How to Adopt Traditional Asian Elements for Your Home
Inspired by your recent trip to Indonesia, Korea or Japan and keen to bring home some traditional design elements?
In Singapore, we can easily incorporate traditional Asian design elements into our interior schemes by pulling from Seoul, Bali and Tokyo.
Check out this Korean-influenced HDB flat
Check out this Korean-influenced HDB flat
Balinese high ceilings
Although we may not be lucky enough to live in a Ubud-style timber villa, you can certainly take cues from it to create a home with a Tropical Coastal style.
Get the look: Instead of adding drop ceilings in your home add a faux timber ceiling to conceal your pipes and ducting, paint walls white and leave out the cornices.
Image: Airbnb Singapore
Although we may not be lucky enough to live in a Ubud-style timber villa, you can certainly take cues from it to create a home with a Tropical Coastal style.
Get the look: Instead of adding drop ceilings in your home add a faux timber ceiling to conceal your pipes and ducting, paint walls white and leave out the cornices.
Image: Airbnb Singapore
Get the look: Choose pale timber or honed marble tiles for your floors and add lightweight light-coloured curtains. Decorate with a variety of timber and rattan or wicker furniture and you’re well on your way to creating a Bali vibe in your home.
Korean courtyards and screens
We all love Korean historical dramas with queens and kings but look beyond the story and glean inspiration from the hanok or Korean traditional house.
Get the look: If you’re lucky enough to have a ground floor space, think about creating a rustic timber and stone garden area.
Laying down some large stone pavers will mean that you don’t need to bother about grass – add some pretty grass in pots for a low maintenance garden.
Tip: For those of us without a garden, you can get the same feel by using stone tiles on your balcony; add large unvarnished/unstained timber furniture to get the hanok feel.
We all love Korean historical dramas with queens and kings but look beyond the story and glean inspiration from the hanok or Korean traditional house.
Get the look: If you’re lucky enough to have a ground floor space, think about creating a rustic timber and stone garden area.
Laying down some large stone pavers will mean that you don’t need to bother about grass – add some pretty grass in pots for a low maintenance garden.
Tip: For those of us without a garden, you can get the same feel by using stone tiles on your balcony; add large unvarnished/unstained timber furniture to get the hanok feel.
Get the look: Indoors you can create more space by using decorative screens to hide away your bedding.
You can also choose to use floor cushions and a very low table for your dining and entertaining area, giving you the feeling of higher ceilings.
Images: Airbnb Singapore
You can also choose to use floor cushions and a very low table for your dining and entertaining area, giving you the feeling of higher ceilings.
Images: Airbnb Singapore
Japanese use of space
Japanese design falls broadly into two style: traditional (predominance of timber and gardens) and modern (streamlined and airy).
Japanese design falls broadly into two style: traditional (predominance of timber and gardens) and modern (streamlined and airy).
Get the look: The practice of removing footwear before entering a home is something our cultures share and we can learn from the Japanese on how to create a ‘genkan’ or entryway by using different levels at the main entrance. This is also a great spot for having a built-in shoe cabinet.
Get the look: Although in Singapore we tend to favour showers, this doesn’t mean we can’t indulge in a weekly soak to melt away the cares of the day.
10 Japanese soaking tubs to pamper your senses
10 Japanese soaking tubs to pamper your senses
TELL US
Do you have traditional Asian elements to your home? Show us in the Comments below. And don’t forget to save your favourite images, bookmark the story, and join in the conversation.
Do you have traditional Asian elements to your home? Show us in the Comments below. And don’t forget to save your favourite images, bookmark the story, and join in the conversation.
Elements like high, open ceilings are perfect for cooling homes in tropical climes; enclosed courtyard gardens make ideal green spaces for those living in the city; and the innovative storage space the Japanese carve out of impossibly small spaces are something we can all learn from.