Decorating
Let Japanese Shoji Screens Slide In
The subtle beauty of traditional Japanese shoji design is finding its way into modern Australian homes
For centuries Japanese buildings have used shoji design for privacy, protection, light control and the creation of delightful vistas. Shoji style can bring grace, beauty, serenity and stillness to your home – here are 10 good reasons for bringing it into your decor.
Shoji screens are practical in a country used to earthquakes, typhoons, tsunamis and fires. Lightly-built timber homes don’t fare well in such events and shoji screens reduce injuries and can be repaired or replaced quickly. Although glass is now common in Japanese homes, shoji screens are still esteemed as internal dividers for privacy and pleasing appearance.
This quote from Sukiya Living Magazine captures the shoji soul: “Because shoji screens require a gentle touch, people who live with them learn to move gracefully instead of slamming doors.” If you’re ready to shoji, check out good reasons to bring their serenity into your home.
This quote from Sukiya Living Magazine captures the shoji soul: “Because shoji screens require a gentle touch, people who live with them learn to move gracefully instead of slamming doors.” If you’re ready to shoji, check out good reasons to bring their serenity into your home.
1. Shoji lets nature paint pictures
A shoji-style blind creates a lovely artwork from the delicate tracery of trees in the garden, seen through the light-diffusing screen material.
A shoji-style blind creates a lovely artwork from the delicate tracery of trees in the garden, seen through the light-diffusing screen material.
In Japanese homes, a small panel is sometimes built into a screen – literally a window in a door. This creates a natural painting of a beautiful and changing seasonal view.
Above, a small aperture set into shoji doors frames a view and brings glimpses of the outdoors into this pretty bedroom.
Above, a small aperture set into shoji doors frames a view and brings glimpses of the outdoors into this pretty bedroom.
2. Shoji brings in light beautifully
The standout feature of shoji design is the translucent quality of light it creates. Australians love to orientate their homes towards northern light and as a result invite a lot of hard, hot direct sun in. Soft light diffused through pure white textured paper is one of shoji’s main attributes. As such, it protects furnishings, floors, artwork and walls from excessive fading.
Another advantage is that shoji panels allow light exchange while maintaining privacy. Where solid barriers reduce the spaciousness and proportion of large areas, shoji design enhances it.
The standout feature of shoji design is the translucent quality of light it creates. Australians love to orientate their homes towards northern light and as a result invite a lot of hard, hot direct sun in. Soft light diffused through pure white textured paper is one of shoji’s main attributes. As such, it protects furnishings, floors, artwork and walls from excessive fading.
Another advantage is that shoji panels allow light exchange while maintaining privacy. Where solid barriers reduce the spaciousness and proportion of large areas, shoji design enhances it.
BONUS TIP: Sometimes natural light is overrated and modifying direct light in a high-ceilinged room with floor-to-ceiling glass can be tricky. Panels of sliding screens in the upper portion of a high wall help control glare and break up very tall banks of glass.
3. Shoji adds natural texture
Opting for shoji-style screening instead of glass gives you the pleasure of texture. True washi paper, with the fibres intricately laid in several layers, is a textural delight, but modern manufacturing methods can simulate fibre-rich washi paper texture with other materials and processes.
Screens: The Japanese Shoji and Tatami Company
Opting for shoji-style screening instead of glass gives you the pleasure of texture. True washi paper, with the fibres intricately laid in several layers, is a textural delight, but modern manufacturing methods can simulate fibre-rich washi paper texture with other materials and processes.
Screens: The Japanese Shoji and Tatami Company
4. Shoji helps you gain control over your space
With our Australian love of open-plan homes, there are times when ‘flow’ can become overflow. Shoji screens can portion off spaces for intimate occasions without complete visual closure and create easier-to-heat spaces when only small areas are being used. In many lightly-insulated Japanese homes, small-space heating with kerosene heaters is a popular strategy that avoids very high electricity costs.
Clever ways to split large spaces
With our Australian love of open-plan homes, there are times when ‘flow’ can become overflow. Shoji screens can portion off spaces for intimate occasions without complete visual closure and create easier-to-heat spaces when only small areas are being used. In many lightly-insulated Japanese homes, small-space heating with kerosene heaters is a popular strategy that avoids very high electricity costs.
Clever ways to split large spaces
5. Shoji is stronger than you think
If you have doubts about the strength of shoji screening, relax. Traditional materials have been adapted or reinvented for today’s homes. Fragile paper is now often laminated or replaced by synthetics like fibreglass and acrylic products, resulting in a hardier surface, impervious to moisture, washable and suitable for heavier use than a sedate tea ceremony. Nevertheless, they are not indestructible so don’t install them in a rowdy play area!
