perfect example of how you can achieve this slightly more elevated and interesting look than what you can with standard colour drenching. The light fitting from FLYMEe brings a touch of industrial charm with it, grounded by its black finish.
Paint colours used:
On the walls I opted for a limestone effect wallpaper from Kabegamiyahonpo which was uncomplicated and elegant, in keeping with Japanese design and helps to create a solid, earthy foundation for the rest of the room to sit on.
Whilst traditional plastering isn’t a thing in Japan, we did make use of Shikkui which is a traditional Japanese plaster, a 100% natural lime plaster made from slaked lime, seaweed glue and hemp fibres. We removed the red brick tiles from the pillar, re-boarding it and adding this plaster. The beauty of this plaster is that you can finish it to as smooth, or as textured a finish as you like.
It’s incredibly durable and has the benefit of being fire resistant, and being next to our kerosene heater this was a much smarter idea that using wallpaper, but from a quick glance it looks very similar to the wallpaper anyway.
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to design a house without ceiling tracks again, with the right voile curtains creating the most flawless drop, it just looks like it’s part of the overall design. I kept the natural wooden colour around the track to focus the eye, painting it around the rest of the room to avoid it looking like a band of wood that would have looked out of place.
The design updates are considered and subtle, but with a big impact. Relaxed Japanese design that’s grounded by nature.I’m so pleased with how the first room of our Japanese home has come out.
I’ve taken inspiration from Japanese design and wabi sabi elements, whilst mixing in some mid century modern features such as the wooden coffee table and leather sofa, whilst also embracing the warmth of western design for a unique, blended look that works.
Let me know what you think! Now to get started on the next room…
