About Interior Designer Sachiko Akimoto
I am currently engaged in interior design and interior coordination, mainly for home interiors and home salons.
After graduating from high school, I studied the fundamentals of architectural design at the University of Missouri, Columbia for 3 years, and majored in interior architecture and design at Academy of Art University for 2 years.
After the graduation, I returned to Japan and worked as a coordinator for a remodeling company, an interior advisor for a major furniture company, a product developer, and a buyer of foreign brand furniture before becoming an independent interior designer.
I have experienced that by designing interiors, the time spent there becomes more precious. Every moment we live now is an irreplaceable time for each of us. I would be happy to help enrich your hearts and minds.
What made me decide to study Interior Design
When it comes to interior design, it is something I love to do so much that I forget to eat and sleep, and immerse myself in it The reason for this has to do with the house I was born and raised in.
The house I was born in was built by my father before he married my mother, and my father’s parents and younger brother also lived in the house. My father built the house with the perfect floor plan for his family structure before he married my mother. After my father married my mother and had three daughters, my father’s parents and brother moved out.
Within 10 years of my father building the house, the family structure had completely changed, and the new family structure made the house very difficult to live in.
I used the altar room until I was in early elementary school. Since my grandparents and uncle were still living with us, there was no room for a study desk, so I could not put it in any other room other than the altar room, which no one was using. When I was studying, there was also an organ next to the desk, so I could not concentrate on studying because my sisters were so noisy.
When I went to visit my friends’ houses, I envied them when I saw them using a single room.
A little later, my uncle moved out of the house, so the three sisters had to use the six-tatami mat room that my uncle used.
I remember I was very happy because it was a huge update from the alter room.
It was very cold in winter because one side and the half of another side had shoji doors, which is made of paper, glass with wooden frames.
I enjoyed thinking about how much I could decorate my study desk to my liking.
How did I become interested in interior design?
When I was in my third year of junior high school, I had the opportunity to do a homestay in Canada. The school I attended was founded by nuns from Quebec, Canada, so there was a homestay program at the school for training purposes.
I still remember the shock I felt when I arrived at my host family’s house for the first time. And I still remember even the layout of the house.
When I entered the house, every room was beautifully decorated. I was very surprised because my own family did not have the custom of decorating our house nicely. And I was shocked.
And as soon as I get to the house, they gave me a room tour. They showed me all the rooms, and I was shocked because I had never had such a custom in Japan. In Japan, there are rooms that you don’t want to show, or you feel embarrassed to show your private space, but it didn’t seem to be like that. It was more like they wanted to show us and wanted us to see them. After that, I had the opportunity to visit many people’s homes, and wherever I went, they gave me a room tour.
I found out that Canadians have the custom of decorating their houses beautifully. And everyone loved their homes. They said they wanted to go home and spend time with their families as soon as possible. I realized that home is there to make the happy time with family better.
I was very envious. I even wondered what it was like to live with three sisters in a 6-mat Japanese-style room. At that time, I didn’t want to be at home as much as possible, and it was like going home to sleep. I ended up studying in the library or cram school study rooms because the rooms were too noisy and I couldn’t concentrate. For me, home was a roof over my head, a place to eat and sleep.
My experience in Canada was a major catalyst for my desire to study home, foreign culture, and English.
After graduating from high school, I decided to go to college in the United States. The reason was that I wanted to study English, but I also wanted to study foreign cultures, so I enrolled at Missouri State University, Columbia. After three years of study, I decided that I wanted to specialize in interior design, so I transferred to the Academy of Art University and studied interior design. After three years of study, I decided that I wanted to specialize in interior design, so I transferred to the Academy of Art University and graduated with a degree in Interior Architecture and Design, specializing in interior design.