If you have doubts about the strength of shoji screening, relax. Traditional materials have been adapted or reinvented for today’s homes. Fragile paper is now often laminated or replaced by synthetics like fibreglass and acrylic products, resulting in a hardier surface, impervious to moisture, washable and suitable for heavier use than a sedate tea ceremony. Nevertheless, they are not indestructible so don’t install them in a rowdy play area!
These adaptations may lack the ‘breathability’ and feel of traditional paper, but more robust construction means that bathrooms can confidently enjoy the ambience of shoji screens. As with all bathrooms, ensure sufficient ventilation for the size of the room. Doors and screens can be designed with a solid timber panel at the base, a ‘kick’ protection in the area most prone to damage.
6. Shoji can be adapted to your home’s style
Shoji style adapts perfectly to unfussy modern interiors with restrained colour palettes and elegant, understated furniture. Screens can be made in a variety of sustainable timbers like cedar, pine, ironbark, bluegum or brushbox to complement other timber elements.
Shoji style adapts perfectly to unfussy modern interiors with restrained colour palettes and elegant, understated furniture. Screens can be made in a variety of sustainable timbers like cedar, pine, ironbark, bluegum or brushbox to complement other timber elements.
Shoji manufacturers will usually customise doors and windows with any design you care to come up with to suit your decor. There are many classic shoji lattice patterns, based on the shapes and arrangements of the vertical and horizontal battens. One of the most popular is aragumi, meaning ‘brisk assembly’, a pattern of similar squares.
Here, black frames and a delicate grid pattern are a striking feature of this luxurious bathroom.
More inspiring Asian-style bathrooms
More inspiring Asian-style bathrooms
7. Shoji adds architectural interest
Some modern architecture embraces the concept of ‘house as fortress’, presenting blank, featureless faces to the street in response to our desire for privacy. Shoji-style doors and windows reduce the visual impact of solid walls and provide privacy as well as pleasing architectural geometry to modern exteriors.
Some modern architecture embraces the concept of ‘house as fortress’, presenting blank, featureless faces to the street in response to our desire for privacy. Shoji-style doors and windows reduce the visual impact of solid walls and provide privacy as well as pleasing architectural geometry to modern exteriors.
8. Shoji is versatile
Shoji design is adaptable to almost any partition style – hinged or multi-fold doors, sliding doors and windows or fixed panels. A freestanding shoji screen is decorative even when folded in a corner, ready to be moved around when needed.
Shoji design is adaptable to almost any partition style – hinged or multi-fold doors, sliding doors and windows or fixed panels. A freestanding shoji screen is decorative even when folded in a corner, ready to be moved around when needed.
9. Shoji is soothing
The aesthetics of shoji design are high on the list of why you should consider it for peaceful contemplative spaces in your home. The gentle visual rhythm of latticework, the cool play of light and the subliminal link to a culture that respects simplicity and the natural world encourage tranquil thoughts.
The bedroom should be a place of rest and pleasure. Harsh, bright light is the quickest way to dispel a calm atmosphere and makes shoji the perfect choice for bedroom window and door treatments.
More: 12 Things We Can Learn From These Peaceful Bedrooms
The aesthetics of shoji design are high on the list of why you should consider it for peaceful contemplative spaces in your home. The gentle visual rhythm of latticework, the cool play of light and the subliminal link to a culture that respects simplicity and the natural world encourage tranquil thoughts.
The bedroom should be a place of rest and pleasure. Harsh, bright light is the quickest way to dispel a calm atmosphere and makes shoji the perfect choice for bedroom window and door treatments.
More: 12 Things We Can Learn From These Peaceful Bedrooms
10. Shoji isn’t a fad
Nowadays, we zoom in and out of trends with alarming speed. Shoji design will never look ‘last year’ or be the latest interior craze. Consider this: how can something that’s been around for many centuries date?
TELL US
Have you used shoji design anywhere in your house? How has it enhanced your home?
MORE
4 Japanese Homes That Proudly Speak to Their Surrounds
Japanese Houzz: Living Simply in a Minimalist Family ‘Nest’
Houzz Tour: Shades of Japan in an Updated ’60s Gem
Nowadays, we zoom in and out of trends with alarming speed. Shoji design will never look ‘last year’ or be the latest interior craze. Consider this: how can something that’s been around for many centuries date?
TELL US
Have you used shoji design anywhere in your house? How has it enhanced your home?
MORE
4 Japanese Homes That Proudly Speak to Their Surrounds
Japanese Houzz: Living Simply in a Minimalist Family ‘Nest’
Houzz Tour: Shades of Japan in an Updated ’60s Gem
Traditional Japanese shoji screens consist of a solid timber frame and a lightweight timber or bamboo lattice over translucent fibrous paper. Washi paper, from the bark of the mulberry tree (not rice paper, as commonly thought) has been used for centuries. Screens were originally unglued and slid on with a finger touch on a top (kamoi) and bottom (shikii) rail. The lattice was configured in a variety of grid patterns and was often decorated with scenes from nature and Japanese life.