Chuzai Living Designs For Expat Homes

I have an announcement to make. I would like to launch a home designing consulting business for expatriates who live abroad for job assignments. The idea has always simmered inside of me, but I never had the courage to attempt to see if my business idea will work. However, unless I try it, I will never know.

Why do I limit myself to expat clients? Please hear me out.

What is “CHUZAI”?

Before I dive into why design consulting for expats, please allow me to clarify what “chuzai” is. “Chuzai” is a Japanese word whose closest translation in English may be “expatriate”, but it’s slightly different. “Expatriate” in English is defined as an individual who resides outside of the country of citizenship. This is very broad. When I refer to “expat” in English on my blog, I am usually referring to a group of people who live abroad on a job assignment given by their employers. People who go on “chuzai” work abroad because they are obligated to do so in order to pursue their career and they have limited control over where, timing or how long they will be abroad. “Chuzai” spouses and “chuzai” children are the ones who follow the employed expatriates.

While this “chuzai” or expat lifestyle provides benefits, the disadvantages from the lifestyle bring about challenges to spouses and children. Unfortunately, those issues are often not addressed.

Accessible Interior Designing That Is Not Accessible To Expats

The popularity of creating a beautiful home has grown exponentially thanks to social media. The boom of interior design influencers has elevated the value of beautiful homes. Inspirations are clicks away and DYIs are more accessible for many thanks to all the free tutorials on YouTube. There are talented influencers and incredible interior designers everywhere. Literally.

Unfortunately, I have always felt that the interior design offerings that fit and accommodate the expat’s needs have been lacking in the world of home designing and styling. Many “chuzai” people or expats live in a rental home. Often times they move abroad with a limited amount of belongings. Some move with their furniture, some don’t. Some live in a house. Some live in an apartment. Some live in a furnished home and some live in a bare rental home. Individual situations depend on policies of companies or organizations that they work for and the cities where they live.

A Little About My Background

I have moved numerous times in my life as a child, adolescent and adult, which makes me a third culture kid and a trailing spouse. With my husband, we moved internationally 11 times together, which includes some assignments like Senegal, Indonesia, India, and the Philippines. In case you are not familiar with the term “trailing spouse”, it means “a spouse who moves around either domestically or internationally for her/his employed spouse’s career choices”. By the way, some people would rather not use this term because they find it disagreeable.

Thanks to my background, I am very familiar with all the hardship that accompanies this trailing spouse lifestyle. My devotion to creating an aesthetically pleasing home wherever we go abroad stems from my desire to pursue fulfilling life using my creativity in interior designing. Now I have expertise based on my own experiences, I would like to help other expats through Chuzai Living Designs

Challenges Of Creating Home Abroad

Renting home when living abroad is not easy. It often comes with restrictions with which you may not be familiar. In many cases DIYs would not be an option in a rental home overseas. Unless you absolutely love DIYs, I recommend that you steer away from DIYs. Why? It is more valuable to invest your time and money in exploring your host city and take advantage of opportunities to make new friends and learn about local cultures instead of spending hours doing DIYs. That is just my two cents.

Homes abroad come in all sorts of shapes. It may be tiny compared to what you are used to. There may not be enough storage space offered for your needs. Your home may be a huge house compared to what you’re familiar with, but the layout of it may be awkward or wasteful. The interior may be outdated. In many developing countries, kitchens are not designed to be stylish and a fun place to be. There may be quirky spaces that you wouldn’t know what to do with them. Does any of this sound familiar?

Reality of Living Abroad

“Emily in Paris” became a big Netflix hit that features an expat lifestyle. Emily moved to a city of expat’s dream. However, this Netflix series is often times far from the reality for many of us. If you are a trailing spouse, you end up being more exposed to the local environment than the employed spouse. Trailing spouses would also spend much of your free time at home.

Living abroad sounds glamorous, but the truth is that ups and downs are amplified when you live far from your home country. If you live in a country where you don’t speak the language and don’t know anyone, it’s very intimidating. There are good days and bad days. However, bad days can sometimes feel more overwhelming. Living in a foreign country as a foreigner would expose your senses to so many stimuli. Navigating a new city in a foreign country would make you feel as though you became a child again. Every step to orient yourself in a new city will drain your energy. The reasons above make it important to invest in decorating your home abroad.

Your Home Is Your Safe Haven

When you live abroad, home needs to be your sanctuary. Home away from home needs to be a safe haven that can comfort you and your family. At the end of the day, it is very important that you and your family can rest your minds and bodies in your home so that you can stay happy while living abroad. There is nothing like home where you and your family can feel relaxed and connected together when you are immersed in the foreign environment.

Please know that I am not trying to say that making a happy home is the only solution or it will solve the issues expats face abroad. It will help enrich your life abroad while it will also help you cope with some hardships.

Where to Find The Chuzai Living Designs Service Details

Hopefully, you get the idea. I truly believe in the power of interior design with accessories for expats. Everyone can adapt small tricks in order to achieve their ideal relaxing and aesthetically pleasing home. Chuzai Living Designs will cater to your needs and customize advice on creating your lovely home abroad.

Please look out for Chuzai Living Designs Tab in the near future.

Thank you for reading this far. Honestly, I don’t even know if there is a demand for this service. There may be crickets after my launch. You know what, though? I think it’s worth trying. You may wonder why I am launching a new business at this time of uncertainty. That will be a whole another post for another time.