What is Japandi style? 5 Ways to ace the home decor trend

Scandinavia and Japan's distinct aesthetics blend to create the Japandi style. As more designers step away from regional designs and embrace east-meets-west styles, Japandi takes the spotlight for its emphasis on calm, clean spaces, simplicity, and nature.

Walking into a Japandi-style interior, one will immediately be greeted with a minimalist yet cozy ambiance, manifesting through sleek, free-flowing spaces and layers of warm neutrals paired with natural, wooden elements.

The blend of the two styles results in a feel-good space thanks to the union of minimalist yet functional elements. Japandi style focuses on natural elements and a neutral color palette, incorporating the rustic, warm aesthetic of Scandinavian design with Japanese design's emphasis on comfort and simplicity.

What is Japandi style?

Japandi is a fusion of Japanese and Scandinavian design styles, intertwining the Scandinavian hygge (a focus on creating a warm, cozy atmosphere) and the ancient Buddhist wabi-sabi concept (finding beauty in imperfections).

If you’re unsure what qualifies as Japandi, there are specific design characteristics that one could consider the pillars of this style.

Bright spaces and natural light: With a heavy emphasis on bringing the natural world into the interior space, one can find Japandi design with large windows and open spaces where the sunlight bounces off bright walls and offers a view of the outdoors.
Neutral colors: Think clean, minimalist palettes like whites, off-whites, and beiges that make other design details pop.
Minimalism: The style favors simplicity; lack of clutter is evident in Japandi interiors.
Functional pieces: Heavily leaning on minimalism, the Japandi style maximizes living spaces through functional pieces like dual-purpose furniture with clean detailing.
Raw materials: Japandi style is earthy, playing heavily with natural materials. It incorporates different elements of nature with wood as a major theme

5 Tips to bring the gorgeous Japandi style into your home

Intrigued by the multicultural interior design trend? Here are tips to bring the cozy aesthetic of Japandi into your home.

1) Adopt a free-flowing layout

If an interior allows it, clean design and obstacle-free layouts bring out the other characteristic design elements of the Japandi style—natural light, minimalism, and lack of clutter. Free-flowing layouts also provide plenty of breathing room within different areas of the home, allowing one to appreciate the finer details of a Japandi interior.

2) Add wooden elements

Both Japanese and Scandinavian interiors showcase delicate craftsmanship, which is evident in their wooden furniture. The difference is that Scandinavians mostly use light-hued woods like mahogany, oak, and pine, while the traditional Japanese style prefers darker tones from red pine, cypress, and cedar.

In Japandi, one can incorporate both wood tones to create a contrasting effect. Natural-toned wood slats or beams complementing a neutral wall create a successful Japandi aesthetic.

3) Use a warm neutral palette

White walls are a staple of Scandinavian and Japanese interior design, and Japandi design is no exception. Pick warm white paint finishes as the base, which complements Japandi’s wood tones nicely and adds more contrast according to style preferences.

Try to keep away from cool white paints because they can sometimes appear too sharp and clinical. If not warm white, then deep, muted natural hues paired with an abundance of natural light work well on the walls in Japandi interiors.

4) Declutter the space

Japandi style adopts the quality over quantity philosophy, which is evident in their cozy and decluttered spaces. The best way to achieve Japandi’s streamlined aesthetic is by displaying fewer possessions and storing other non-essential items away, which is where the design style’s functional pieces come in.

Consider underutilized spaces in your home that could be converted into storage areas, such as under the bed or beneath the staircase. Wicker baskets and multipurpose furniture are also good natural storage choices for hiding excess clutter.

5) Add indoor plants

To achieve the cozy, earthy atmosphere of Japandi design, the use of elements of nature as decor is imperative. Indoor plants brighten up a space and provide a decorative accent that is all too familiar with the principles of nature associated with Japanese interiors, and as an extension, with Japandi style.

Japandi doesn’t tend to go overboard in decor; having a couple of plants like bamboo, palm, or bonsai is enough.

Japandi style infuses the timeless elegance of traditional Japanese aesthetics and Scandinavian modernism together, resulting in a calming ambiance perfect for those seeking to merge Eastern and Western styles.

The design style may be trending, but Japandi goes beyond what’s on-trend. Instead, it brings a lesson about curating a home with timeless, quality design elements that one could enjoy for years to come.