At the core of Chinese interior design is the art of bringing together simplicity, modernity, the contemporary and nature to make an environment of harmony and serenity, with quality and craftsmanship the focal point of everything within its uncluttered lines. In this traditional view, there is a rich confluence of Confucian, Taoist and Zen Buddhist traditions, and in the approach to color it tends to lead towards the cleanness of white and neutral tones. Differentiating itself from the traditional largely expected red color, the inspired decor in an increasing number of modern Chinese houses is a kind of bright restraint, whiteness leading a range of colors that reflect more of nature, such as brown, gray and tan. Other colors are brought to the forefront in this style, added as accents upon the room’s canvas of neutral tones.
White and beige provide the linking theme for this penthouse apartment in the converted former 1930s Union Brewery overlooking Shanghai’s Suzhou River. Chain curtains, also in white, screen off the sleeping area.
Architect and designer Jiang Tao chose shades of gray as the theme for this minimalist Beijing apartment, with an unadorned polished stone flagged floor.
The living room of one of China’s best-known artists, Yue Min Jun, with a sculpture by the artist overlooking the living area from the upper floor walkway. Designed by Chen Jia Gang, the space is conceived as functional, spacious and white, in deliberate contrast to the artist’s graphically powerful work.
In a minimalist conversion of a double-bayed 1930s lane house in Shanghai by the architectural cooperative sciskewcollaborative, the original Art Deco rectangular geometry is emphasized with an all-white finish to walls, floor and ceiling.
The first floor sitting room of a French Concession house in Shanghai, in white, with a 2006 painting, ‘Chinese Woman’ by artist Shan Gang, providing the color focus.
The gilded interior of a bowl provides the single color accent in this Pudong villa. Floor-to-ceiling double-height glass floods the large space with light.
White walls, ceiling and sofa over a natural wood floor alleviate the cramped potential of this room under a mansard roof.
Extensive use of white brings an apparent expansion of space in the small Beijing apartment of architect and designer Zhong Song.