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

Apartment Therapy

This Bathroom Makeover Proves You Can Transform a Space Without Moving Walls

October 16

Designer Fariha Nasir refreshed her bathroom and closet with green tile, Mughal-inspired arches, and smarter storage.

Kitchens & bathrooms Decorating bathroom closet decorating

Read at Apartment Therapy ↗

One letter a week, starting soon.

Latest

This Bathroom Makeover Proves You Can Transform a Space Without Moving Walls

Related

6 Bathroom Trends Designers Say Are About to Take Off in 2027 Veranda

Architectural Digest’s Starter Home Essentials (2026) Architectural Digest

Japan洗面台まわりについ置いてしまう、スキンケアやヘアケア用品…。山崎実業の「薄型ラック」に入れるだけですっきり roomie

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

20 Quietly Luxurious Bathroom Accessories That Make an Occasion of Every Ritual Homes & Gardens

28 envy-inducing green kitchens for a fresh new look Homes to Love