The Orient Expressed

There’s no mistaking it. The Asian influence that’s filtered into our fashion, food and films has reached critical mass in home design. Witness the popularity of furnishings from not only China and Japan but also Indonesia, the Philippines, even India and Pakistan. Whether old or new, they lend any room, regardless of its style, a sense of the exotic. And no wonder. Many pieces are crafted from sensuous natural materials (bamboo, raffia, rattan, coconut, horn) and often hark back to ancient times, when hand-rubbed lacquer or beautiful calligraphy was ornament enough. Here in Southern California, architects and designers are practicing a new kind of cultural cross-pollination, creating Western-style interiors with distinctively Eastern allure.