5 Classy Ways To Incorporate Anime Into Your Home Decor
There are so many reasons to love anime: the characters are complex, the stories are inventive, and the artwork can be mesmerizing. It's no wonder that 33% of Japanese people and 18% of Americans enjoy watching anime (via The Anime Facts)! Are you looking for a way to celebrate your anime obsession in style? Do you want to fill your home with whimsy and action but are on the hunt for something more mature than posters and figurines? It can certainly be done!
The goal of the classy, grown-up anime aesthetic is to capture the anime "vibe" without looking too on the nose. As you're decorating your house, it may help to think about how your favorite anime character would decorate their bedroom. Would they use light or dark colors? What kind of plants, bedding, or furniture would they have? Most bedrooms in anime are simplistic and minimal, with a few pieces of décor that showcase the character's cute or daring personality. You can use this idea to make your whole home feel anime-inspired while still incorporating a few of your favorite posters and figurines.
1. Stock up your kitchen
Food always looks so delicious in anime, so the kitchen is a great place to start when it comes to redecorating your home! Most Americans spend about 37 minutes in their kitchen daily, or more if they have children (via U.S. Department of Agriculture). Kitchens are also a likely place to congregate with family or entertain guests in your home, so make sure your kitchen feels like an extension of your personality.
One way to incorporate anime into your home décor is to invest in some cookware and learn how to cook some authentic Japanese dishes like sushi, ramen, and hot pots. A large wok, sushi mat, sake serving set, and tea set are some kitchen essentials that can make you feel like you're really living in an anime. You'll also need a set of reusable chopsticks and cute ramen bowls. Decorated ramen bowls offer a great opportunity to incorporate your favorite anime characters or cute Japanese figures like Hello Kitty. To complete your classy anime-inspired kitchen, stock up on Japanese foods and snacks and look for bottles and boxes that double as décor.
2. Cozy up in kawaii bedding
"Kawaii" is a Japanese word that relates to all things cute and adorable — think pink, lace, cupcakes, puppies, and kittens. Not all anime is kawaii, but incorporating kawaii elements into your home is a great way to capture an anime-like vibe. One easy place to play with cute colors and themes is in your bedroom. The bedroom is already associated with peacefulness, softness, and cozy sleep, so pastel colors and cutesy motifs blend seamlessly into this space. Give your bedroom a fresh makeover by splashing a soft pastel shade on the walls, like mint or lavender.
For those who can't or prefer not to paint their walls, décor retailer Aesthetic Roomcore recommends using kawaii bedding to quickly transform your bedroom. Start with soft white sheets and a thick, fluffy patterned comforter. You may want to avoid character-printed bedding, which can look somewhat childish; instead, look for items that your favorite character would have in their bedroom. Finish the classy, kawaii look with ruffled pillowcases, throw blankets, and even a stuffed plushie or two. If you prefer a more masculine anime-style bedroom, keep things simple with white or plaid bedding and finish with a printed throw pillow.
3. Upgrade your desk space
Plenty of anime enthusiasts have other "nerdy" interests, too! Give your desk space a makeover to combine your love for anime with your other hobbies, like gaming, writing, or drawing. Oli and Alex explains that having an aesthetically-appealing desk is about more than just keeping up appearances; a clean and comfortable workspace will motivate you to be more creative and productive. To achieve the perfect desk setup, they recommend focusing on the right colors, themes, and decorations. Your PC setup can be made more masculine or feminine, natural or tech-savvy, simply by opting for the right color scheme.
Your desk is a good place to display a few of your favorite figurines or manga books to inspire you as you work, and the right gaming chair can really compliment the anime vibe, according to Aesthetic Roomcore. Just be sure to keep desk decorations minimal, as too many figurines or themed items can start to feel cluttered and not classy. Hang LED lights behind your monitors or underneath your desk to give your setup a mysterious glow. Plus, you can change the light colors to match the seasons or your mood. Feel free to choose a desktop background with your favorite character or scene from an anime!
4. Deck out your bookshelf
Shelves are a good way to embrace your hobby without cluttering your whole home. Organize your anime DVDs, manga books, figurines, and other collectibles into neat, spacious shelves. Bookshelves are the perfect furniture piece to show off your collection and spark conversations with friends — they'll definitely want to borrow some books from your gorgeous anime library. Chris Kincaid, founder of Japan Powered, suggests sorting each anime or manga series alphabetically and lining them up at the edge of the shelf to make them look more inviting. For extra neatness, Kincaid also urges readers to organize their books by relative thickness, keeping thin books from getting lost or bent in the shuffle.
Sometimes less is more, so keep figurines on your bookshelves to a minimum. Rather than blocking the anime and manga titles with figurines, arrange your collectibles on a dedicated shelf. If you have an extensive number of collectibles or figurines, Aesthetic Roomcore recommends organizing them into a glass or plexiglass display case. Display cases keep your more expensive collectibles safe from dust and damage, and a well-lit display case adds instant class to any room.
5. Frame your anime artwork
What anime fan doesn't love a good poster of their favorite character? Although posters can be gorgeous and capture the anime aesthetic, they can look somewhat childish in a classy space. But don't roll up or toss out your favorite posters just yet! Framing is one super easy way to make posters and commissioned anime artwork look more grown-up. To choose the perfect poster frame, professional framers at Frame It Easy recommend complementing the shapes and colors of the artwork and considering unique options like metal or wood. For example, soft artwork, such as a Studio Ghibli poster, would look great with a natural wood frame, while bold artwork would look best in a black or colored frame.
Another way to make posters look more refined is to create a cohesive color scheme. For example, group your mostly green artwork in one area, and display black and white artwork in another room. This will help the posters to flow nicely together and look more carefully curated. Instead of having a few posters scattered around the room, consider creating a gallery wall with anime artwork. Use a variety of frame shapes, sizes, and colors to make the gallery wall look more unique.