Home Sweet Home

On average we spend a third of our lives in bed, and the bedroom is one of the most important rooms in the home. That is why we should spend time and effort on creating a peaceful, harmonious, and more soothing atmosphere within it. Here we can relax and unwind, rest, study, meditate, or exercise. The bedroom is a private and personal place where we can take refuge during periods of ill health and bad humour or when we need to retreat from the world and be by ourselves. And the bedroom is the most popular place for making love.

Above all, the room should express tranquillity. The economy, simplicity, and understatement of the traditional Japanese bedroom evokes this atmosphere perfectly. The natural materials have soft textures and subdued colours: wood and bamboo, plain plaster, shoji paper, and pale green tatami mats all create that soothing atmosphere that is conducive to peace of mind and physical relaxation. An awareness of our spiritual needs, our bonds with nature, and the passing seasons are expressed and symbolized in the traditional alcove, or tokonoma, with its rustic pillar and changing display of wall scroll, objects of beauty, and ikebana flower arrangement. Reflected and indirect natural light creates a soft and subtle illumination; you could further diffuse the light with net curtains, blinds, or, as here, with translucent shoji screens. The shoji floor lamp adds gentle artificial illumination.

Peace and quiet are essential. Double glazing the windows and double doors or a small enclosed entrance lobby may be necessary to shut out the sounds of the city; noisy apartments can often be improved by soundproofing the walls and ceilings. But for complete relaxation, the sound of softly falling rain and the wind in the trees is ideal.

Western bedrooms are often too dry, warm, and stuffy. The ideal temperature is 13-15°C (5560°F), slightly higher for children and the elderly, with adequate humidity and fresh, clean air forgood ventilation and easy breathing. But avoid creating any through draughts; very low temperatures can easily induce hypothermia in the vulnerable. Natural and untreated, nontoxic materials and fabrics breathe and will help to regulate the room climate.

The apparent simplicity of a Japanese-style bedroom is the result of detailed attention given to the individual features that all together create a perfect space for relaxation and meditation.

The alcove, a miniature replica of nature with its rustic post, small boulder, and plant, serves as the focal point for meditation. Duringthe day, the bed can be moved or folded and the cotton futon rolled up and stored behind the sliding doors. That will then leave sufficient clear floor space for practising meditation, yoga exercises, or massage on the symmetrically arranged tatami mats of springy rice straw.

Lighting is subdued: shoji screens of mulberry paper on sliding glass doors diffuse the natural light, which diminishes toward the back of the room. The screens can be raised to permit low-level views of the garden, and outside shutters can be closed to shut out the glare and heat^-. of the noonday sun. Artificial light from the floor lamp is also softened by a shoji paper shade; the light in the alcove is concealed. Large, loose filled floor cushions provide seating or reclining supports around a low wooden reading table with ornamental inlay.

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