A Silver Halloween

Carolyne Roehm

 

I love these ideas by Carolyne Roehm for a very luxe Halloween, especially for those of us who are not big lovers of orange. If you love Halloween, but want a more elegant and sophisticated look, silver is a great choice. Above, carve Jack O'Lanterns and paint them silver. You can use silver spray paint or silver craft paint with a sponge brush. Gray tulle adds an ethereal touch.

Red, White, & Blue for the Holidays

Saatchi Art

 

This display of red flowers in blue and white Chinese porcelain ginger jars and vases is wonderful inspiration for the holidays. I am not personally a fan of floral bouquets with mixed flowers and colors. I love using one color for maximum impact and drama - this is a stunning example.

Living with Dogs

Carolyne Roehm with her dogs

My pups have their annual physicals today, so it seemed like a great day to post about living with dogs.

Nautical Chinoiserie News

Carolyne Roehm

 

I promised updates on my daughter's new home in Annapolis. They found their new home in one weekend and it was the only home they bid on and won it. The inspection went perfectly. They put their house on the market this past Friday and reviewed bids last night and accepted one. So it is all go.

I am over the moon for them and so excited to help with the new home. Annapolis is the perfect combination of historical, preppy, and nautical, and she loves blue and white. And the house has a terrace, two decks, and a screened porch, so plenty of outdoor space to decorate - and inside too - it is four finished levels. Their inspector said it was the highest roof he had ever seen!

So expect lots of posts with blue and white preppy nautical chinoiserie. My pups will be so excited to meet their miniature schnauzer Millie on a road trip there this summer.

Carolyne Roehm at the Beach

Carolyne Roehm - Veranda

In my book, Carolyne Roehm can do no wrong. I adore her style. It occurred to me to see whether she had ever had a beach house. Indeed, this was the living room in her former Southampton home.

I was engaged in college to a young man whose family had a summer home in Southampton and I fell in love with that area. Those were the days of Truman Capote and Jackie Rogers there. One day I was sunbathing in Southampton at a posh beach club where a friend belonged and a man came over and said I was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen and could he do a photo shoot. He introduced himself at Federico Fellini.

I did not believe him and declined, only to see in the local rag the next day that he was in fact in town. I had not thought of that in ages.

At any rate, this living room is stunning. The walls are completely done in Delft tiles. Lots of Chinoiserie - blue and white ginger jars, a Chinese garden stool, and a pagoda chandelier.

I am not usually a fan of purple, but it looks great here. And check out the pair of palm trees. Wow!

The Chinoiserie Entrance

Carolyne Roehm's Charleston Home

It is interesting to me that over more than a decade of Chinoiserie Chic, I have found very few homes to post about with Chinoiserie at the front entrance. Carolyne Roehm's Charleston home is a lovely example with several pairs of topiaries in blue and white Chinese porcelain. Since English boxwood does not like South Florida, Eugenia is used here instead and is easily found in all of these topiary shapes. Lowe's and Home Depot sell them in abundance. Also note the pair of smaller containers with English ivy. I have really been enjoying working in the garden here. It's lovely to be able to garden all year long. Gardening in sand is also much different than the heavy clay soil I am so used to. It is so much easier to plant things, but on the negative side the lack of nutrients in the sand make diligent fertilizing necessity. And this time of year armadillos are having their babies and like digging up the yard. Such unusual looking animals! And the other day there was a pair of baby sandhill cranes in the yard.

Chinoiserie Outdoors

Carolyne Roehm

Carolyne Roehm's garden is such an incredible example of using blue and white Chinese porcelain outdoors. I also like the chaises at the end of the pool with striped cushions. I was saying yesterday that I am looking for chaises for the lanai and I love mixing stripes and Chinoiserie, so this is an idea I may borrow.

Carolyne Roehm

Carolyne Roehm

Carolyne Roehm

The Blue and White Table

Carolyne Roehm

A perfect spring table with daffodils, blue and white china, and bamboo flatware.

Chinoiserie Outdoors

Carolyne Roehm

It was 77 degrees in Alexandria, Virginia yesterday and I enjoyed time in the garden planting pansies, cutting back perennials, and cleaning my blue and white Chinese garden stools and more. It has inspired me to post this favorite photo.

A Chinoiserie Thanksgiving

Carolyne Roehm

This week we are taking a little break from my series on the Chinoiserie essentials for a beautiful home via House Beautiful to look at favorite Chinoiserie influenced table settings for Thanksgiving. This above is a stunning example by Carolyne Roehm. The Chinoiserie plates with their navy blue and Chinese red palette are complemented by brass candlesticks, glass hurricanes, and silver vases filled with flowers and berries in deep orange and red hues.

Scale

Carloyne Roehm

I really believe that a sense of scale is what is most important to an interior designer's aesthetic. Here Carloyne Roehm has put an oversized Chinese vase in front of a fireplace. The scale is perfect - the piece is dramatic but in balance with the rest of the space.

Blue and White

Carolyne Roehm

Blue and White

Carolyne Roehm

The Chinoiserie Mantel - Carolyne Roehm

Carolyne Roehm

Blue and White Christmas - Carolyne Roehm

Thanksgiving Series - The Chinoiserie Dining Room

Carolyne Roehm 

Imari plates and floral arrangements of dahlias, roses, rose hips, viburnum berries, and leaves in red and russet and orange create a lovely Thanksgiving table.

Carolyne Roehm - Blue and White

Carolyne Roehm - Veranda

Carolyne Roehm's Charleston Chinoiserie Room

Sunday Inspiration

From Carolyne Roehm's Chinoiserie room in Charleston

I'm Ready for Spring

Carolyne Roehm

Here in Alexandria, Virginia, I awoke to a scant dusting of snow, but I know that many on the East coast got blasted by this winter storm. Stay safe and think of warmer days ahead.