And I have had questions from many people concerning where to shop when decorating their new home.
I’m definitely NOT an interior design guru- far from it. But as I have been an expat for a while now and had to set up in a few new places, I think it’s soooo important to make a new house a home when you’re about to start a new adventure.
So I’ve tried to include a range of stores and styles as everyone’s home is always going to reflect what they love and will need to blend beautifully with your own treasures that you’ve brought along from your previous home.
So I really love taking time to make sure our home reflects us (to be completely honest, ‘reflecting us’ at this stage in our lives mainly involves a LOT of toys !)
My house is not perfect. Its definitely not magazine ready. But I do love ‘playing with it’ – rearranging the furniture and a smaller living space means that I have to get more creative at times.
It took me a long time to find where to buy home accessories so I wanted to share my list.
We do struggle with buying big pieces of furniture here so many of the big pieces of furniture we own, we either brought or are from good old IKEA – and there are several Ikea stores around Tokyo – so it doesn’t sound very interesting but it certainly is where we purchased our sofa, bedside tables etc.
We brought our favourite art pieces, beds and dining table with us from Australia where we were living before this Tokyo relocation.
My favourite places to fill in the rest are:
The bookshelf is from Amazon Japan. Rug is from Ikea.
And these cloth hampers have saved my life for storage in Japan.
Franc Franc
I love the vases, crockery, cutlery, bathmats and bathroom accessories here.
The Aoyama store is my personal favourite but they also have a much smaller factory outlet in Odaiba too.
When I lived in the Kansai region as a student, I bought a lot of my picture frames here.
There are stores in Aoyama, Odaiba, Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Futakotamagawa, Jiyugaoka, Ueno, Toyosu, Adachi.
Their website is here.
Here is their instagram feed as an example.
Zara Home
This isn’t absolute my favourite but is a good call for towels etc.
There are stores in Minami-Aoyama, Toyosu, Futakotamagawa & Funabashi
Their website is here.
Momo Natural
I find the furniture to be a tad small (and on the pricey side) but I adore their accessories.
Everything is so beautifully made.
There are stores in Yokohama, Jiyugaoka, Kichijoji, Toyosu & Tokyo Bay.
Their website is here.
This is a screenshot of their instagram feed.
And I adore the mason jar/vase from here.
And I wish I had a better picture but these stand up balloons on my daughter’s birthday table as also from Momo Natural.
Salut!
I love a little knick knack store called Salut! for baskets for toys and cute wooden boxes. Most store items are priced under 2000 yen so they aren’t ‘forever pieces’ but are great for storage and first off decorations.
There are stores in Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Tachikawa, Sunamo, Sasazuka, Yokohama, Tokyo Bay and many others.
If you have a Japanese speaker assist, you can also order online. Delivery is free for purchases over 5000 yen.
Their website is here.
Covent Garden Bazaar
Some items in this store are a little bit ‘Nanna’ but I have still found many pieces that I do like here.
If you love ‘French Provincial’ stye interiors or lace ‘n’ roses then you will love a lot of what they have to offer. They also stock a lot of reasonably priced delicate jewellery and garden/outdoor accessories.
They will usually deliver items (purchased in-store) to your home anywhere in Japan if you spend more than 10,000 yen.
They have stores in Odaiba, Kichijoji and Jiyugaoka.
Their website is here.
Their instagram feed gives you the general idea (although their photos aren’t fantastic- the shop is MUCH nicer)
I bought these jars from here and I use them for cookies and baking decorations. (It was 2400 yen for all three.)
Tokyo Interior
I have bought a few things here. I didn’t love everything in here but they have a fantastic selection and I fell in love with some of their lamps right away.
I also purchased a cute medicine box.
There are several dotted around Tokyo & Chiba but I have only ever visited the Makuhari store (it’s quite close to Ikea.)
If you have a Japanese friend help you, it is possible to also order online – although I’ve never done that before.
Their website is here.
This is the only photo I can find of my lamp right now.
Nitori
This chain store is a little bit up and down for me.
The furniture is just not practical for my very tall husband so I go straight to the kitchen and bathroom sections.
I have bought some pots and towels and tableware here.
There are too many stores all over Tokyo to mention.
If you’re looking for little pieces of furniture this is a great place to start.
They also have online shopping (Japanese only, sorry!) and they do home delivery from their stores (free if you spend more than 7000 yen.)
I find the most convenient store locations to be Meguro, Odaiba and the store that is connected to Takashimaya Department Store in Shinjuku
Their website is here.
And this is an example of their products on instagram.
I love my white saucepans.
Tokyu Hands
I certainly don’t filling your house with everything from this store but it is lovely to walk around and choose separate pieces. They also have quite a selection of imported homewares – so I have bought some non-stick frypans and pillows here (I find Japanese pillows to either be too thin and squishy so I found some from Denmark here. )
I also end up at their Shinjuku and Shibuya stores but there are lots and lots more.
Their website is here. (They actually have a basic English website too!)
D2
D2 in Mita is my closest hardware store and I have bought a big chunk of our toy storage containers here. And quite a few plants (I bought half of my plants here and the other half at Nissin World Delicatessen in Minato-ku.)
Kappabashi
And if you’re looking for beautiful Japanese kitchenwares. I can’t recommend a trip to Kappabashi (aka kitchen town) enough.
Here is my post on Kappabashi.
Living Motif
Isn’t the cheapest of options but oh…my … goodness. Their pieces are all breathtakingly beautiful. The bottom floor is kitchen and bathroom and the top floors are lamps, bags, books, postcards and other home accessories. It is stunning. (also, upstairs in the same complex is an amazing framer.) Highly recommend.
The website is here.
Muji
I love mixing up neutrals and Muji is so modern and simple. I also LOVE their stationary and storage options.
There are Muji stores all over Tokyo.
The website and store locator is here.
I haven’t bought and big pieces here but I have looked longingly at many beautiful pieces in BoConcept & Actus.
And don’t forget about Amazon Japan
I do use Amazon a lot as I really really love not even leaving the house.
I just recently bought these storage tubs there.
Link for these are here.
Plants
And then, when it comes to greenery. I buy mine at Ikea, National Azabu in Hiroo, Nissin in Azabujuban or D2 in Mita.
100 yen stores
This was from Daiso and was meant to be a shoe holder.
I use it for my daughter’s little girl handbags.
Interior Dori ( Interior Street) in Meguro
This is a street full of lighting and retro furniture stores. The furniture is small but this is where you will find one of a kind pieces.
You’ll especially love it if you love 70’s inspired and industrial design,.
