Gallery wall, Japanese minimalism, Scandinavian and vintage inspirations: I’m telling you everything about my Japandi living room
Finally, I wrote the article about my living room you are asking me to write for months! I promise to tell you all about my inspirations and also to give you the references. The goal of course is not to copy my decoration, but to inspire you and make you discover for example talented illustrators. It’s important to create your own universe and cocoon. As a reminder, if you need help to decorate your living room or any other room in your house / apartment, I offer individual interior design coaching online. You can find all the infos about it here.
Moving in Amsterdam
In June 2019, we moved to Amsterdam after three years in Japan. In Tokyo, we lived in a small traditional house, charming, but very dark. And we were not allowed to hang anything on the wall (especially because of the earthquakes)! So the main goal when looking for an apartment in Amsterdam was therefore to find a BRIGHT apartment (it was THE priority), with large windows and walls where I could let my magic works.
We are lucky because we managed to find remotely an amazing apartment in a great neighborhood. This apartment is everything I have always dreamed of: it has a huge living room (with windows on both sides), it’s charming, quiet, we have a view on the neighbors' garden, the little birds are singing all day long and overall, it’s bright all day as well. It almost feels like we are living in the countryside! Everything is perfect in this apartment except the expensive rent which will unfortunately most likely force us to move by the end of the year...
My inspirations
Decoration is a passion that has driven me since childhood. I spent my afternoons leafing through the La Redoute catalog (a French brand with amazing furnitures) and my mom's interior design magazines. And during the weekends, we use to go to flea markets of Charentes, where I come from.
I love the Scandinavian style, the light wood, the soft colors. I wanted to create a little “hygge” cocoon for us. In Japan, I also learned to appreciate minimalism, natural and raw materials like wood and ceramics. In the end, we could describe my style of decoration as “Japandi” or “Scandi-Nippon”, with kinfolk’s notes. Lots of “trendy” words, I agree, but which really reflect our way of living and my tastes.
Timeless furniture and vibrant illustrations
My husband and I are more of a homebody. We spend a lot of time at home. We also work at home. So it's extremely important for us to have a place where we feel good, inspired, cozy and not too overloaded to be peaceful. When we left Japan, we hardly took anything with us because it was way too expensive to send our furniture and other goods to Amsterdam. Only my husband sent his musical instruments and equipment, which has already cost us a small fortune.
Decorating is instinctive for me. I know which color to marry with which other, which material to marry with which piece of furniture. I can find the object or piece of furniture that will give character to a room. I spend hours online on eshops, on Instagram, on Pinterest making moodboards to imagine the rooms of our apartment or of our future home (which we hope we will find one day). I keep everything preciously.
That’s why I had a blank page to fill out to decorate this apartment. I carefully chose each piece of furniture, each object. For the furniture, especially in the living room, I bet on neutral colors and timeless models which I would have little chance of getting tired over time (a light gray sofa, a white and gray carpet, a marble coffee table, a light colour wooden bench, a minimalist sideboard in natural oak, a jute ottoman ...). It was then with the pure decoration that I wanted to bring cheerfulness, touches of color and originality.
My gallery wall
For example, I knew I wanted a gallery wall in the living room. I had dreamed of it for years. I'm a fan of illustrations so months before we moved I was already pinning my favorites on Instagram. Then, on Canvas website, I imagined how to associate these illustrations with vitamin colors, how to arrange them etc. I had the idea of associating a rattan shelf to break the monotony of the gallery wall. Anyway, I had fun. I'm not going to lie to you, a gallery wall like mine is quite a budget. It cost me more than some furniture. I bought each illustration directly from the illustrators' eshop. It is really important to me to support the work of small creators, you know that. On average, each illustration cost me between 15 and 25 euros. The pig’s one is an original painting, so it cost me a lot more. And in addition to that there is also the framework budget! I think that is the question that comes up most often: "Where did you find your frames? “. Most of my illustrations are in A3 format and yet imagine that it is very difficult to find frames in this format, especially in light wood as I was looking for. I finally found them on a Dutch site specializing in frames, handmade and with a real glas. Today, it’s pretty rare. But the price of course is a little higher. Otherwise, know that IKEA also makes pretty clear wooden frames at unbeatable prices (this is where I bought those for my daughter's room because no need for A3 format) or other sites like Desenio. Personally I like it when there is a harmony of colors in the frames. But you can also mix styles, hunt for vintage frames etc.
