The interior of a Japanese tea house. Multiple layers of sliding wooden doors and rice paper and wood Shoji screens are open, showing a room with a low tea table through the first set of doors, and a Japanese maple in a garden through the second set. Tatami mats cover the wood floors. A large blue glazed ceramic pot in the foreground is topped by a metal tea kettle on a stand.

Japanese Interior Design

Traditional Japanese interior design is widely popular and much admired. This uncluttered and minimalist style emphasizes tranquil and airy spaces filled with light. Japanese design tends to be understated and calm, which lends it a serene elegance. Rooms are simply but carefully decorated. Proportion and harmony guide the placement and number of design elements. Subtlety—a […]

Detail from a Chinese armorial screen of the Qing Dynasty, Peabody Essex Museum. Intricate black and gold scene of people and animals in a Chinese walled palace, circa 1725.

Chinese Interior Design

A Long Tradition of Formal Elegance What westerners tend to think of as traditional Chinese interior design has primarily been the style of Chinese aristocrats and successful merchants. It emphasizes wealth and status, and tends toward formality. Symbolism is deeply embedded in many elements of Chinese culture, and this is true of not only the […]

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.

Asian Interior Design

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 […]