What items should I get to fill up my living room wiht this Eastern theme?

December 14, 2006 2:34 AM

I need help redecorating my house. I am going for the "Eastern" and contemporary look (Indian/ Middle Eastern/ Asian decor mixed with West Elm-ish contemporary style). I want to have Buddha statues, silk fabric for the window curtains, silk throw pillows, artificial plants and etc.

I would love for my living room to look like Jeremy Piven's living room which can be seen in the documentary "Jeremy Piven's Journey of a Lifetime: India." If you can please link me to any websites that have pictures of living rooms or bedrooms with this theme. If you could also please give me any tips and advice on what stuff I should get and what stores to look at. I am located in Houston, TX and have been to Pier 1 Imports and Cost Plus World Market. Both stores are great, but more stores recommendations would be nice. I am also trying to save some money on this project, so any frugal tips would be great. Links to pictures of furnished rooms is what I am mainly looking for and would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Here is are some pictures of Jeremy Piven's living room this is the the exact look I want: (make sure you zoom in, many browsers auto reduce the size so it all fits in on the screen)
direct link

posted by apple to home & garden (16 comments total)

I can't speak to decorating the whole house, but we bought this bed; though the company that we purchased it from, over the internet, about a year ago, doesn't seem to exist anymore so I can't recommend where you might get it. But we love the bed. The site has more styles as well. Hope this might help.
posted by iurodivii at 5:27 AM on December 14, 2006

Track down and find your local/regional Middle Eastern or Asian community and look for ethnic-owned fabric shops or boutiques; they will be a great source of fabrics for you to choose from to make your own curtains and throw pillows.

Sari fabrics can be made into an assortment of accessories and come in a wide variety of styles, colours and designs. Don't buy pre-made pillow forms and pillow covers, they are too expensive. Instead just buy a large pack of stuffing from your local fabric shop, and make your own pillow covers and shams from sari fabric.

You might also want to consider having a look at henna artwork. Henna is usually used for mehndi, a temporary decorative body art that is often done on the hands and feet for special occasions and celebrations.

However, henna is also used on a variety of other decorative objects, ranging from drumskins/heads, to small wooden footstools and boxes, lampshades and lanterns and even decorative hennaed picture frames or mirrors. These items can help to add a more original ethnic Indian/Middle Eastern touch than the stereotypical Buddha figurines. You could even hire a local henna artist to create some custom pieces for your decor!
posted by Jade Dragon at 5:50 AM on December 14, 2006

I've been planning my own Indian makeover as well. Here are a bunch of sites that might help you out.
Ten Thousand Villages is a fair trade organization that imports goods from all over the world. Their stuff is fairly priced and you get to help people at the same time. I have picked up a few things from India and Thailand there.
sarimagic has a lot of Indian goods from carpets to clothing.
OmHome is a site that I've been watching for a while now. They still don't sell stuff to the public, but I'm sure they will within a few months. They have a bit more of a modern take on Indian home decor.
You mentioned that you wanted a few Buddhas in your home. Buddhism is just regaining popularity in India, and is really considered to be a sect of Hinduism by the people there. To be accurate, don't pick up the familiar fat laughing Buddha^, he's from Asia. The thinner meditating Buddha^ is what you are looking for, even a Bodhisattva^ will do fine. Ganesha is a popular diety among Hindus as well as Shiva and Vishnu. The Dance of Destruction statue is one of my favorites and is pretty common. They are easy to find at headshops/smoke shops/metaphysical stores.
Other common elements of India are mangos, lotus, and elephants.
Here are two more pictures and a book to help you as well.
Have fun!
posted by idiotfactory at 6:07 AM on December 14, 2006 [1 favorite]

Try going to Chinatown.
Or Little India on Hillcroft.
Both places have lots of shops.

If nothing else, go to Hong Kong City Mall.

You can get some great fabric in VietNamTown at High Fashion Fabric Center on Westheimer. While you are down that way you can go to old Chinatown. There are still some great shops down there.
posted by nimsey lou at 6:46 AM on December 14, 2006

hmm, keep in mind that having a buddha statue would be a bit like a buddhist having a decorative jesus statue. Kinda weird.
posted by Kololo at 7:49 AM on December 14, 2006

I like Spiegel for curtains and bedding. Pretty much everything will end up on sale eventually.
curtains, pillow shams, throw
end tables
This lamp may be too much.
posted by theora55 at 9:39 AM on December 14, 2006

Near High Fashion Fabrics (mentioned above) is High Fashion Home which has some furniture and fabrics similar to Piven's place at times. In that same area, stop by Adkins Architectural Antiques. Often they buy some neat old Afghani wooden bowls and other things that could work with this.

