The Orient has always been exotic to Westerners, because it is foreign and relatively mysterious. Consequently, Oriental home furnishings have become a popular element in many home décor schemes. In their design, Oriental home furnishings are quite simplistic. Decorative motifs tend to be quite basic, and when compared to more elaborate pieces from Germany or France, they could even be described as crude. In many instances, a decorative motif is absent altogether from many pieces of furniture.
Pictured: Oriental Red Apothecary Cabinet at Sears.com
The ultimate goal of Oriental home furnishings is to bring functionality, simplicity, and uniformity into one’s home. While most Oriental furniture feature simple designs and geometric forms, the clean lines are often beset by uniquely originality, beautiful colors, and stylish ornamentation. Furthermore, most Oriental furnishings are characterized by elaborate lacquering techniques that are native to the Far East. These famed lacquering techniques give each piece of furniture a refined, elegant, and timeless appeal to these pieces.
Pictured: Oriental Theme Fireplace Cover
Most Oriental home furnishings originate from Japan and China. The simplistic styling of these home furnishings have been in practice for centuries. For example, the majority of Chinese chairs feature square seats. The legs of the chairs are short and straight, and the chair in its entirety generally features little or no ornamentation. The back of the chair is distinguished by the use of three vertical wood panels, in which the central one is significantly wider than the other two. The three panels are affixed to a horizontal top panel.
Antique cabinets, dressers, bookshelves, and similar types of furnishings tend to feature rectangular shapes and rectilinear lines. They are most commonly constructed from cedar wood or Japanese elm. The wood of these pieces are highly polished to create a highly glossed floss. The natural red tones of these woods are highly prized, but the actual shades can vary from an almost fire engine red to a pale orange. Rarely, nineteenth century Japanese home furnishings have featured gilded metal appliques, because they were influenced by Western design and culture.
Pictured: Oriental Geisha Girl Figurines at Sears.com
Finally, if a decorator is having trouble determining what type of Oriental home furnishings to use in their own home, they might wish to start with traditional Japanese cabinets, which are often referred to as tansu or dansu. These authentic pieces feature various distinctive designs, depending upon which era they were constructed from, but authentic dansu cabinets are plentiful and match a wide variety of different decors.