The Korean style is quite unusual for us, but is gradually gaining popularity in European countries, like other Eastern trends.
A Korean-style room is suitable for those who are already tired of the usual minimalist style, as well as for those who want to decorate their room according to all the rules of Feng Shui and give it special originality. This style is based on the traditions of home decoration in South and North Korea.
This interior style, like many other oriental styles, supports the idea of minimalism, the essence of which is a large amount of air and free space. In such an interior there is only the most necessary things, while the room does not lose its aesthetics and beauty.
Korean-style interior and wall decoration features
It is precisely because the walls are decorated that the character of all other interior items in the room depends. If you decide to choose wallpaper to decorate your walls, then you should take into account the fact that they should be plain and without patterns. Among the colors, it is better to choose a regular white, light gray, cool pale yellow shade, as well as a pale pistachio tone, which will help create a calm atmosphere in the house.
Also, in addition to wallpaper, you can use decorative plaster or canvas that will look like natural fabric. It is best to use the same material for finishing walls and ceilings. Then the interior will fully correspond to this style.
Korean style houses and furniture for them
Furniture in a Korean-style room should be low, dark and have the same small legs at the base. A must have in the living room small table made of wood, 30-50 cm high. The top of such a table is covered with dark varnish or inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Often furniture has animal or plant motifs. For example, images of pine trees, flying cranes or deer.
The Korean-style apartment has special chests of drawers for storing things, which are decorated with overhead metal corners and other elements made of thin metal plates. Also, chests of drawers can have decorative wood carvings and two doors. Instead of chests of drawers, shelves and chests are used for these purposes, which open from the front, and not, as we are used to, from the top. In addition, in Korea there is no such piece of furniture as a bed. Instead, a mattress with cylindrical pillows is used, which are stuffed with sawdust or sand.
Korean style in interior designThe sophistication and minimalism of the East - all this is united by the Korean interior style, which has recently become quite common in many European homes.
The walls can be decorated with plain wallpaper. The general background of the interior is not very bright: gray or brown. The walls and ceiling can also be plastered.
One of the main characteristics of furniture is its low height. Instead of a bed, ordinary mattresses are used, and a small varnished one becomes the center of the living room. coffee table. Mostly the furniture is in black. Things and clothes are stored not in large closets, but in small chests of drawers and chests.
Special features of the interior include the presence of tablets with hieroglyphs, floral ornaments, screens, as in Japanese style. Screens can reach a height of up to two meters, and they are used both for decoration and for zoning rooms. Fresh flowers refresh your home. Minimal accessories include figurines and figurines of animals and people.
At first glance, you might think that only Korean residents can furnish their homes in the Korean style, however, this is not entirely true. Of course, it will not be easy for a European to adjust his life to this style, but over time it will become more familiar with all its subtleties. Korean style is suitable for those people who appreciate the sophistication and depth of the East, as well as minimalism.
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architects, designers
Since the founding of the architectural bureau Neri & Hu Design in 2002, Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu have been in great demand among global furniture manufacturers. Among their customers are ClassiCon, BD Barcelona, Lema, De La Espada, Moooi. Their creative manifesto: modern interpretation traditional Chinese motifs. This year, Neri & Hu won the EDIDA Award in two categories: “Designer of the Year” and “Furniture” for the Ren Table collection for Poltrona Frau (pictured). www.neriandhu.com
Frank Chu, China
designer
This young designer from Beijing is very ambitious - at the opening of his own studio in 2012, he said that he was going to intensify the dialogue between East and West. Sound presumptuous? However, it was Chu who last year became the first designer from China to win the SaloneSatellite Special Mention Design Award at i Saloni, which he personally received from the Prime Minister of Italy. In the photo: Poker Screen based on his design. www.frankchou.com
Nao Tamura, Japan
designer
