Forget Hygge or Feng Shui, Wabi-Sabi is the latest design trend you need to know about. It is a Japanese term that, put simply, means beautifully imperfect. Finding aesthetic and value in things that are imperfect. 

Wabi is the part that relates to minimalism, simplicity and a connection to nature, whilst sabi is an acceptance of how things are and how they work, the good and the bad. 

When it comes to how you decorate your home, wabi-sabi has a great part to play. It is a way to give your home some deeper meaning, some real roots to your design, some real authenticity to its atmosphere. 

In-line with environmental ethos and design, as well as a need for better mindfulness, wabi-sabi can help the homeowner to find a sense of peace in their home, without relying on ‘stuff’. No need for the latest lamp, the best rug, the designer tiles. It doesn’t need to be perfect and actually, by being imperfect, it is likely to have more meaning and a more rich design, particularly for you and your family. 

To summarise, it is an escape from a consumerist society that focuses on perfection. A serene home environment that serves the authentic, not the lacklustre decor frenzy that can feel exhausting, and empty. 

How To Get Wabi-Sabi Right In Your Home

The Homemade

The homemade items you have in your self storage unit or garage are perfectly at home in a wabi-sabi design. The vase your Grandma crafted and left for you in her will, the broken and wonky wicker basket that you made, that still looks charming and cute by the fire. These items have a place in your wabi-sabi home because they are cherished. 

The Made By Other People

Items carved by a local artisan, or purchased from a local flea market. They are local, and loved, and charming. Having these items in your home detracts from the million-made items you can get for low prices at huge decor stores. 

The Space

Wabi-Sabi is about imperfection, but that doesn’t mean it values mess and chaos. If anything, a decluttered home detracts from the emphasis you want to place on your carefully selected items.

To embrace the imperfect, it is important to declutter and create the space to do that. Pop what you clear in cheap self storage and make sure to go back to it at some point to organise it. 

Whilst you’re in your cheap self storage unit, you may well find something perfect for your new decor style at home too. Something you previously considered too imperfect to display or use. 

Embrace Natural Variation

Nature shows us all kinds of gorgeous imperfections in colour variations, texture variations, size, feel and tone differences. A natural wood knot in a chair, unique marble slab worktops, different sized pebbles from the beach. Nature is beautiful in all its perfection and imperfection, so using natural items in your decor is the perfect reflection of wabi-sabi ethos. 

Mismatch

Mismatch has previously featured in cottage decor, shabby chic and various other style types for the home. In wabi-sabi, it represents an element of choice from the homeowner. Individually selected pieces treasured for their unique contribution to the home. The mismatched, amongst neutral tones and natural materials celebrates the things you hold dear, regardless of their clashing or otherwise mismatching. 

“Pare down to the essence, but don’t remove the poetry.” – Leonard Koren 

Is wabi-sabi your new design ethos? Is it perfect for the imperfect aesthetic you have been looking for? In a perfection obsessed world, it might be exactly what your home needs to get some depth, strength and substance far beyond generic design styles, furniture and accessories.