Today I watched "Design Talks Plus" on NHK World Japan. It was such a pleasure to see the creative and artistic creations of Japanese architects and designers. Japanese are known for utilizing space correctly and what I would call is "creating space in limited space" with the way they layout a living space or the way they stack things in a cupboard. Immense creativity is displayed in their original and intelligent designs. It goes to show that we can live with less and live in small spaces in the most splendid ways if we desire to. One can even have the most beautiful garden in a very small space and yet give it the look of vastness and depth by the way we cleverly design it.    

Minimalistic living is important to enjoy the more meaningful things in life as was discussed in the show. Japanese architects showcase their creative projects in houses and furniture. I feel that we often confuse minimalistic decor with minimalistic living. People often buy big houses but on the contrary, choose to have minimalistic decor thinking that it would portray that they are following the actual concept of minimalism. But that does not necessarily bring out the essence or authenticity of minimalism according to me if you truly want to subscribe to the idea of minimalism. As the architect rightly said that instead of expanding, one needs to grow upwards and save on space. Now that has a very deep interpretation for me. My interpretation is that one can live with less but still rise in life by having abundance in your heart even amidst limitations. I wonder what would be your interpretation of what you see in that program. Anything you see in a day or experience every day can have a deep meaning for you and like a work of art can invite different interpretations. 

The importance of reusing things was also discussed and I could closely relate to that as we follow that in our family. Things are handed down from generation to generation. My mother is an interior designer and she believes in giving an honorable place to all the heirlooms and other old things in her house to go hand-in-hand with contemporary things or furniture. One does not have to renounce old things or old ways from time immemorial to embrace new things and this is what I follow in life. It all depends on the right balance and how you blend them with each other. 

I have blended things old and new as well as blended things from different cultures in the way I have decorated my apartment. Not everything is new as I have some antiques or old or used things like furniture at my place but everything matches each other in such a way that you would feel that they were bought together to be meant for each other. But it all depends on how you place things to show unison. In differences too there can be togetherness. I am a cross-cultural consultant and you can find the shades of my thoughts and work resonate in the decor of my house too as I bring together different things bought at different places from different countries. This is what I learned from my parents. It is all the more interesting and fulfilling when you could create a beautiful picture out of things that would normally not be considered to go with each other being from different cultures or different times.       

I feel one could also choose to have a blend of colors or a blend of cultures in the things that you display in your house. I don't strictly follow a particular kind of decor. What matters is how you put things together to make them belong to each other and bring out the beauty in each other even in the small space of an apartment. The idea is to create space within space and that can be a bright one too if you want with the colors and lighting you choose. In these times, most of your time is spent at your own place. You are within your space most of the time during these trying times of the pandemic and so it is required that it should be comfortable and alluring for you so that you don't feel weighed down by being indoors more than before. Within that limited space too, you can easily discover the value of life!