A room is a decision about how you want to be tired at the end of the day.

I live in forty-eight square metres in Tokyo with one good chair and far too many bowls, so I have had to mean that. I trained as an architect and left to write, which my teachers took badly. Uchi (内) means inside, and it means home: the room you come back to. The palette comes after the tiredness. So does the name on the lamp.

This is where I keep what the world's rooms are doing. Around seventy sources, read in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, French and English: an apartment in Seoul, a house outside Taipei, a Copenhagen showroom seen from here rather than from Denmark. East first, because east is where I am sitting.

Each story is a headline, an excerpt of a few lines, one photograph and a link to whoever did the work. We never reprint the piece, and the photograph belongs to the person who took it. When a room was written up in Korean or Italian it stays in Korean or Italian here; the link takes you to the writer's own words.

I am not trying to be complete. I am trying to notice.

— Mio Tachibana, Tokyo

← Uchi Archive

Livingetc

I Went to Tate Britain's New 90s Exhibition — These Are the Lessons I Learned in Authentically Recreating the Interiors Aesthetic of the Time

October 8

Ahead of the official opening on October 8th, I had a chance to explore the hotly anticipated Tate Britain exhibition, The 90s: Art and Fashion .

Read at Livingetc ↗

More from Livingetc on Uchi

What Color Is Ochre? Here's How to Decorate With This 'Enriched' Yellow Like a Designer Livingetc

I’ve Never Seen a Studio Apartment Do So Much in Such a Little Space — It Conjures Up a Dream-State Landscape in a Mere 37-Square-Metre Home Livingetc

Livingetc Unlocked Livingetc

I Bought a Japanese ‘Donabe’, and It’s Changed How I Cook, Host, and Style My Kitchen Livingetc

The Strange Beauty of Blue Countertops — Why This Ethereal Kitchen Trend Is the Most Interesting Design Idea Right Now Livingetc

Maritime Charm Out East, Divine Design in Silver Lake, Cascais's Mural-Filled Suites, Sensory Warmth in the Big Smoke — 4 New Hotel Bedrooms to Check Into This Month Livingetc

One letter a week, in your inbox.

Latest