I’ve been here about a year, and my place is nice, but admittedly feels a bit barren. I have a futon on one side of my main living room and a desk/set of drawers setup on the other, but I don’t really have anyhing else to populate the room with, and as a result it’s always felt like a spot I’m just inhabiting rather than my own place.
I’m curious, what kind of things (furniture, furnishings, beds, anything really etc) do you have in your homes that make them feel more, well, homely?
8 comments
Find a nice picture or decorative floor lamp.
Heck even some trinkets from a gacha machine can help make a place feel more like yours.
I have a nice sansevieria plant in my home office.
NASA did a study that found that these plants are good at improving the air quality of a room.
I always felt the same because I moved around alot and kept things bare. Not necessarily furniture, but when I finally settled down a bit and started buying random decorative things my place started feeling more like a home. It’s like a weird symbolic act of filling your place with non-functional things to say “I’m settled here”. Like a mental commitment. I can’t really explain it. Take a look at houzz.com or similar sites for ideas, but things as simple as framed pictures, floor plants, or a small corner table with stuff on it make a big difference. My wife got a random glass container and put dried branches and leaves in it. I thought it was a waste of money but it honestly made our entryway look really home-y.
We got something like this for the big white wall between the TV and the kitchen:
[https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B084GLD1FR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1](https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B084GLD1FR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1)
It breaks up the giant blank space, and give us a place to hang stuff that doesn’t put holes in the wall of a rental. We have a clock up at the top, a bunch of pictures hung up, cards we received sitting on the shelves, etc.
I’m not sure about your reading habits, but I also enjoy having a big bookshelf to both store and display all my books.
Framed artwork and posters make a huge difference in the feeling of a space. It doesn’t have to be expensive or highbrow – even posters mounted to cardboard can make an impact.
We enjoy collecting affordable artwork from young artists. You can pick up some great pieces for under 10,000 yen.
We also put some colorful throw pillows onto the couch which add a splash to an otherwise neural object.
Elevating a medium size plant on a box or low table can make it appear much larger to help it fill a corner.
Plants and greenery
Plants! I love plants. I have a bunch of indoor plants I’ve been growing from babies, and I talked to the 管理者 about using a bit of overgrown garden that I’ve planted some flowers. He even brought me some seedlings to plant to fill out the space.
I use my computer a lot. A nice height adjustable desk, monitor arm with monitor light. Good ergonomic chair. I dress up my desk with various gadgets. Living room is quite a mess, but a nice solid dinning room table with a bench for seat is the thing that makes me feel the most “at home.” Also a whiteboard for writing things like grocery list, reminders, chores etc on.