The Minimalist and Functionalist Japandi Style

Have you ever heard of the term Japandi? It’s a combination of the words Japan and Scandinavia. The style is a combination of both, namely minimalism from Japan and functionalist from Scandinavia. If you’ve ever seen a minimalist and aesthetic home design, which uses simple items but maximize their function, that’s the Japandi interior style. What are the characteristics? Check out five of them here!

Example of a Japandi sitting room with wooden furniture and a potted plant

Japandi style that marries minimalism and natural elements (Source: Freepik)

Japandi characteristics:

  1. Natural material

This style uses natural materials, such as wood, bamboo, and rattan. But the main material is wood. The natural textured wood creates an “imperfect” aesthetic look, in line with the wabi-sabi concept. In addition, for decoration, usually use glass, clay, or paper. Then, natural elements are not only in the form of materials, but also plants. Usually, plants are placed on a table or at a corner of the room.

 

  1. Neutral colors

Second is neutral colors. Usually walls are colored white. Then, the floor is brown from the color of the wood. The furniture are beige, gray or other pastel colors. But, that does not mean there are no bright colors at all. Bright colors can be used in addition, but the overall look is still soft and comfortable. Usually, additional bright colors are brick red, olive green, and navy blue.

 

  1. Minimalist furniture

Next, the choice of furniture is usually around the minimalist Japanese style. For example, chairs with straight-line handles and without elaborate ornaments or decorations. This is to keep the design to a minimum and as clean as possible, in keeping with the Japanese minimalist design style. Then, each piece of furniture must also function optimally. This is as per the Scandinavian concept of functionality.

Partition of Dashdot in Light Ivory in a Dining Room

Combine white walls, wooden furniture, as well as minimalist and neutral-colored decorations, such as this granite breezeblock partition made of Dashdot Light Ivory

 

  1. Declutter

What does it mean? Declutter is a neat activity or lifestyle. More precisely, avoiding piles of things (clutter) at home. The Japanese style house must have empty spaces as wide as possible. Meaning, the floor is also clean, a.k.a. there are no items piled up and scattered. The trick is to have as much storage space as possible. We can use boxes made of rattan, bamboo, or woven materials.

 

  1. Sustainability/eco-friendliness

Lastly, Japandi also prioritizes sustainable design. This means that the materials used are more durable and environmentally friendly. Because the materials of choice are natural, such as wood, bamboo, and rattan. These ingredients are natural, so they can decompose on their own.

Japandi bedroom with plenty of natural elements but asymmetrical

This bedroom has plenty natural elements along with wabi-sabi philosophy (Source: Pinterest)