Japandi wall art: choosing prints for a calm, warm room

Japandi rooms have little in them, so every object counts, including what hangs on the wall.

What japandi asks of art

Japandi blends the light, functional Scandinavian home with Japanese ideas of calm and imperfection: natural wood, linen, clay, soft light and very little clutter. Art in a japandi room should follow the same rules. It should be quiet in colour, textured rather than glossy, and there should be one piece, not a crowded wall.

Good choices

Japanese woodblock prints with calm palettes. Hiroshige's Sudden Shower is rain in slate blue and grey; Maples at Mama frames a distant temple with rust-red leaves.
Soft abstraction with space in the composition. Leave busy, saturated abstracts for other rooms.
Matte paper, never gloss, so the print catches the light like the rest of the room.

Where and how to hang it

Japandi furniture is low, so hang lower than usual. Leave 15–20 cm between a low bench or sideboard and the bottom of the frame, rather than centring strictly at eye height. Off-centre placement works well: a print to one side, balanced by a plant or a lamp on the other. Leaning a framed print on a shelf or on the floor against the wall is also very japandi.

Colours that work

Warm white, sand, clay, sage and charcoal on the walls; oak or white frames. Let one accent from the print, the indigo of rain or the rust of maple leaves, appear once more in the room.