A shabby chic retreat

Japanese style is appealing to many people in the West who want to pare down their lives and enjoy the beauty of simple living. Perhaps you have attempted to create a Japanese styled interior in your living room or bedroom with success, but the kitchen is a more challenging space. This is because the kitchen is a functional space where a lot happens. You have to create meals every day, you probably have multiple pots and pans on the go, the heat is rising, and people are shouting at you for their dinner – this is exactly where an injection of Zen could benefit you the most. So how do you add a touch of Zen to your kitchen design?

Make sure everything that has a place. This is something that is easier said than done within a kitchen, because there so many things to fit inside one room: large appliances, small appliances, cooking utensils, cooking ingredients, crockery, cutlery, and more besides. But the key to Japanese design is simplicity and clean lines. You will be interrupting those clean lines if your surfaces are littered with coffee jars and mug trees. Make sure that everything has a space in a cupboard, away from sight. This is trickier than it sounds, and it may be reason to hire a kitchen designer to maximise the use of space, particularly if your kitchen is small.

Bring the outside in. Natural elements are extremely important in Japanese design, so it's a very good idea to bring plants inside the kitchen. Of course, something you'll want to have within a kitchen are cooking ingredients, so why not team up Zen design with kitchen functionality and create your own miniature indoor herb garden within your kitchen space? You could also place a big bowl of limes on the kitchen counter – something that combines the outdoors with Zen simplicity and that makes your kitchen smell wonderful.

White is a good choice. Before you start thinking about paint colours, there is really only one colour choice when it comes to Japanese design, and that is white. It also happens to be a staple of kitchen design, so you should have no problems finding things like white tiles, white countertops, and white cabinet doors for your calming kitchen space. Colour accents aren't really a thing in Japanese design, so if you want to break up all of that white, use black or neutral colours.