10 countries that will inspire you & boost your interior design skills
Startlingly coloured macaroons at a market in Provence, France. Image © Jenny Humphreys I’ve been fortunate to travel the globe for work and pleasure, to countries as local as France or as unfrequented as Afghanistan. In each I’ve admired how traditional and contemporary interior design emphasises and encourages local lifestyles. Distinct national styles evolve, and the countries below may inspire your own decorative scheme. Japan The Japanese are masters of design, with incredible attention to detail in their homes. Japanese interiors evoke order, minimalism, zen and miniaturisation, in a mountainous country where only 25% of the land can be built upon to house 130 million people, 90% of whom live in cities. Small is beautiful in the land of the rising sun - think bonsai! These design approaches arise from a formal, ritual-filled society, where high-tech modernity rubs shoulders with ancient tradition.