That room sparks joy

Living in Japan for 12 years, I can say this: - Low furniture is cheaper and less bulky. It's not to make the room appear more spacious - it's literally to maximise use of the typically limited space available. - Traditional screens are just that - traditional. Most new Japanese homes don't have them, unless you have a specifically Japanese style room. - The storage part is true, and extremely useful. I used to use my wall storage as a 'sweep everything under the rug' sort of deal. Worked wonders when I had visitors. - The paper lamps can give off that light, but they're impractical if you're actually trying to do something, like study or clean. We used to have that sort of light in our old apartment, and it was infuriating at times. It's better to have a regular hanging light, and lamps with gentler light.

A single cushion....

Other than the storage being built in the wall, the rest is not true. And the storage in the wall is also very common in Europe so it's not really a Japanese thing. Traditional screens are not used to hide clutter at all... If you're taking about screen doors, those are just doors, the same as everywhere but the slide. If you're taking about screen panels, those were used to hide people in certain situations, but that was mostly in the past. I've visited so many places in Japan (I'm building a business centered around houses and apartments) and I have never seen one screen panels, or even paper lanterns. Those are mostly seen in shops for design or... Abroad. They were probably used a long time ago but not anymore. Low furnitures are low because people sit/knee on the floor. The furnitures are lower to be easily accessed without the need to stand again. Also to lower the risk of tipping during earthquakes.

the single cushion surprised me

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

i like has to go there