Tanzu on 19th in the Heights has some Asian themed items.

Corazon at the corner of Fairview and Waugh. It's mostly Latin stuff but some Eastern. On Montrose at Fairview (or maybe closer to Hyde Park) is a little hippy shop with some Eastern nik-naks.

I'd hit Hillcroft and Chinatown that nimsey lou mentioned as well.

Chat up the staff at all these places - they often know great other little hole in the wall places to find things. Get ideas from the expensive places and re-make them with stuff found at the less-expensive places. Give yourself time to look around. There's tons of all sorts in this city as you probably know, sometimes it just takes a while to find it.

For websites look around on Apartment Therapy - always good decorating advice. See what comes up by googling "Asian design" or Asian home."

Have fun redoing everything!
posted by dog food sugar at 9:54 AM on December 14, 2006

Overstock.com seems to have lots of Indian and asian-themed stuff in its "worldstock handcrafted" section.
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 10:55 AM on December 14, 2006

That's the same kind of decor our house is, and there is this one place in the Heights that I love - Eclectic Home. It's not cheap, but it's beautifully decorated, and they have some really great things in there, that are sort of the eclectic modern aesthetic. I try to swing by every time I'm in Houston - if not to buy something, then at least to get some decorating ideas.

I would also recommend looking around the antique stores all down 19th street - we found a great French prayer chair for not that much, and it's in our foyer now.

Storehouse Furniture is closing, and having some great sales, and we got a lot of our furniture from them, so that might be a good place to start.

A piece of advice that I've noticed from my decorating - use the dramatic pieces (Buddhas, carved Indonesian wedding bed, etc) as accents. I stick to dark woods and earth tones with clean, modern lines, and then throw in perhaps a really brightly colored pillow, or blocks of color with a big floor vase or maybe a painted accent wall.

Try to avoid going too "themey". Like, you want to avoid (at least, I want to avoid) the whole "welcome to my Japanese kitchen" and then "This is the Nepalese bedroom". I like to mix and match, and stick unlikely things together (like the Aztec mask I got in Mexico alongside my Saudi coffee pot), to give it a feeling of well-traveled eclecticism.

I have found some cool, super-cheap stuff at Garden Ridge, and Hobby Lobby. Most of it is total crap, but some of it can be really neat, and look really cool, depending on how you use it.
posted by mckenney at 11:58 AM on December 14, 2006

Go poke around on the HGTV site. I've seen several India inspired rooms on their shows. The link is to the list I got when I typed in "Indian".
Check out thrift stores for things that have an Indian feel or for things you can remake. HGTV should give you some ideas.
You can do wonders with paint, glue and fabric pretty inexpensively.
posted by BoscosMom at 12:25 PM on December 14, 2006

Following idiotfactory's link to "Dance of Destruction" I found this Tibetan Phone Bell/Timer which might be an interesting touch. It's kind of pricey though.
posted by BoscosMom at 12:38 PM on December 14, 2006

There is a place on 19th street in the Heights called Wind Water Gallery. They have LOTS of Asian stuff. But some if is very costly.
posted by nimsey lou at 12:59 PM on December 14, 2006

I think the Mughal-court look is fantanbulous -- more is more.
I would just hie myself to little India for items -- please to remember that they are cheaper than Cost Plus or Pier One.
Watch movies for inspiration:
Umrao Jaan
Devdas
Not Moghul, Maharashtrian: Paheli

And this: Mughal-e-Azam
This movie was originally released in black and white, except for this scene in orgasmic Technicolor, an hour into the movie. I want my house to be like that: people walk around in the grey mundane world, and then enter my house... and their eyeballs burst.
posted by Methylviolet at 3:35 PM on December 14, 2006 [1 favorite]

Target has a surprising number of inexpensive decor items that would fit this theme. You'd definitely need to spend a little more on some of the key pieces (Buddha statue, etc) to really sell the look, but colored throw pillows, candle holders, bowls, and the like can be gotten on the cheap without looking cheap.
posted by Help, I can't stop talking! at 6:43 PM on December 14, 2006

Cost Plus WorldMarket
posted by radioamy at 8:44 PM on December 14, 2006

Wooden Buddhas on Houston Craigslist for under $25.
posted by dog food sugar at 9:40 PM on December 14, 2006