The Chinoiserie Dining Room

Grace Kaynor Interiors - Southern Living

This pretty New Orleans dining room has me perplexed. I love the antique marble mantel, gilded mirror, pagoda pelmet, crystal chandelier, antiques, and the gold Chinese Chippendale chairs. It is painted in Benjamin Moore Beach Glass - a grayed blue green. The color works well in beach houses. I love New Orleans style - lots of high ceilings, crystal chandeliers, antique mantels, aged wood floors, and antiques. 

Now look at the same room below - every single thing is identical - it is the same photo. But the walls are papered in Spanish Moss Forest Mural Wallpaper by Erin Connally. So my guess is in the photo below the walls were photoshopped.

Perhaps the wallpaper was photoshopped in to show what the mural looks like. Both versions of the room are quite lovely. Which do you prefer?

My taste in wall treatments has really changed over time. My first home when I got married was very 1980s Mario Buatta. Most rooms were wallpapered and those that were painted were in pastel colors. My next home was primarily painted walls in lots of different Farrow & Ball colors with wallpaper in the bathrooms and laundry room. 

I used to think white walls were so dull. Florida has made me really embrace white. I have a white stucco Spanish Mediterranean home and a white Audi. And my Florida home with its open floor plan is entirely painted in Benjamin Moore Classic Gray - really a warm white with crisp white trim and ceilings. It is a perfect backdrop for art and chinoiserie. Wallpaper is only in the powder room and laundry room. I think with the bright sunlight of South Florida and all the tropical colors, it is very serene and calming.

Benjamin Moore Classic Gray OC-23

Benjamin Moore Beach Glass 1564