What Is Japandi Style?

How do you maximize minimalism?

You take a touch of Scandinavian style and a pinch of Japanese style and smelt the two together in the interior design furnace.

There are times you’ll be unlucky.

Other times you create wonderment and beauty.

This is the shelf that Japandi sits on.

Prefer nicher names?

You can call it Scandanese or Japanordic.

Two Design Styles Become One

Japanese interior design goes on a date with its Scandinavian neighbor.

Things happen.

They have a child out of wedlock.

Neither expected it.

They barely know each other, it was one night of fun and two bottles of wine.

They spend more time with each. Duties of responsible parenting.

Things happen.

They get to know one another.

Japanese interior is elevated and graceful, Scandi is relaxed and cares about the natural environment.

Their child is the best of them.

Japandi grows into a design style of it’s own. Independent and influential in a world full of harsh opinions and old dogs.

Can’t See the Wood From the Trees? It’s All In Japandi

Together, they welcome wood.

In Japan, Cypress is a lemon-scented temple wood. It’s bent, weaved and carved to create noh theatres and sake cups.

Cedar controls furniture production because insects choose to avoid it and straight-grained Red Pine dominate ornamental gardens and living room beams.

Umbrella Pine is pale white. Sashimi and other Japanese delicacies are eaten off its cold tableware.

Ceremonial tea is sipped from the increasingly rare Japanese Old Cedar, high levels of iron have permeated its cells over time to contribute to a gray-brown coloration.

Fine-grained Empress Trees form chests and other cabinets but banging to the beat of the Taiko drum requires the assistance the Japanese Elm.

In Scandinavia, sleek desk designs made from Ash go on to become the bedrock for future literary prize winners.

Scientific breakthroughs play out in dreams on top of Pine bed frames.

Business plans are hashed out around tables of Beech.

Sanded into smooth contours, chairs expertly fit the backsides of those who need a rest and there are no carpeted floors.

Each species is chosen for its light coloring, making efficient use of a scarce Sun.

Where they differ is in the wood’s application.

Japanese interiors are warm and formal, Scandinavian interiors are cool and rustic.

Japandi brings those extremes closer to the middle.

The Fusion of Minimalist Styles

Together, they welcome function.

Reduce the excess and you reduce the noise that prevents you from enjoying something for what it is.

You’re at a concert.

A niggling voice in the back of your head tells you to take a video for your friends.

You’ll show them next weekend when you all meet, everyone will love it.

The voice is excess and and the voice unnecessary.

For you to enjoy the experience of the band playing in front of you now, all you must do is watch.

Minimalist concepts in interior design work on the same principles.

Excess accessories and trinkets distract you from what’s important about your home.

When you strip everything back, what is a home?

It’s somewhere clean and warm, somewhere you can shelter away from the elements.

Minimalism captures this essence whilst still being beautiful to look at.

Living is important and minimalism often conflicts with modern lifestyles.

Both Japanese and Scandinavian interior design principles work by multiplying the function between space and furniture.

Indoor benches store shoes.

Counters fold away to reveal televisions.

Food is eaten on wall partitions.

Dark and Light Is The Japandi Way

Together, they welcome diversity.

You will mix darker, richer tones seen in Japanese Zen interiors with the light cleanliness of Scandi.

Both rely on natural materials to provide their color.

Stone, bamboo, and wicker.

Light gray to rich browns.

How you combine is down to you.

Dark walls work best in larger rooms with lots of natural light. Contrast these with Beech sofas and complimentary-colored covers and a throw to bridge the gap.

Strong, deep blue duvet covers on top of light blue pillows and bed sheet which itself lies over a solid Ash frame.

Natural greens from plants or pale walls are the backdrop of matte black light fittings.

Craftsmanship and Hygge Equals Japandi

Together, they welcome feelings.

Taken to the extreme, minimalism lacks emotion. An essential ingredient in producing a home.

Evoking positive feelings and creating a place to make memories.

How does Japandi do this?

Craftsmanship and Hygge.

Japanese artisans, a crowd of people to which furniture makers belong, pride themselves in the quality they produce and are synonymous with the well-made.

Love goes into creating these products as well as the blood, sweat and tears that you’ll never see.

Contrast this strive for excellence with another concept in Japanese design called Wabi Sabi.

Wabi Sabi describes the beauty in imperfection.

Elegance in simplicity.

Handmade bowls with meandering edges.

Placing those bowls onto a table that still uses its log’s natural, non-sheered form.

Scandinavian interior design borrows the Danish word, Hygge (Hoo Gah), the essence of coziness.

Coziness itself is a symptom of safety.

When you’re protected from wolf and frostbite.

Hygge is similar to luck.

You don’t have control over experiencing it.

But you can set yourself up to reap the rewards when it does come.

And you do this by adding lots of different visual and physical textures.

Scandinavians reportedly buy the highest proportion of candles out of European countries.

Task lighting is built using lamps and accent features help to shape a comfortable, snug atmosphere thanks to both bright spots and shadows.

Shadows are essential.

Natural materials such as wood, leather and wool, are warmer

Throws and blankets are a trademark. You’ll drape them across chairs, benches, sofas and beds at any opportunity.

Japandi’s Missing You

Together, they welcome you.

Japandi can’t be admired without the admirer.

If you live in the Western world then you’ll find it easier to source Scandinavian products, that much is known. Over the coming months we’ll be bringing you lots of Japanese products.

Live near Japan? You’ll encounter Japanese goods.

Both Japanese and Scandinavian designs are going to be a heavy focus for Rooms Solutions over the coming months. Your best opportunity to be the first to hear about them is to tap your email address into the bar below.

If you aren’t in love with the Japandi style fusion of Japanese and Scandinavian Interior Design styles why not read our full list of Interior Design Styles. You may discover something that does grab your attention.