You could say that Nao Tamura was destined to become a designer. Her mother is a decorator, her father is an industrial designer, and her aunt and grandmother are fashion designers. A native of Tokyo, Nao lives and works in New York City, where she creates incredibly graceful objects in her Brooklyn studio. Among the most famous today are the Seasons collection of silicone tableware in the shape of leaves, Wonder Flow pendant lamps for Wonderglass (pictured), L’Eau d’Issey and d’Eau Summer bottles for Issey Miyake. www.naotamura.com
Nendo, Japan
design, architecture
Oki Sato is the founder of the Nendo design bureau, already a recognized star. Boffi, Kartell, Hermès, Cappellini, Driade, Moroso, Kenzo - this is just a short list of companies with which Sato's studio cooperates. There is no area of design that would not attract this Japanese. With equal interest he designs sneakers, household appliances, interiors of fashion boutiques and children's cafes. Today, the works he created are already exhibited in the most famous museums in the world. www.nendo.jp
Kang Myung Soon, Korea
designer
In his work, Korean designer Kang Miung Sun combines ancient techniques and modern materials XXI century. She creates pieces of furniture from black polyurethane, which is coated with varnish and natural mother-of-pearl. However, not only the decoration is nontrivial, but also the shape of the objects themselves. For example, the storage systems she invented from the From the Glitter collection are round and look like decorative wall panel, the cabinets resemble futuristic sculptures (pictured), and the chairs resemble sea shells. www.kangmyungsunart.com
Bae Se-Hwa, Korea
designer
Very often, the Korean Bae Se-Hwa is called not a designer, but a sculptor. Pieces from his Steam furniture collection (pictured) look like art objects, and when you look at their soft curved forms, it seems that the wood in Bae’s hands turns into soft plasticine. The designer begins work on each item with digital visualization. Bae Se-Hwa changes volumes and lines until the shape he needs appears on the monitor. Only after this can we begin implementation. www.baesehwa.com
Studio MVW, China
designers
Chinese designer Xu Ming and French architect Virgin Mauriet opened an office in Shanghai. At the same time, the avant-garde style of their creative duo with an exotic Asian accent is also attractive to many European furniture manufacturers, such as Giorgetti and Moroso. Studio MVW also collaborates with the Parisian gallery BSL. In the photo: one of the latest Shuidi collections. The shape of the shelving is inspired by drops of morning dew in a Chinese garden. www.design-mvw.com
Tokujin Yoshioka, Japan
designer, architect
A student and follower of the ideas of Shiro Kuramata and Issey Miyaki, he became famous for his experiments with crystals, pressed paper, and synthetic fibers. His objects are in the permanent collections of New York's MoMA and the Vitra Design Museum in Berlin. The Japanese talent was appreciated by Hermès, Toyota, Swarovski, Glass Italia (on the right is the Prism installation), as well as Louis Vuitton (Yoshioka’s latest project for the fashion house - the Blossom stool - was presented at Design Miami 2016). The architect has ambitious plans for the future: his bureau is designing the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo for the 2020 Games. www.tokujin.com
Benwu Studio, China
designers
The bureau was founded in New York on the initiative of two Chinese designers Hongchao Wang and Peng Yu in 2012 and initially had the format of a small experimental laboratory. After artist Qiyun Deng and architect Wei Ge joined the team, Benwu Studio's specialization expanded and the number of orders increased. Today the company has offices in Beijing and Shanghai. The quartet's most famous designs are for Hermès, Vacheron Constantin, Cassina, Isabel Marant, Mini and Baccarat (on the right is the Vendôme candlestick designed for this crystal house). www.benwustudio.com
Lee Hong Chung, Korea
designer
The Korean artist creates unusual ceramic sculptures for the interior, interpreting local traditions in his own way. handmade. He poetically defines his works as “three-dimensional landscapes,” despite the fact that most of the objects are functional: coffee tables, consoles, stools. Chung coats his ceramic furniture with celadon glaze, which has a specific pale grayish-green hue. This technique is believed to have been invented in Ancient China in Zhejiang province. www.leehunchung.com
Heinrich Wang, Taiwan
designer, ceramist
Ceramic artist Heinrich Wang was born in Indonesia and raised on the island of Taiwan. In Taipei, he opened his own art porcelain company, NewChi. Looking at the thinnest silhouettes of his dishes, you believe that the master is able to create absolutely any shape. Porcelain mass, according to the artist, is the most eloquent material. “Pottery is poetry,” he says. - I give a name to each set. The collection already includes “Shadow of the Wind”, “Bright Moon”, “Horizon”. The artist’s personal exhibition was held at the Triennale Museum in Milan. www.en.new-chi.com
Daisuke Kitagawa, Japan
designer
