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

Homes & Gardens

The 5 Design Secrets to Elevating a Neutral Room Without Adding Color

October 16

When it comes to making a room more exciting, more interesting, color is often the go-to. How do you add instant depth to a neutral room? The answer is so often through bolder color.

Read at Homes & Gardens ↗

One letter a week, starting soon.

Latest

The 5 Design Secrets to Elevating a Neutral Room Without Adding Color

More from Homes & Gardens on Uchi

The H&G 100 Fall 2026 – Our Definitive Guide to the Best in Home Design this Season Homes & Gardens

20 Elevated Kitchen Essentials That Combine Exceptional Design and Function Homes & Gardens

'Swamp Chic' Is the Unexpected, Everglades-Inspired Design Direction Behind This Victorian Home in Capitol Hill Homes & Gardens

Your Outdoor Oasis Awaits – 20 Patio Furnishings and Accessories for Those Who Value High Design, Even While Outside Homes & Gardens

Refresh the Soul of Your Home – 20 Living Room Furnishings and Accessories That Epitomize Livable Luxury Homes & Gardens

20 Elegant Bedroom Accessories for the Style-Obsessed Sleeper Homes & Gardens