On paper, Japan and Scandinavia could hardly be further apart, yet their design instincts are almost uncannily aligned, which is why the hybrid christened Japandi feels natural rather than forced.
From Japan comes wabi-sabi, the appreciation of imperfection, restraint and the beauty of natural, ageing materials. From Scandinavia comes hygge and a long tradition of warm, functional simplicity, of making a home a refuge against the dark. Put them together and they share a single quiet heart: a love of craft, of natural materials, of calm, and of having less but better. Japandi is not really a trend so much as a meeting of two very old wisdoms.
"Japan and Scandinavia want the same things: craft, calm, natural materials, and less but better."
You can see it in a room straight away. Kobe Collage III, from Collage III by Mark Alexander, and Gisuke in Oyster, from Traces by Masureel, are barely patterns at all. Wood Blocks Kasuri by Harlequin blurs its edges the way a dyed cloth does, and Genki, from Scion's own Japandi collection, draws one soft arch and stops.
Kobe Collage III, Jasper White by Mark Alexander
Wood Blocks Kasuri, Ash / Taupe by Harlequin
Gisuke, Oyster by Masureel
Genki Japandi by Scion
What It Looks Like on the Wall
In wallpaper, Japandi speaks softly. This is the territory of texture over pattern: grasscloth, linen weave and plaster effects that bring depth and a handmade quality without a single loud motif. Abaca Grasscloth is the real woven thing, Beverly Hills, from Thibaut's Grasscloth Resource 4, the warmer version of it, and Shoji Vinyl, from Kanoko by Osborne & Little, borrows the fine vertical rhythm of a paper screen. Beton by Casadeco does the same job in soft concrete.
Abaca Grasscloth by Mark Alexander
Shoji Vinyl, Kanoko by Osborne & Little
Beverly Hills Grasscloth by Thibaut
Beton So Color 5 by Casadeco
"Japandi is minimalism with warmth, and restraint with soul."
Where there is pattern, it is spare and nature-drawn: a single branch, a soft botanical, a quiet organic form, rendered with the economy of a brushstroke. Sakura Row, from Galerie's Spring Blossom, gives you one cherry branch and a great deal of empty ground. Hasu Hikari by Casamance draws a lotus the same way, and Sugi in Beech is simply the grain of a plank. The palette throughout is muted and warm, the putty, oat, clay, soft charcoal and gentle greens of natural materials, never cold or stark.
How and Where to Use It
Japandi belongs wherever you want calm to reign, which is to say the rooms you retreat to. A textured, tonal design wraps a bedroom or a study in restful depth; a spare branch motif brings a breath of quiet nature to a living room or a hallway, as Washi Collage II does. The whole look depends on discipline, so let a single considered wallpaper do the work and keep everything around it simple: natural wood, linen, a few beautiful objects, and plenty of breathing space.
Sakura Row, Spring Blossom by Galerie
Hasu Hikari by Casamance
Sugi, Beech by Masureel
Washi Collage II, Parchment by Mark Alexander
Resist the urge to add, which is the hardest and most important part. Browse the whole Japandi collection, or Scandi and plain for the looks either side of it, and read the Scandi guide and the case for beige if this is your register. Order a sample first, since the whole point of this look lives in subtleties of tone and surface that a screen cannot show.
In a loud, cluttered, over-stimulated world, Japandi offers something increasingly precious: a room that asks nothing of you, and simply lets you rest.
