Studio Ghibli Aesthetic Decor: How to Make Ghibli-Inspired Magic in Your Apartment
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Why is it that so many grown adults want to live inside a Studio Ghibli movie?
What is this feeling I get when I see those animated flowers in the wind, or a bedroom that epitomizes coziness, or a character cooking a breakfast that somehow looks more delicious than a real-life breakfast? Why is my dream kitchen a cartoon?
If you're looking for a style that will help you make everyday ordinary life in your apartment feel like a magical - yet relaxing - adventure, you might want to look into the Studio Ghibli aesthetic!
Today I'm exploring the Studio Ghibli decor aesthetic and giving you a bunch of decor ideas that will help you turn your home into a cozy, enchanting space that makes ordinary life feel meaningful.
Because in a Studio Ghibli movie, even the mundane acts of pouring tea, making breakfast, or cleaning feel enchanting.
So, how do we bring that spirit into our spaces? Let me spirit you away into the Studio Ghibli aesthetic and give you some ideas!
Would you rather watch than read? Here’s the video! ↓
What is the Studio Ghibli Aesthetic?
This style is distinct yet very challenging to describe. Because so much of it is atmospheric. It's a very emotion-based style. It's warm, cozy, whimsical, dreamlike, and playful.
The art style is not only immediately pleasing to the eye, but it has a way of balancing reality with magic.
Beneath the pretty colors, detailed animation, and dreamlike atmosphere, a Studio Ghibli film captures something we're all yearning for: to make our average everyday life feel magical.
And isn't that the reason why we decorate our apartments? To make an otherwise ordinary space feel enchanting?
The Ghibli sensibility heightens the simple experiences of cooking, cleaning, and just existing to a magical place.
One of the most annoying things about being a human is this obsessive need to feel like our lives are meaningful. Does my existence mean something? Am I doing enough? Am I living a full life even though it's ordinary?
In the world of Studio Ghibli, the answer is yes.
And that's comforting.
Studio Ghibli Decor in the Real World
So, how do we take the Ghibli aesthetic and its emotional elements of comfort, magic, coziness, and whimsy and translate it all into a room?
Nekonewa did just that in a video she made a few years ago, in which she did a Ghibli-inspired room makeover. This gives you an idea of how this animated world can be translated to real life:
The floral wallpaper, the hanging pots and pans and baskets, the antique-y touches… all of this is very reminiscent of the Ghibli ethos. There's a reverence for simplicity and a care for every little detail.
And even beyond the room itself, the way she edited this video feels very Ghibli. So, we have an art within an artl interior styling within the world of video creation, which of course I can't help but geek out about. It's what I try to do with every one of my videos.
And she creates this mood seemingly effortlessly. This feels a lot like a real-life version of a Ghibli movie, which is exactly what we're trying to achieve here.
Then there’s malthousecottage on Instagram, who created a Ghibli-inspired kitchen:
This kitchen summons very similar feelings that the Ghibli style summons. That warm, cozy, peaceful romance that makes normal feel meaningful.
And she really puts it best in one of her captions talking about her kitchen, saying:
"People often liken it to something out of Arrietty or Howl's Moving Castle. It's not a look I deliberately tried to create, but I take it as the biggest compliment. Little by little, it's come together. A mismatched jigsaw of gifted, pre-loved, and lovingly chosen pieces. And I wouldn't have it any other way."
And with that small piece of writing, she epitomized the Ghibli ethos, how it can translate to a real-world space.
Decorative Accents
Now here are some Studio Ghibli-inspired decor pieces I found!
Bed Stuff
Wall Art
Lighting
Bedroom Design
Now, let me show you how some of these decor pieces could come together in a Studio Ghibli-inspired bedroom design I created!
This looks like a good mood in bedroom form. I was aiming to capture that feel-good vibe that Ghibli movies give off. You know, that "I feel magical but safe about it" feeling.
Fundamentally, it's about taking the ordinary and heightening it to a place of magic. That's what interior design is. And that's what Studio Ghibli does.
Cleaning, cooking, standing in a field of flowers, pouring a cup of tea, all of these normal things feel enchanting in a Ghibli movie.
So, whatever you do in your space, don't settle for average normal. Aim for magical normal.
