Decorating with Eastern Inspiration

If you have visited East Asia, you may have fallen in love with so much about the culture and the aesthetics. If you have never traveled there you might be intrigued by the traditional philosophies of Taoism, Buddhism or even the different martial arts. There are many concepts and practices of East Asian societies that are beneficial to your health and your living space. Here are some examples.

Sitting on the floor

This is an amazing underrated characteristic of Asian homes and restaurants. Why would sitting on the floor be good in these situations? Depending on the number of guests you have at your place, you might not have enough chairs to accommodate everyone. If the floor seems like an inviting place to sit down, then kids, young adults and the hosts can relax on the floor while everyone else takes a seat on the furniture.

How do you make a floor space inviting? First off it needs to be clean. Secondly you could have floor pillows or a soft rug. A really neat piece of furniture is floor chairs. Some really look just like average chairs with the legs cut off. Other versions might be bean bags or triangular pillows which support your back.

No shoes in doors

This varies from home to home in many cultures. There are actually very few cultures that allow outdoor shoes indoors. Having a clean floor is essential to maintaining a truly livable home. Don’t be a stranger in your own home! Buy a pair of indoor slippers if that makes you feel more comfortable.

Sliding doors

While adding sliding doors to your living space would be a hassle, your place would really benefit from the change. With sliding doors you have more say over the entrances and pathways of your home.

With standard western doors, the door is closed or open, and opens in only one direction. Sliding doors slide in both directions. That means that you can dictate how wide the passage way is and whether to open it to the left or the right of the passage. Sliding doors are simply more versatile and less constraining.

Sliding doors do a great job of hiding the kitchen without constraining the space. Sliding doors are often times translucent, so you can shut off the environment while grabbing some of the light or depth that the translucent doors will give.

Asian inspired décor

Finally, you can add East Asian décor to your place. Water feature Pros sells a whole line of Asian inspired fountains. If you are looking for more decorations we also suggest prints. For your business you have to have a lucky cat!

We hope these suggestions will inspire you to explore your options and balance the eastern and western elements of your home.