Furniture is nothing but anything and everything that not only contributes to the beauty of space but also makes it suitable for living or working in. Japanese woodworking and classical design furniture in Japan was grown for over a thousand years and it is still highly regarded in every corner of the world. People love Japanese-style furnishing but when it comes to custom woodworking or selecting a home interior based on traditional Japanese standards we are stuck. It is a bit difficult to integrate traditional Japanese furniture design with modern principles of furnishing.

This article explains the beauty of Japanese furnishing and allows you to enhance the beauty of your living space using traditional Japanese furniture designs.

Woodworking in Japan

The Japanese word for furniture is KAGU. Traditional Japanese furniture design reached its most significant level of flawlessness in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. It is very different from European or Asian style furnishing. Japanese carpentry is solely based on using carpentry joints. It includes building wooden furniture without the utilization of nails, screws, fasteners, or electric devices.

Classical design furniture in Japan retains the culture of floor seating or floor-mounted structures. The idea of using chairs was repeatedly introduced but it was not inhabited by the common people and was limited to wealthy merchants and entertainers. Later, raised floor woodcraft furniture became common in Japan. Therefore you will notice that even modern Japanese furnishing products are very low in height or close to the floor.

• Simplicity – Another notable feature of woodcraft furniture in Japan is its desire for simplicity and linearity. Classical Japanese design furniture hardly utilizes metals and other ornamental effects with wood, unlike European furniture where different materials like wood, metal, and expensive stones, are used to enhance the beauty of the Furniture.
• Flexibility – Japanese-style rooms are ordinarily multi-utilitarian room that allows you to utilize every corner of your home with maximum efficiency. For example, the use of folding beds or what we call sofa cum beds allows us to reuse the sleeping area during the daytime.
• Use of natural materials and retaining the original property – All of us know that there is something unique about natural materials which we simply cannot resist. Japanese-style furniture makes use of natural materials like fine wood, bamboo, silk, rice straw paper, etc. rather than using color or paints. Retaining the natural look of the materials without adding any artificial decoration allows you to get that serene feeling every time you step into your house

Scroll down to explore custom woodworking ideas to integrate the simplicity and authenticity of traditional Japanese furniture designs with your home interiors.

Japanese furniture comes in a wide range of shapes and sizes. The choice of the product depends upon its use and the availability of space. All different type of storage units comes under the category of tansu. This includes box-type pieces with or without drawers.

Japanese-style Closets Or Cupboards

Initially, the notion of hanging up clothes was not in abundance but modern Japanese closet designs have space for folding and hanging up clothes. It has plenty of drawers and internal partitions to arrange items according to the user’s preferences.

Japan Antique Furniture Hako Kaidan Or Stairway Chest

Next house tansu is stairway chest or hako Kaidan. To make space for general household items the best thing to do is utilize the space under the step. It could be fitted into the architecture or designed as a separate movable unit for the living room. This classical design furniture contributes to the beauty of the living room and adds traditional Japanese touch to your home interior.

Tea Time With Japanese Style Tea Table

The selection of the perfect Japanese-style tea chest or tea table can add beauty to the dining room. Measuring around 35 to 40 inches tall with a width of 28 to 31 inches, a traditional Japanese-style tea table is just perfect for communal tea rooms. To express the floor-mounted culture of Japanese people the height of the table is comparatively and even the seating space is close to the floor.

To increase, the functionality of the simple tea chest adds some internal cabinet space for storing tea time crockery, snacks, sweets, and other tea time items. It could be with glass doors or made of simple wood drawers.

The Tana Or Shelving For The Bedroom Or Main Hall

Another type of Japanese design furniture is tana or shelving. Let me simplify it for you, it is a table with shelves or some storage units. The formal type of shelving is of three kinds’ zushi-dana, Kuro-dana, and sho-dana. All three are for storage purposes but are of different sizes. It could be a three or four-layered rack with a rolled-edge top or flat top, openwork designs on side panels legs undercut in shape themes, and two-fold entryway compartments in middle levels.

Partitioning Devices From Japan

All types of partitioning devices like folding screens, panel screens, doorway curtains, and running curtains are also part of furnishing in Japanese culture. The modern version of traditional Japanese style portioning is what we call sliding doors. They are regularly made of wood, paper cloth, bamboo, and reed. It is designed in such a way that the cloud is used across an entire wall to join adjacent rooms flexibly. It can also be used with a wood frame for windows or doors to block the vision or break the light vision.

Seating And Bedding

Furniture in traditional Japanese homes lacks the presence of raised beds and chairs. Floor-mounted furnishings are used for seating or reclining. Rounded seats are made from rice straw, water oats, or any other material large enough to sit comfortably. Another type of seating option available is a four-legged wooden bench or chair approximately 18 to 20 inches off the ground.

Writing Tables And Japanese Style Library

Japanese-style writing tables with side shelving are perfect you decorating your study area or for moving it more interesting and unique in appearance. Similarly, there is a wide range of furniture options available for library furnishing. Take a look at the following images to select one for your custom library.

Traditional Japanese furniture designs are not limited to the above-mentioned products. Scroll down to explore Japanese-style bed designs, kitchen interiors, bathroom designs, storage units, and much more.