Lately, the Asian design has gained more and more popularity; however, if we want to capture the Asian style into our homes, we first need to fully understand their culture. Asian design often influences contemporary interiors with Zen spaces for relaxation and Feng Shui furniture arrangements, but having an Asian design involves more than that.

Feng Shui originates in China and it has been around since the year 900. It literally means wind and water and the whole concept is based on five elements: fire, metal, earth, water and wood. Feng Shui is considered to be both an art and a science, and its main purpose is to balance the energies of a given space in order to assure health and prosperity to the people living there. According to Feng Shui, a proper placement of furniture influences in a positive way the energy that flows into the house, thus, it is very important to understand the principles of this art.

On the surface, Feng Shui is the simple interaction of humans and their environments. Taken a step further, Feng Shui enables you to influence these interacting energies to achieve specific life improvements. This influence is achieved by positioning or designing your surroundings in harmony with principles of natural energy flow. However, practices in an improper way, Feng Shui can also bring negative energies and influences in our lives.
Zen is often associated with simplicity.

The Zen practice involves living fully and authentically in the present moments. Zen design means minimalistic interior design and ancient traditions.

Asian style interior design takes its cue from Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese and other Eastern cultures. The interior is characterized by a calm, natural and bright atmosphere, generating a feeling of tranquility and space.

In a proper Asian design we see lots of sunlight and not much furniture. As artificial light, the Asians use rice-paper lamps with low wattage bulbs. These lamps don’t put out a lot of light but they add a warm, soft glow to the room. The colors used in this style are mainly inspired from nature, with a spectrum that varies between red, brown, black and beige.

The furniture consists in our basic needs, giving the feeling of lots of space, even if the rooms are not actually very big.

A main principle of the Asian design is transposing the exterior into the interior. Thus, plants such as bamboos and bonsai trees shouldn’t miss from any Asian room. The colors of these plants, combined with sand, rock or wood will make a great contrast with the beige walls. Bamboo plants are very easy to take care of.

You can put them in a vase, and all you need to do is to replace the water once a week. Bonsai trees, on the other hand, require great skills and care. Water is also very important in Asian culture. You can add water fountains to enhance the décor. They provide a feeling of serenity and many people consider the rhythmic sound of water to be very relaxing. The rooms can be decorated with elephant statues.

Elephants are considered to be sacred animals in this culture, being a symbol of physical and psychical power, of responsibility and loyalty. Elephants are ridden by the gods, and they bring luck and prosperity to the people.
Asian parchments will work wonders if you hang them on the walls. Combine them with room dividers, and you will obtain a genuine Asian décor! Room dividers are used to divide rooms – as the name suggests- but you can also put them against the wall, instead of paintings.
 Japanese Tatimi platform beds are commonly used in Asian style bedrooms.

The Tatimi platform bed is influenced by the traditional Tatimi mats (sleep mats) commonly used in Japan for ages.  All in all, Asian design has gained popularity due to its basic principles: relaxation, good taste and positive energies.