The soft touch of tranquility

Tranquility comes in many forms. The backdrop of soft rain. The hush of an evening breeze. The light of the afternoon sun.

Tranquility within a home is often enhanced by its furnishings. Nurturing your space with the Asian perspective of simplicity, combined with elements of the earth, can create a peaceful atmosphere that heightens your own feelings of sense and place.

Incorporating an Asian theme in your home should evolve from blending pieces you will enjoy coming home to each day. Lynne Thomas, selling manager at Far Fetched Imports in Lynnwood, assists clients in creating an Asian theme within the home.

“It makes it much more personal if you put things you love in the room,” she said. “When people walk in, they see your personality.”

Thomas often encourages customers to envision a purpose for a piece of furniture. For example, an antique Zhejang hutch (once used to hold live animals) makes a wonderful wine cabinet. A beautiful Asian table can make a great TV stand for an apartment or condominium with limited space.

“Why shouldn’t the customer have something beautiful and collectible that can last forever?” Thomas said.

For some, choosing a piece of furniture can be daunting, so working with a design associate such as Thomas can be helpful.

“The big part of our job is to listen,” she said. “A customer will tell you what they want. They may not realize that they know what they want, but they will give little clues such as an intake of breath or a sudden ‘wow.’”

Eastern interiors vary from region to region, with design elements that can be successfully mixed with Western decor.

“A lot of contemporary items have very Asian lines,” Thomas said. “A piece that is 110 years old can be something that’s an accent piece in a fairly modern dining room.”

The provincial styles of furniture are as varied as the regions they come from. Rustic, handmade pieces from India are made from heavy woods indigenous to the area, such as shishum, mango and acacia. Old Chinese pieces often have carved detail, flared or curved tops, and thematic paintings of scrolls, flowers, children and family life. Korean pieces are also ornate, with beautiful metal embellishments.

There are no rules against blending pieces from different provinces. According to Thomas, if you find things you love and will find useful for a long time, they can be successfully merged into your home.

Because space is minimal in many Asian interiors, furniture has historically been designed to serve multiple purposes.

“There’s something unique in old pieces,” Thomas said. “Many pieces have hidden storage. Because households were multi-generational, in order to keep some things private, items were stored in various cubbies.”

That tradition carries on in today’s furniture stylings, with pieces such as a Korean wine bar nestling several nooks, wooden trunks that serve as a table top and have many drawers that provide out-of-sight storage, and futons that provide seating and sleeping in one piece of furniture.

A decorative screen also lends a design element that meets multiple purposes. As a room divider, it creates an attractive display that sets boundaries to an area and increases flow through the space. As a screen, it provides a decorative shield against exercise equipment or stacked boxes.

The use of dramatic color is a beautiful characteristic of Asian design. Chinese interiors draw bold reds, yellows and greens, accented by dark lacquered woods. Japanese decor tends toward natural tones of brown, grey and tan. Accents in most Asian decors include the use of gold, either as trim or wall color.

According to Thomas, it is appropriate to have more than one wall color within a room.

“You can take a deep chocolate wall and place a red sofa in front of it, then do the rest of the walls in taupe,” she said, noting that people shouldn’t be afraid to use bold colors. “If you fall in love with a group of colors, it’s the right choice,” she said.

“I had a woman fall in love with a purple couch. She also fell in love with a yellow chair, but was worried the combination might not work,” Thomas said. “I was worried that she might ‘beige out’ on me.”

The customer bravely made her choice, and was pleasantly surprised at how well the combination worked.

“She placed the chair in a darker corner of the room, where it became a sunny spot in the room,” Thomas said. “She then placed the purple couch in a sunny area where the color instantly became a neutral.”

Warm walls accented by the simplicity of Asian design are appealing. With decorating elements based on the four natural elements of earth, air, water and fire, nature’s serenity can add a quiet voice to your room. Thomas encourages people to decorate with plants and other natural elements.

“It’s all about light and energy flowing, so it’s important to bring in the elements of water, light, the movement of the air, and the things that belong to the earth,” she said.

“Bamboo is a wonderful element that can be carved or cut into many forms,” Thomas said. Within her store are several examples of finely carved bamboo, such as table lamps, lustrous vases and carved Chinese heroes.

“A bamboo ladder can be used as a real ladder in a small library,” Thomas said. “It can also be used as towel rack in a bathroom, or leaning against a wall as a decorative accent that adds a pop of color.”

Seashells offer another organic material used in Asian design. A beautiful sample found at Far Fetched Imports is a lamp made from sliced seashells. The shells are attached to a resin form. From a distance the lamp has a calm, translucent appearance. Up close, the piece is patterned with the natural purples, whites, soft grays and blacks of the seashells.

The key to bringing all of the elements of a room together is to blend a sense of balance, harmony and serenity. This doesn’t mean you need to be an excessive minimalist. It does mean that you keep clutter at bay.

“In any group of furniture you should bring in pieces that are bits of light and joy,” Thomas said.

At the same time, you should resist the temptation to bring in too many elements of Asian decor into one room. Simplicity and serenity are essential in bringing the Zen-like feeling of Eastern design to Western homes.