Patent Leather Books

Do any of you remember this fabulous office belonging to Kevin Sharkey? I love the wall of blanc de Chine, the blue and white porcelain, and the books arranged by color. When I saw these gorgeous English patent leather books on Joss & Main yesterday, I had to snap up a few sets for display, the colors are so gorgeous. They are still available here. If you don't yet belong to Joss & Main, here is an invite.
http://www.jossandmain.com/invite/4ln
Also, if you like the little golden rhino in the picture above, you can find him here at Furbish.

Brackets of Chinoiserie

The current April issue of House Beautiful is quite spectacular, in no small part due to another wonderful apartment by Miles Redd (the top three photos) entitled Color Confidence. In contrast, perhaps we could start calling that whole Restoration Hardware/Belgian look Color Paranoia? I especially like the dining room in the top photo with its collection of celadon vases on plaster brackets. Below are other wonderful versions of Chinoiserie collections-Blanc de Chine and blue and white porcelain on brackets.

Kevin Sharkey

Robert Goodwin

Mary Watkins Wood

My files

Displaying Collections

Brackets are an incredibly effective way of displaying a collection of Chinoiserie porcelain. In the bedroom above, Mary Watkins Wood used brackets to bring order to a large collection of blue and white ginger jars. The three key points are that the collection needs to go together-all blanc de Chine, all celadon, or all blue and white, for example. Second, the brackets need to be all the same color-say all white or all gold if not all the same style. Third, play around with a pleasing layout-symmetrical seems to work best.

Jonathan Berger

Kevin Sharkey

Robert Goodwin

Phoebe Howard