Japandi style - What is Japandi and how to create Japandi interiors?

What is a Japandi Interior Design Style and Why Is It So Popular?

Before you get to know more details about this course, you need to understand the essence of Japandi style. What is Japandi interior design style and what makes it so attractive in the recent years? Japandi is a style characterized by a mixture of elements from the minimalistic outlines of Scandinavian and traditional Japanese interior design. What makes this style so attractive and easy to integrate in multiple interior projects are its features of simplicity, elegance, and eco-friendly approach, combined together. Everyone knows that the modern tendency of minimalism tries to reach more people with the requirement of clean and decluttered homes. Japandi also uses this trend of minimalistic ideas in interior design but it adds more individual and specific Japanese flavor.

What Is the Concept of Simplicity and How Important are Simple Homes in Our Lives?

The concept of simplicity has been affirmed since ancient times in China and Japan. The well-known teacher from China Lao Tzu asserts in the Tao Te Ching “Simplicity, patience, compassion, these three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being.” Another great teacher, Confucius says “Life is really simple, but we insist to make it complicated.” The famous Italian genius, engineer, painter and astrologer Leonardo Da Vinci says: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”. The fabulous fashion designer and writer Coco Shanel’s words are well known as well: “Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.” All these statements are popular for one reason – because we all need to incorporate and follow the principle of simplicity in our lives and homes.


De-cluttered and Clean Homes

We all can understand why our homes need to be eco-friendlier and freer of clutter. In the recent years there has been a strong raise in the society of consumption, easy and fast profits, supply and demand. But gradually the principle of consumption created a lost a greedy society, feeling of isolation and deprived souls, which is unable to taste the simple joy of life and live in harmony with the nature of our planet.

Why Do Our Homes Need to be Clutter Free?

If you imagine that your home is projection of your mind, then you will understand the importance of this question. The minimalistic elements in Japandi style also reflect this need of cleanness, symmetry and being clutter free – because the clutter in your home is a reflection of the clutter in your mind. Therefore, this is one of the main reasons how the interior style Japandi has been so appealing for many interior designers in the last year. We realize that as humans we have long lost the important connection with nature and all natural elements – which is our essence. So, integration of nature, plants, flowers and trees are some of the basic trends in the recent years in Minimalism and Japandi style, and this will remain a constant trend in the future.


How the Use of Natural Colors Creates a Feeling of Tranquility?

Creating a clean, clutter-free and relaxing atmosphere at home are very important aspects of our every-day life. Why is it so? Because of the big pressure we all experience in our fast-speed lives, we are always busy with work, we live on speed, we travel and almost everyone is overloaded with multiple tasks and responsibilities. This is why our busy schedules lead to restless mind, experience of fatigue, depression and anxiety, and this tendency became a norm in modern world. Therefore, we all feel the need to create a safe escape, a harbor from this business, and this harbor is our home space. If you return to your home with cluttered mind and you need to rest and relax, but you find so many items, clutter or dark walls and absence of light – that will have negative impact on your mind and body. On the contrary, the light colors, minimal space, and the “emptiness” in the room, will create enough space for your mind to relax and feel free. The latest researches on health and holistic life show that mind and body are totally intertwined in each human. Thus, everything that affects your mind, will also affect your body and your emotions.

Accordingly, the light and neutral palette of colors on the walls will create feeling of vastness, free mind and tranquility, which is well proven. The neutral and pastel colors like white, cream, pastel green, pastel yellow, soft pink have very positive, calming, and uplifting effect on your mind. This is why they are well used in Japandi style, which focuses on the soothing atmosphere and harmony. Japandi as an individual style and trend, focuses on integration of simplicity, nature, elegance and color in all interior spaces and teaches us how to be live healthier and more sustainable life.

The Japandi Interior Design Course at Home Design Institute

Japandi interior design is a style that is gaining popularity in many types of scenarios. Whether it is a home, an office, or a commercial space, this style is a unique type of design with many advantages. This interior design course is a three-month learning period that will go into the general and specific details of what Japandi style is, how it functions best, and how we can implement it into interior design projects. There are 24 sessions of three hours each, totaling to 72 hours of lessons given by an expert in the field. During this time, students will be working with dynamic lesson plans and extra resources to become skilled designers in the area of Japandi interior design.

The course sessions are divided into lessons and practical project sessions. During the first part, there will be three sections of theory explaining everything there is to know about Japandi design. First, we will cover the basics of Japandi design history and evolution, color palettes, materials, layout schemes, and more. Once a solid foundation is set with an understanding of Japandi’s main principles and design philosophy we will move onto design elements such as furniture, lighting, vegetation, and statement pieces. Students will learn about what characteristics to look for when placing these elements and how to design and create custom pieces. The third section will have sessions focused on specific spaces. We will look at Japandi design specifically for bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms, bathrooms, terraces, offices, and commercial spaces. In these sessions we will tie in everything learned since the beginning of the course and prepare for the next portion of practical project sessions.

The last eight sessions of the Japandi interior design course will be dedicated to working on creating four distinct projects using SketchUp and other design programs. Previous experience with this software is recommended but not required as we will begin with a simple project and will increase in complexity with each project. First, students will design a living room with mood boards, sketches, color palettes, and a 3D model. Once completed, everyone will present their projects and will receive feedback from the course instructors. Next, students will design a small office for a graphic design studio. Using SketchUp and other programs, students will create a presentation with all the renders, floorplans, diagrams, and other images to explain the project. The third project will be a terrace for which a base SketchUp model will be provided to work with. Lastly, students will design a studio apartment and will also create renders, diagrams, etc. to present to the group. These four projects will wrap up the course, solidifying the theoretical content learned and using it in design scenarios with practical applications. Altogether, these three months of lessons and work sessions will result in giving students the practice and expertise to handle any type of Japandi interior design project.