Detail of a 17th century Persian carpet with a traditional design based on botanical sources. A balanced, bilateral design showing a stylized flower on a stalk is in blue, gold, orange, and white tones on a red background.

What's Your Style?

Asian Interior Design

January 2, 2023April 25, 2023 by Laura Grey No Comments

Detail of a pastel Chinese brushpainting showing traditional houses with multiple outbuildings on hills — *An atmospheric Chinese watercolor brush painting sets a tranquil tone |* Sending Off by the Jing River (Detail), Zhang Yin, Beijing Capital Museum | Gary Todd (CC0 1.0)

The term “Asian interior design” is misleading—there’s no single Asian design style. Sixty percent of the world’s population lives in Asia’s nearly 50 countries. What Westerners describe as Asian design is usually a combination of elements from multiple cultures.

Rooms described in North America or Britain as Asian-inspired usually have a few easily recognizable Japanese elements with some Chinese, South Asian, and Middle Eastern elements thrown in. In reality, Asia has endless beautiful design traditions that provide exciting interior design inspirations.

Avoiding the O Word

Intricately patterned decoration in black on a round white plate covers this Persian dish. In the center, two deer sit in a lush, leafy meadow below a flying bird. Around the rim, four phoenixes fly in a counterclockwise direction with medallions featuring lotus flowers at north, south, east, and west. A few lotuses appear among the leaves around the deer as well. — *An intricately patterned 14th c. Persian ceramic plate based on a Chinese motif. Traditional Persian arts often feature animals and botanicals | Cleveland Museum of Art via Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)*

Centuries ago, Europeans and Asians knew little of cultures outside of their own Eastern Hemisphere, and they tended to view Africa as a “dark continent” of mystery as well. They commonly believed their own cultures were civilized and others were savage. The term “the Orient” (which means “the East”) came to be used by Westerners to refer to Asia, which was in the eastern part of their shared hemisphere.

“The Occident” (which means “the West”) referred to Western Europe. Over time the Asian people that Westerners described as “Oriental” came to be thought of as exotic to Westerners. This led to a problematic mindset that viewed Asian people as different, as outsiders, as odd.

In Western minds, many Asian cultures were lumped together and left undifferentiated. As a result, the descriptor “Asian design” is often used as a catch-all phrase to describe the styles and traditions of many different cultures, lifestyles, designs, and belief systems. Replace “Asian” with “European” and the silliness of painting so many cultures with the same unspecified geographic label becomes clear.

“Exotic” Isn’t Necessarily a Compliment

This detail of a gold-painted bodhisattva (enlightened being) sculpture made in 17th century Korea shows wear to the gold. The robed male figure wears an intricate headdress and holds up one hand. — *This mid-17th century Korean bodhisattva (enlightened being) symbolizes culture, compassion, contemplation, and the search for enlightenment | Metropolitan Museum of Art (PD CC0 1.0)*

Exoticizing Asian cultures has led many people to believe that Asian people simply can’t be understood by Westerners. Many Westerners find Asian artistic traditions beautiful and consider describing them as “exotic” complimentary. However, the term literally means “outside” and “foreign.” Describing people, traditions, or styles that way has led many non-Asians to see Asian people as somehow nonstandard and not equal.

Western culture is not a default. It makes no sense to view Asian interior design styles and traditions as outside the mainstream—they’re the norm for billions of people around the world.

Asian interior design styles, like Western design styles, are varied and ever-changing. While traditional styles are beautiful, it’s worth learning about and exploring new trends in any regions or cultures whose traditional aesthetics you enjoy.

A Few Asian Interior Design Styles

A wooden travel chest is inlaid all over with floral motifs of bone. The chest is a rectangular box with metal handles on either side with one large drawer on top and two smaller ones below. — *17th century Mughal wooden travel chest inlaid with intricate botanical patterns | Metropolitan Museum of Art (Public Domain)*

Asian interior design traditions often share many common elements but differ in their expressions. Each Asian design tradition deserves attention, but a few are especially common, prominent, or broadly influential even outside of Asia.

