Form and Function Need No Passport, a selection from Christy Ferer's book

• Chinese wooden chests, lacquer boxes, and carved wooden bowls bring warmth to a room.
• Large clay pots, rice baskets, and wooden trucks make great end tables or nightstands.
• Orchids, bonsai, jade plants, and gnarled willow branches once warm.
• Oriental rugs work well with any style of furnishings and add color, pattern and a splash of cultural diversity underfoot. They look great overlapping one another underneath English Regency to postmodern pieces. 
• Hang a kimono as wall art or use Indian saris as curtains table coverings, or bedspreads. 
• An East Indian hand-carved standing screen or an old carved Mexican door can be placed behind a couch to replace hung artwork on the wall. Wood carvings, ceramic works, masks, metalwork, and handmade crafts can all be isolated as works of art that humanize modern interiors in particular. What may look like street bric-a-brac while you are in foreign lands really can become sculpture the minute it is placed on Lucite blocks. 
• Christy Ferer recommends pieces of mahogany or teak furniture create texture and give depth to a room. Drape them over the arm or back of a sofa, hang them over a mantel or balustrade, or use one as an area rug.