What are the Different Types of Asian Home Decor?

One type of Asian home decor is Oriental. Its hallmarks are bright, jewel-toned colors and dramatic furniture pieces. Feng shui interior design focuses on natural materials and harmonic furniture placement. South Asian home decor features colorful, luxurious fabrics and detailed embellishments.

Artistic animal or flower designs are commonly used on bedding and pillows in South Asian homes. These motifs may include elephants or palm leaves. Indian and Pakistani designs may be embroidered, beaded or printed onto silks or cottons; exotic wall tapestries are also popular. South Asian home decor colors are typically rich shades of brown, red, orange, blue and green. Even smaller home accents such as candle holders are often detailed in both pattern and color.

The ancient Chinese design system of feng shui embodies nature as well as balances yin (female) and yang (male) design aspects. For instance, the color red is considered yang, while green is yin. The five natural elements of fire, water, metal, earth and wind are included in this type of Asian home decor. Smooth textures and solid surfaces provide stability according to the principles of feng shui. Rounded metal vases, platters and bowls accent this style of home design.

Oriental design is highly detailed with a vivid sort of beauty to it. Strong colors such as red, pink and teal are often used to accent black, white and gold. Ornately carved rosewood room dividers and highly polished lacquer furniture are commonly found in the Oriental type of Asian home decor. A classic example is a large, rectangular, lacquered black or red cabinet door with an oversized round metal latch.

Bamboo decor pieces are also extremely common in Oriental interiors. The bamboo material may be used for furniture or screens printed with nature scenes. Cherry blossoms, peacocks, pandas and dragons are popular Oriental motif themes for home decor. Building structures such as pagodas are also emphasized in this style. Language characters in Korean, Chinese and Japanese dialects form decorative touches on dishware, plates and vases.

Japanese decor tends to be the least detailed and the most streamlined of the Asian styles. Along with mostly black and white pieces, one bold section of a bright color such as red is typically used. This accent color is not used in small amounts all over, but only focused on a single design item or home feature. The room dividing screens most common to the Japanese type of Asian home decor are black-framed with white rice paper inserts.