Chinese
Japanese
Korean
Indian / South Asian—includes designs from Southern Asian nations such as Nepal and Pakistan
Middle Eastern—includes widely varied cultures such as the Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Moroccan style subgroups, as well as designs from other cultures and nations in Western and Central Asia, and Islamic cultures in Northern Africa
Southeast Asian—includes designs from nations such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam

In addition, you’ll find many hybrid design styles. These include the popular Japandi interior design style (which combines elements shared by traditional and modern Japanese and Scandinavian design). Some Asian island nations’ people (such as Filipinos, from the Philippines) are also both Asian and Pacific Islanders. They may blend styles from multiple regions and cultures in their homes.

What About All the Other Styles?

Asian nations and cultures have developed thousands of recognized design styles over the course of millennia. Just because a culture doesn’t have its own style page on this site doesn’t mean it isn’t beautiful, influential, and important. Today there are many beautiful styles associated with regions or cultures around the world. Thousands more exciting historic styles are no longer in general use. At Home with Style‘s What’s Your Style? section covers only a small sampling of common interior design styles in use today, or in recent years. Over the coming months, we’ll add new sections that explore additional beautiful interior design trends and traditions. I encourage you to seek out other cultures’ and regions’ important and influential styles on your own, as well. You’re sure to find some that speak to you.

Complex Cultures Galore

Turkey—a nation of multiple continents & cultures

A Turkish mosque tile with an intricate blue flower with many serrated leaves at the center of a white tile. The flower has many small white sub-flowers with red centers on each blue petal, and turquoise, red, and white details at the center. smaller flowers with lobed petals surround the central flower, and all are connected with intersecting blue fines and small leaves. Tiny details are picked out in red, white, and turquoise. — *A Turkish İznik tile featuring traditional colors and motifs from the Rüstem Pasha Mosque, Istanbul | Till Niermann (GFDL)*

Several nations, such as Turkey, straddle two continents and contain multiple cultures. Classifying their design traditions can be tricky. For example, many traditional designs from Turkey, which is partly European and partly Asian, spring from the nation’s primarily Islamic culture. Turkish designs have much in common with Middle Eastern nations’ designs. But though the majority of its population follows Islam, Turkey’s federal government is secular.

Also, although Arabic is commonly spoken and written in many Muslim countries, Turkey’s language and culture are not Arabic. As with Iran, whose traditional culture and language are Persian and not Arabic, Turkey’s own linguistic and cultural differences naturally influence its designs.

Former colonies have multiple design traditions

Nations like Vietnam that have a colonial history often have multiple cultural traditions. These include the arts, languages, and cuisines of the original native people, as well as those introduced by colonizers. Eventually, combined styles often develop that incorporate elements of several cultures.

Only the Beginning

A colorful Japanese print made on a blank of wood—the wood grain is visible. At right is a cypress tree next to an undulating yellow bridge covered in men and women, the women in kimono and holding a parasol. The bridge leads to a yellow road and another bridge full of people, all walking along the edge of a harbor filled with small sailboats. Small red rectangles are label scenes in Japanese all around the image. — *Japanese* Ukiyo-e (“floating world”) images depicted daily life. They inspired French Impressionists’ compositions, subjects, and colors | Shin-Yokohama Street in the Edo period seen from Aratama Bridge, circa 1860 (Public Domain)

The groupings above leave out many distinctive regional and national and cultural design elements. However, using these terms in your searches online and when visiting homes, stores, galleries, and museums will give you a good start and provide basic inspiration.

As you learn more about the styles that make your heart sing, you can make your searches more specific and your home decorating more personal.

To learn more about a few Asian and Asian-insired-hybrid designs, see the Chinese Interior Design, Japanese Interior Design, and Japandi Interior Design pages on this website.

At top:

Many of the world’s finest carpets come from Central Asia. This Persian carpet detail featuring a “floral and cloudband” pattern was made in 17th century Iran | Metropolitan Museum of Art (Public Domain)

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