A graduate of Kanazawa College of Art, Daisuke Kitagawa joined the NEC design association in 2005, where he successfully worked for ten years. In 2015, he set out on his own, founding the company Design for Industry. One of the most spectacular works of this young studio was the laconic Nod lamps (pictured). The peculiarity of the model is the maximum mobility of the lampshades, which can rotate around their axis and be fixed in any position convenient for you. www.designforindustry.jp
Daisuke Ikeda, Japan
designer
The biography of this Japanese designer began in Europe. Educated at Middlesex University in London, he trained with British cabinetmaker Paul Kelly. Having received his diploma, Ikeda returned to his homeland of Japan and settled in the bureau of Toshiyuki Kita in Osaka. Recently, he has been producing objects under his own brand, Norg Design. This is ascetic designer furniture made of wood, which can be easily adapted to both Eastern and Western interiors. (Pictured: Log Cafe Set furniture line.) www.norg-design.com
Baohong Chen, China
architect, designer
U+ Studio was founded in 2008 in Jinan, Shandong Province. The owner of the bureau, architect Baohong Chen, considers the main mission of the company to be educational activities and support manual labor in this region. “The concept of the studio can be succinctly defined by the expression “Chinese gene,” he says. “Origin, traditions, history - this is, in fact, what unites us all.” The company produces traditional Chinese wood furniture, adapting it to modern homes. www.yojialife.com
For modern world the actual question is how exactly you can decorate it beautifully, originally and at the same time comfortably one-room apartment. When starting to develop a design, the designer is often faced with the limited space with which he is going to work. Sometimes it begins to seem that it is almost impossible to distribute zones in an interesting and convenient way in a relatively small area modern apartment. In this case, you can use the Asian experience of Korea.
The Korean designer is used to working with limited space, because in Korea it is precisely limited-area housing that is popular. That is why the design of an apartment in the Korean style includes a subtle ability to distribute space and take into account the smallest details in order to most comfortably accommodate several living areas in a small area.
Just like other Asian examples of design, a Korean-style interior does not imply either pretentiousness or a clutter of all kinds of objects. This is a kind of minimalism that suits people who do not need an overly complex apartment design and are demanding of conciseness and cleanliness.
First, we need to note the main principles of Korean design. In Asia, it is customary to preserve as much light as possible from the window. In Korean apartments, the windows are large and without a window sill. Russian windows are often not large at all and they always have a window sill, but in order to meet Korean ideals, you just need to give up massive curtains that weigh down the window opening.
Korean furniture is always black or very dark brown tones, low, rectangular shapes. If the color black puts pressure on your vision, shades of ocher or ivory are acceptable. It is also possible to use golden shades, especially for upholstered furniture. Unlike the Chinese interior, the Korean interior does not imply the presence of many decorative pillows. The abundance of chairs is also not popular. However, this does not mean that there should not be chairs. One chair is often enough. The main thing is that it matches the style of the sofa.
Korean design suggests that the coffee table should be small, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. For the most part, it is not used for storing anything, but for design.
Original Korean apartments require the absence of a bed. At home, Koreans simply sleep on a mattress spread on the floor. Of course, even for the smallest Russian apartment such a design move may seem too bold to copy. But in this case, you can simply buy a low bed, which, according to the principles of Korean design, should be placed not under the window, but opposite it, so that there is a sufficiently large distance between it and the bed.
It must be remembered that, like everywhere else in Asia, in Korea they use natural materials for apartment design. These are bamboo, silk, rice paper; Wallpaper of the same tone, restrained and muted, is used. The color of the wallpaper can vary within one or two tones, but not be bright. Most often in Korea they use tones that are close to natural, namely olive, ocher, beige, milky white, pistachio. In addition to wallpaper, ordinary plaster of the same tones, fabric wallpaper or fabric-like wallpaper without a pattern are also used.
The monotony in the wall design is diluted by the presence of decorative screens made of silk or materials matching the texture. These screens can decorate a wall. At the same time, they should retreat slightly from the wall. Screens made of fabric can be made with a small grassy pattern in an oriental style.
