Asia Room: The Rest of the Tour

To me, ever the optimist, the world is bright and shiny. Sometimes it can be a magical and mystical place that sparkles. I wanted my room to reflect that. Being a lover of all things Asian and of the Buddhist persuasion, I wanted the furnishings to be from Asian countries that practiced Buddhism.

Below is a side altar in my room. It stands atop the glass fronted case that holds my books and teapot collections. Please enlarge it. In the center is Shiva, whose dance creates and destroys the universe, and right of Shiva is Ganesh. Ganesh is the remover of obstacles, often prayed to when one is beginning a new enterprise. Also, I have a conch, which is a lucky object in Buddhism often depicted near the Buddha, some Tibetan healing bells, and some boxes inlaid with mother of pearl in which I keep treasures such as a bit of mandala sand. Above the altar you can see the bottom of a hand carved mahogany frame in which I have a mirror. The frame was carved by exiled Tibetans in Nepal.



The central focus of the room is this Tibetan rug that shows Yama, the Lord of Death, holding the Wheel of Life. The rug is about 8 x 4 feet (2. 4 x 1.2 meters) and runs from the bed to the altar with the Buddha on it. The rug was a custom design that the original customer refused and it was left in the shop. I saw it and just had to have it. It is a singular rug and there is no other like it in the world. Unfortunately when I washed it, I left it out in the sun, and the sun faded the blue in the background. So what looks grey today was actually a bright blue.


This highboy dresser is imported from Indonesia and is made from mahogony inlaid with mother of pearl. I feel that these Indonesian pieces add magic to the room and are stunners. The differences in color are made with the stains used on the wood.



This is a book trunk from Indonesia, again made from solid mahogany inlaid with mother of pearl. It houses my Asian book collection. I protect it with tea trays since I use it as a coffee table. The window treatments are bamboo blinds and velvet curtains. The floor in the room is pine and we need to refinish it. All the rugs you see are Tibetan.



The house is an old style farm house with coved windows in the front. I have my twin size bed elevated into one of these window coves. The window looks out to the same wonderful view as the front door. The bed alcove is decorated simply. There is a Moroccan lamp for reading, a flayed Tibetan tiger rug to protect me as I sleep and I placed the maharjah bed cover on the bed so that you could see it. The silk bed cover is actually queen size.


I have spent hours in my room and am always at peace there. If I have trouble finding peace, I may burn some red tara healing incense which I love and highly recommend.