Blue and White

Antonino Buzzetta

A stunning dining room in the NYC apartment of Shameless actress Emmy Rossum. The walls are Farrow & Ball Ammonite. The table is Baker and the Bernhardt chairs are upholstered in Cowtan & Tout. The photographs are by Irving Penn. A blue and white Chinese vase graces the table and a large blue and white Chinese planter from Horchow is a focal point. A lovely example of a dining room that is classic and traditional but fresh and modern.

Chinoiserie Panels How To

Many of you will recall this incredible sepia toned apartment of Ellen O'Neill from House Beautiful featuring Cowtan and Tout's wonderful Chinoiserie toile Siam. If you love this palette, check out the stunning sepia panels in the three bottom photographs from The Decorator Archives.

Printed as 5 rolls of paper

Available as a small or large print or as an original work of art hand painted on silk

Available as a small or large print or as an original work of art hand painted on silk

Black and Chinoiserie

So far in our color series we have looked at purple, gray, white, orange, and red. Today we turn our attention to black and Chinoiserie. I thought it might be fun to revisit an apartment featured in House Beautiful that uses a black and white palette with Chinoiserie. This New York City studio apartment in Gramercy Park belongs to interior designer Ellen O'Neil. It is one room -  it does not even have a separate kitchen. What I especially love, of course, is the way she anchors the apartment with a Chinoiserie toile, Cowtan & Tout's Siam. What a superb example of living large in a small space. Stay tuned later today for many more examples of combining black and Chinoiserie.

High End Chinoiserie Fabrics

Head over to this interior decorator's Etsy store for great deals on some of the world's finest Chinoiserie fabrics like Cowtan and Tout, Brunschwig & Fils, Clarence House, and Schumacher. Perfect yardage for smaller projects like pillows, chair seats, or a roman shade that will really elevate the WOW! factor in any room.

Chinese Chippendale Slipper Chairs

Did you see these wonderful Chinese Chippendale Slipper Chairs by John Loecke and Jason Nixon on One Kings Lane? I love the contrast of the simple Chinoiserie chairs with the feminine Cowtan and Tout fabric and pale pink welting and buttons. A great pair of chairs to purchase and a great idea to borrow.

Michael Smith

I love how the formality of the Chinese ancestor portraits and the Chinoiserie cabinets are made more casual by the choice of the Cowtan and Tout Eaton Check fabric. The living room is by Michael Smith, as featured in House Beautiful.

Toile

People think that a small space can't handle toile, but the opposite is true. Toile in a large room can be overwhelming. This studio apartment in the July/August issue of House Beautiful makes the point perfectly. Cowtan & Tout's Chinoiserie toile Siam, with its sepia tones, adds softness, romance, stature, and elegance to the black and white palette of this one room apartment.

Cowtan and Tout Chinoiserie Find

This is my latest eBay find-a beautiful Cowtan and Tout Chinoiserie fabric I won for $7.50. It has a cotton background with silk embroidered blue and white Chinese porcelain motif. Designer samples like this are a wonderfully affordable tip for small projects like pillows, chair seats, small benches, or wall art. This piece measures 28" by 35" and sells for $275.00 a yard retail. Designer samples are easily found on eBay and Etsy.