When redecorating a part of the home in a particular style it is easy to focus on the central elements of the particular room concerned. For instance, with a living room most people give most attention to the soft furnishings. Likewise, when it comes to a bathroom more thought is given to the suite than any other part of the layout.

Whilst this is understandable, you should never overlook the importance of the walls when it comes to a well thought through interior design. If you are taking inspiration from Asian styling, this is particularly so. If you get the walls setting the right tone in a themed room, other elements of the design should slot into place. Wall coverings should be much more than about selecting the right paint, from a color swatch, to fit in with your seating or drapes. Avoid a monotone look for whichever room you decide is going to be redesigned in an Asian style. It is important to have a bit of variety in order to add some Eastern spice to your home.

Artwork.

A simple approach to take to an Asian inspired room’s walls is to select the right sort of artwork. With the right color combinations, a piece of wall mounted art can bring the rest of a design together. A typically East Asian décor is to have paneled artwork set out in threes or fours. Go for a contrasting color with the wall. Red on blue or vice versa works well.

And reflect the main color of the artwork in another element within the room, for example with cushion covers. Paneled artwork is okay when pushed together to make a single image, but separating them at regular intervals really adds to the Asian-inspired feeling. Artwork that uses gold and black together is another great way of enlivening walls, particularly in a smaller room. Go for traditional scenes and don’t be afraid of being too corny. You will really have to overdo it to make your home feel like it is an oriental themed restaurant.

Unbeatable Bamboo.

Bamboo is rarely used on walls outside of Asia, but it makes for an excellent choice of covering. In Europe and North America you are more likely to see it used as a hard wearing floor covering in a domestic setting. Nevertheless, bamboo wall coverings look great and a highly versatile, suiting many different sorts of rooms. Try it in a bathroom, as a good place to start, and you may end up using it elsewhere in the home. Bamboo wall coverings are capable of fitting in and complementing many different color palettes, so don’t feel that your design is restricted by using the natural material at all.

Wall Paper.

Asian inspired wallpaper will set the right tone in many a room. Use it to make an accent wall, ideal if the wall you happen to be covering is little more than a screen in an open plan environment. Hang some color coordinating artwork over your choice of wallpaper to break it up and use a border so that the look is not uniform and the wallpaper does not end up covering the full height of the wall. For the best results, don’t paper all of the room’s walls.

Wall Covering With Furniture.

A great way of getting an Asian look is to use furniture to cover part of a wall. A shelving unit that sits across the majority of a wall, with integral lighting and oriental ornaments, will do a great job. Equally, an Asian flair table, set beneath some appropriate artwork, continues the Eastern visual cue down from the wall to the floor, extending and enhancing the look.

Screens And Blinds.

Blinds are most commonly used to cover windows, as opposed to walls, however they work really well with screens and false walls in domestic settings that have an element or two that are drawn from Japan.

Use a drape hung over a plainly painted wall to get something of the effect. Alternatively, a blind with a repetitive Asian geometric design works well in a room that has plain walls, only subtly hinting at an Eastern theme. For the full on Asian inspired look, use paneled screens, set in front of the room’s internal walls, to appear as if you are in a traditional Japanese building.

Picture sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.