In short, this wall of frames was MY BIG PROJECT in this apartment and I must say that I am super proud of it. Every day I discover details of each of these illustrations. It’s my little museum that lights up my days even during the long winters in Amsterdam.
Handcrafted pieces
I gradually bought a few designer pieces such as pretty ceramic pots and beautiful vases. And then I also found a few vintage marvels: a seashell lamp, a Dame Jeanne, an old stool or even a superb rattan chest of drawers that has since moved into the baby's room. I don't really have that much decoration in the living room. I just spend my time moving objects around so I always feel like I've got something new. I also regularly buy fresh flowers, I have dried flowers as well, and to give a vegetal touch to the living room, I added some plants like my gorgeous Monstera.
Enough talking, make way for photos. Below each of them, I put all the references and links if we can still find them online. To be transparent with you, the "La Redoute Interiors" links and “Etsy” links are affiliate links. If you buy these products using my links, I would receive a small commission of a few cents or euros. It doesn't change anything for you but it helps support my work. It is not a collaboration. I paid for all this furniture and decorative items with my little money. It’s a French website though, so not sure if you can order on it (they have a Belgium and a Dutch’one as well. Thank you very much :)
Canvas illustration by Arual Lhuillier. It’s sold out unfortunately but you can buy the sea version as gorgeous. Sideboard La Redoute Intérieurs. Shell lamp, vintage. Set of wood trees My soulmate place. Sheep, Plan Toys. Carafe (that I use as a vase) buy the Dutch ceramist Fenna Oosterhoff.
In addition to the previous references : ceramic plate ARKET, no more available but they have a lot of nice things. Wood tray Sostrene Grene.
Sofa, Maisons du monde. Carpet La Redoute Intérieurs. Coffee tqble Lafuma, no more available but similar here and here. Jute ottoman Urban Culture nature, similar here and here. Dame Jeanne, vintage. Pampa hebrs found at my florist shop. Lamp, La Redoute Intérieurs. Bedspread, La Redoute Intérieurs. Macramé pillow, La Redoute Intérieurs. Rattan shelf, La Redoute intérieurs. Illustration “Caravane”, Sacrées Frangines. Illustration “Tigre à lunettes”, Arual Lhuillier. Illustration “Pêches”, Sacrées Frangines. Illustration “Love conquers”, Alja Horvat. Postcard tiger, Arual Lhuillier. Illustration “Blessed be the fruit”, Sacrées Frangines. Illustration “Pink Christmas”, Arual Lhuillier. Illustration “Composition céramique”, Sacrées Frangines. Illustration “Shoot for the stars”, Alja Horvat. Illustration “Pensive”, Pépin Paper. Illustration “I see you”, Atelier Mave. Card “Savane fleurie”, Pépin Paper. Illustration “Mimosa et cerises”, Léa Maupetit. Card “Feuillage”, Pépin Paper. Illustration “Bouquet”, Gardé. Original gouache painting “Pink pig” (now available in print, Atelier Mave. Illustration “Fleur d’hiver”, Pépin Paper.
Left picture : Stool, vintage. Sake carafe, bought in Japan. Big transparent vases bought at my florist shop. Big ceramic pot, vintage. Olympus film camera, vintage. Ceramic white and green vase, Harm & Elke.
Right picture : Stool, vintage.
Bench HARU, Woodchuck. Vase (no more available but similar here by the same ceramist), Cassandre Bouilly Ceramics. Birds hangers, La Redoute intérieurs.
Left picture : Hanging basket, Le Joli shop. Birds hangers, La Redoute intérieurs.
Right picture : Shell, Cassandre Bouilly Ceramics.
Left picture : Natural bamboo fan, Le Joli shop. Illustration “Pensive”, Pépin Paper. Carafe used as a vase, found in a small shop in Haarlem. Basket plante, found at my florist shop, you can find some nice ones here and here.
Right picture : Pink planter, Dille & Kamille. Macramé shell, Woola La!