Japanese style décor has been gaining a lot of popularity recently as a result of its minimalist, elegant and serene qualities. It focuses on the concept of “less is more” to create the luxurious interior design of a space.

Designing a Japanese style bedroom could be tricky if you do not know the basics of the Japanese culture and the principles on which to build your design. But no worries, we will be discussing here many of those principles and how to utilize them.

Nature

A Japanese style bedroom starts first with the orientation of the room to give it a good view of nature. One of the most important principles in the Japanese culture is nature. It embraces and celebrates nature, and the best way to introduce nature inside the home is to establish a connection between the inside and the natural environment.

This connection is made either physically, by having the room open up to a garden through a sliding glass door; or visually, by having a large window opening to a view of nature. This would also give the room the perfect natural lighting revered by  Japanese design concepts. This connection can also be established by simply adding elements of nature to the room, like bamboo trees or potted plants.

Another way is to use natural materials and a nature-inspired color palette. Traditionally, neutral colors derived from nature are used in the space. These colors are typically shades of brown, incorporated with brighter natural colors, like greens. As for the materials, they should all have balance with the color scheme of the room. If not using tatami mats, natural wood flooring or grey/white stones should be used.

Secondly, the ratio and proportions of the room. In this style, Tatami mats are mostly used for cover the flooring. Tatami is made of rice straws (which also serves the concept of integration of the natural element) and has standard dimensions, in which the Japanese use multiples of, to cover the floor. Hence, the room proportions always follow tatami.

Bedroom Furnishings

As we already have mentioned, this style is all about simplicity, minimalism, and functionality. And the first thing to consider is the furniture. The bed has to be of clean lines and as close to the ground as possible. In some cases, the mattress is placed directly on the floor. Other furniture pieces put in the bedroom should only serve a functional reason.

Accessories

Last but not least, the room decorations. Accessories should be kept to minimal. All ethnic interior decorations should have clean lines and geometric shapes, and should be of a functional use to the room and not just for visual purposes. Decorative screens can also be used to create zones with more privacy.

For achieving and nailing this style, the whole design of the room should be clean, simple and minimal. It should mimic the natural environment, as much as possible, in all of its aspects. The materials used in the room should all be natural, the color palette neutral, even the lighting mode of the space should use natural lighting.

Achieving all of this in your design will give you a room that shines with serenity and peacefulness which is the main goal of Japanese style décor and architecture.