ForLook Interior Design

Wabi-Sabi  is the new design trend.

Although it’s an ancient Japanese aesthetic, it’s a new design style in the West.

As I wrote in my previous article about the latest trends in the world of design, we are reacting more and more against mass-produced furniture and home-ware. What we want are unique pieces that not only represent our individualities but ooze their own character and spirit. At the same time we are also getting more conscious of our environment - we want things to be made of natural and sustainable materials..

BUT, what if you don’t want to give up on modernism and the clean lines of minimalism???  Wabi-Sabi might be your answer.

Just as with Minimalism, Wabi-Sabi is not just a decor style - it is a philosophy, a visual & spiritual experience, a path to inner harmony. I would hope that the concept will not be commercialised as minimalism was, but I doubt it. As soon as it becomes main stream it will lose its meaning.

So what does Wabi-Sabi stand for?

Wabi is way of life - Sabi means beauty through age. The concepts of Wabi-Sabi correlate with the principles of Zen Buddhism. I’ve already written an article about the principles of Wabi Sabi in another blog (you can read it by clicking on the link) so instead of repeating them, I’ll translate these into their spatial application.

According to Wabi-Sabi, beauty comes from things that are impermanent, imperfect and incomplete. Design-wise this means materials that are simple & natural; textures that are uneven & rough; shapes that are organic & irregular; colours that are neutral & subdued.

The ideal materials are: wood, metal, paper, textiles, stone, and clay. You should not use synthetic materials or anything that looks new and contrived. Instead of polishing and cleaning, let time shape them further - natural aging will bring out the character of any object. Needless to say, furniture should be hand-crafted, textile hand-woven and ornaments hand-made.

A Wabi-Sabi inspired interior should not just be fitted out with objects made of natural materials -it should also reflect the balances found in nature. So simplicity, sobriety and scale are also important factors.

Wabi-Sabi is a relatively new design style in the West, so it’s not easy to show pictures of interiors. We’ll add some links in time.

If you know of good, informative sites about Wabi-Sabi in interior design, please comment below with their links