DIY: Shards bring happiness to your home

Home Decor & Asia

It can happen: during an unguarded moment you drop a vase or plant pot. Oh no, not that one! Happily people in Asia have a very different attitude. Kintsugi is the Japanese art form in which you repair ceramics and porcelain with gold, silver or platinum. The philosophy behind it focuses on the object’s life path. A breakage is part of life, and makes the object more beautiful. So don’t paper over such a moment of clumsiness. Take a look at some fine examples and discover how you can work with Kintsugi yourself. 

Golden transformation

Sometimes it’s just a hairline crack, and other times there’s a big chunk out of your earthenware. It’s not great, being able to stare straight at the stems and roots… Luckily everything can be repaired: by filling the cracks with varnish gum mixed with gold powder, but you can just as easily use other ‘strange’ materials. We’ve seen examples of Kintsugi using wood, and even with Lego!

Do it yourself

Got a broken vase lying around? Or have you secretly smashed a plant pot after reading this article? Give a fresh bouquet of flowers or a vintage plant a very special setting in which to shine. This is how to repair your vase or plant pot with an Asian twist but with modern speed. 

You will need

How to do it

Step 1:

First paint the edges of the broken shard and the hole in the broken vase. Place the pieces together and briefly hold so that the paint flows in the right direction. 

Step 2:

Place a very small drop of glue on the edges, possibly with the brush, and hold for a minute. Depending on the glue, it will be completely dry within a couple of hours. 

Not satisfied with the result? Yes, we can see your perfectionist frown. The gold doesn’t match perfectly, and there’s still a small chip missing from the vase. So what? That’s exactly what Kintsugi is all about: embracing flaws. They’re golden!

You can also cheat a bit

Not everyone has the time to repair earthenware. But if you like this art form, you can buy a ready-made example on Etsy. Then all you need to do is stroll to the florist.