Trend Alert: Chinese Interior Design Ideas For Your Home

by Pulkit Singh | February 24, 2024 | 5 mins read

Chinese interior design ideas for your home

Chinese interior design is becoming big this season. Take a look at our stylist’s picks. 

As old as the world itself, China and its culture have fascinated people around the globe for ages. While we may credit it with bringing the joy of tea to our mornings, there is another area where their contribution is laudable. Chinese interior design is turning out to be a significant sensation in home interior trends this season. 

Walk into any Chinese restaurant, and the typical fiery red walls will be paired with the stately black furniture with gold accents. The ceiling will support the delicate paper lanterns and the table vases will have a white flower. But there is so much more to modern Chinese interiors — the motifs, the carvings, the porcelain, the art, the vibe — plentiful characteristics that make it a dynamic theme to experiment with. Don’t believe us? Check out our comprehensive catalogue of all things that go into splendid Chinese interior design. 

Artefacts Are A Stape Of Chinese Interior Design

Oriental decor’s underlying theme is harmony, which is embodied perfectly by the meticulous use of Chinese-themed artefacts in the form of figurines, pottery and artwork that are a huge part of Chinese interior design. Screens are used often, both as decorative elements and as tools for room division. They can be plain or be a canvas for intricate designs and detailed murals. Flower vases with beautiful Chinese motifs add elegance to any room. 

The Chinese design philosophy is about creating zen spaces that instil calmness as you navigate them. Warm and neutral tones are as much a part of Chinese interior decor as reds and blacks. Gold is used more for gilt-edging to create accents. Just because neutral colours are favoured doesn’t mean modern Chinese interior decor lacks character. The depth of ebony and mahogany contrasts with glorious ruby reds, with gold or brass artefacts uniting the two ends of the spectrum.

Chinese interior designed ceiling and artefacts
Ceilings too are a canvas in Chinese interior design

Latticework Is Dominant In Chinese Interior Design Elements

Latticework adorning entrances, living rooms, dining rooms and galleries of homes is a common feature of traditional and modern Chinese interiors. The designs are primarily geometric, rarely floral though sometimes you may come across those too. Latticework can even adorn windows, canopy bed panels and cabinet doors. The work is intricate and precise. This design element can be used creatively in lamps and Chinese-inspired chandeliers for a modern Chinese interior in your home.

Chinese interior design elements for living room
Latticework on the wall panels and ceiling lamp
Home interior solutions for a happy stress free life

Chinese Home Interior With Ming Dynasty-Style Furniture

Wegner’s wishbone chair, which has been at the pinnacle of the chair universe for decades now, is inspired by the Ming dynasty chairs. More is less, and this philosophy is apparent in the Ming dynasty furniture’s impeccable craftsmanship and sturdy joinery. It incorporates clean lines, uncluttered aesthetics and allows the wood to shine. The best way to employ these furniture elements is by keeping the rest of the room’s decoration to a minimum so the beauty of the furniture can dazzle your guests. 

Lacquer work is another inseparable aspect of Chinese interior decor. This technique reached the height of its popularity under the Ming dynasty. In this, the artisans enclose the wood under layers of resin from trees. When the sap dries up, it provides an enviable sheen to the furniture. The designs are beautiful, gorgeous works of art that find expression over furniture, screens, and lately over wall finishes.

Chinese house interior with ming dynasty-style furniture
Ming dynasty-inspired side and centre tables

Characteristics Of Chinese Interior Style Include Chinoiserie Wallpaper

Chinoiserie wallpaper isn’t an authentic element of traditional Chinese interior decor. The Europeans created it to capture the beauty of the Orient. However, modern Chinese interiors have assimilated chinoiserie wallpaper as an undeniable offshoot of their design. Exotic birds and flowers are the typical motifs. Chinoiserie wallpaper responds well to age, fading brilliantly, making it one of the most coveted wall coverings around the world.

Chinese style interior design wallpaper captures the beauty of the Orient in the bathroom
A Chinese-themed washroom for a powerful statement

Also, Read About Bathroom Wallpaper Ideas

Modern Chinese Interior Strikes A Balance Between The Past And Present

Chinese interior decor is about balance and harmony. Only using pieces, you covet for easy energy flow is of enormous significance to Chinese philosophy. Your chi has to balance, attained by an uncluttered room. Use ornate furniture, go big on lamps, soft furnishings made of silk or satin, rice paper screens, and elaborate wall hangings are a great way to incorporate Chinese interior design elements into your bedroom. 

Modern Chinese interior bedroom with rice paper screens, ornate furniture
Soothing characteristics of Chinese interior style

Chinese-inspired decor may be the unassuming wallflower in the interior design world, but that belies the punch it packs. It is momentous and memorable; it is powerful yet sublime. It has an enviable pedigree, the ability to evolve constantly, and a knack for pairing well with other design themes. Chinese interior decor is a force to reckon with and is here to stay.

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Pulkit Singh is a home interior content writer at a design cafe

Pulkit Singh

Pulkit Singh is a ninja. An ex-Googler, her articles have been published in various online and offline media. If not slaying dragons or deadlines, she can be found near pots of tea and bookstacks. She is an army brat- her wandering childhood finds resonance now as a fauji's wife. And the reason why there are so many 'she' in this writeup is because she is often told that she has a boy's name. This is her living in denial.

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