Wabi-Sabi Interiors

I recently had beautiful, lustrous Brazilian Oak hardwood installed in my house. I proudly babied it, polished it, admired it....Then came the inevitable first scratch; I was mortified! Scratches and dents are part of life, so why was I vainly searching for perfection? Why did I want to stop the clock? Luckily I soon came to my senses and remembered Wabi-Sabi.

Wabi-Sabi is an ancient Japanese aesthetic that embraces the imperfect, the transient and the incomplete. It reminds us that there is beauty in objects that are time-worn, objects that bear our uniquely personal imprint, that evoke the cycles of nature.

The above picture is a good example of Wabi-Sabi. Note the driftwood table and rustic wood flooring. The room is highly personal: The mismatched chairs suggest there are individuals living here, each with their own seating preferences. The simplicity of the tea setting suggests that there is no need for extraneous ornament and fluff, it would just interfere with the pure appreciation of tea.

These two pictures also illustrate Wabi-Sabi. The man-made is juxtaposed with the organic, the new with the old. Nothing 'matches', but everything works together harmoniously. Objects are pared down to their essence. The idea is if it's beautiful and/or useful then keep it. If not, remove it from your life. Remember, though, that beauty can be imperfect, so appreciate those scratches and dents!

Photo Credits:

1. style-files.com.

2. trendis.com.