In Korean design, you can use fabric screens to zone a room. This way you can separate the relaxation area from the living room area. Due to the fact that such screens are low, the space appears separated from below, but is visible from above, especially if it is located opposite an uncurtained window. You can also use a screen to highlight the wall above or opposite the bed. In this case, it will replace a traditional carpet. Let us assume in this case a traditional tapestry with a plant pattern identical to the natural one.
Korean design, like Chinese design, widely uses calligraphy on rice paper for decoration, which can be hung on the wall or placed on a shelf.
In addition to geometric patterns, various types of images can be used in Korean design. Most of all in Korea, images of cranes, deer and pine trees, traditional for this country, are valued.
Doors for Korean design are always sliding. This helps save space and save money free space for any other useful interior items. Among the necessary interior items in the Korean style are comfortable shelves with open shelves, as well as small chests that open from the front like a bar in a closet. They are used to store clothes and thereby replace standard wardrobes.
In Korea, it is customary to sit on the floor. This is a tribute to the Eastern tradition, especially since in Korea there is heating built into the floor. In Russia, floors are not heated, but the floor can be insulated in another way. You should not put a carpet, because it will disrupt the stylistic unity of Korean design. It is good that the floor is wooden, in dark colors, and for sitting you can use small flat pillows with dense filling and a floral pattern on the pillowcase.
Lighting fixtures also play an important role in Korean design. It must be remembered that lamps cannot be bright and flashy. You need to focus on lamps of strict geometric shapes. You can often find a traditional Korean-style lamp that resembles a relatively small garden lantern. If the lamp is not hung on the floor or wall, it can be placed on a shelf or even on the floor, as is often done in Korea.
This way you can easily distribute small space necessary pieces of furniture and decorate the interior small apartment strictly, functional and comfortable, as the ideas of Korean interior suggest.
Last time oriental style is becoming more and more popular. Many European designers are trying to introduce oriental notes into the design of residential interiors. It is possible that they are attracted to oriental techniques of self-improvement, martial arts and tea ceremonies, which have long become completely acceptable to European society. One of the most interesting in terms of exoticism is the Korean style.
Features of Korean interiors
Like most Eastern trends in interior decor, Korean style is a supporter of minimalism. Lots of space and a minimum of furniture - these are the basic principles when creating a Korean interior. Moreover, the absence of unnecessary items does not mean that the living space should be boring and monotonous. Large quantity decorative elements and picturesque decoration give the interior a special oriental flavor.
When creating the spirit of “Tao-interior” in your home, try to leave only the most necessary pieces of furniture. In finishing, use natural materials that are close to natural colors. Features Korean interior - wallpaper or decorative plaster on the walls, reminiscent of natural fabric in texture. If you choose wallpaper, then plain ones or with a small, unobtrusive pattern would be more appropriate. The color scheme should be calm, light green, pale gray, lemon yellow or just white. Moreover, Koreans traditionally decorate the walls and ceiling with the same material. This allows you to visually expand the space and fill the room with air.
Furniture and decor
In Korean housing, it is customary to use furniture with low legs. And replace the bed comfortable mattress, laid either on a small podium or directly on the floor. Koreans are accustomed to spartan conditions, so even cylindrical sleeping pillows are stuffed with sawdust or sand. A special decoration of the living room is a small mother-of-pearl or lacquered table made of wood.
To store things, Koreans use large wooden chests of drawers trimmed with thin sheets of metal. Special charm They have double-leaf chests of drawers with wooden carvings and chests with a front-opening lid. Ornaments using images of plants and animals are used as decoration. To zone the space or simply to decorate the interior, use a low silk or rice paper screen.
The interior is decorated with paintings, silk embroidery, oriental panels with floral patterns or depicting orchids, chrysanthemums and plums. Calligraphic painting done in black ink on the thinnest rice paper looks inimitable and relevant. Also in Korean homes, ten elements symbolizing longevity can often be found in images and decorative items: bamboo, river, clouds, pine trees, moon, crane, turtle, deer and pullocho grass.
Like other ethnic styles, Korean may at first glance seem unsuitable for the European public. Designers of the VekoNika company are ready to apply this style to Russian realities. If you wish, our specialists will perform various decorative elements and will produce functional furniture to order, taking into account stylistic features your interior.