Peach

Tiered Ruffle Dress in Peach Chiffon

 

This is such a pretty dress for an upcoming event like a wedding, baptism, garden party, or other special event that you want something feminine but covered. With two tiers of ruffles along the hem and sleeves, plus a tie at the waist for a touch of structure, this dress is designed to move with you effortlessly. Plus, it's crafted from floaty, subtly sheer chiffon fabric and comes with a slip lining underneath for coverage.

Blue and White

Mario Buatta: Anatomy of a Decorator by Emily Evans Eerdmans

 

I am so excited about this new book on Mario Buatta that will be released on September 5, 2023. This book presents the design tricks and decorative life of Mario Buatta (1935–2018), one of America’s most famous interior decorators. Drawing upon Buatta’s vast archives and revealing the foundations of his work, which include hundreds of presentation boards, more than eighty scrapbooks chronicling his career, and correspondence with clients and such design notables as John Fowler and Sister Parish, Anatomy of a Decorator illuminates the designer’s work with a focus on influences, process, and evolution. His very last projects, not included in Rizzoli’s comprehensive book on the decorator in 2013, are evaluated and provide readers a masterclass in decorating à la Buatta. Ribbons, needlepoint, fine English and American antiques, floral chintzes, blue-and-white porcelains, lacquerware, botanicals, vibrant color combinations, and whimsy abound.

The Chinoiserie Living Room

Meg Braff

This remains one of my favorite living rooms of all time - Meg Braff's living room in her home in Locust Valley on Long Island in New York. It reminds me of the grand living rooms of Mario Buatta, and indeed the gorgeous Coromandel screen shown below she found at a local estate once designed by Mario Buatta.

Apricot

Apricot

My favorite fruit is the apricot and I love the color apricot. A pinky peach, it is a softer version of coral and orange. It is an incredibly flattering color to paint your walls - everyone looks good against an apricot backdrop. Pantone's Color of the Year for 2023 is Magenta. I am personally not a fan of magenta. I think I'll ignore it and make Apricot my Chinoiserie Chic Color of the Year. 

Peachy Keen

MADRE Dallas

 

I love this living room with its peach or coral or apricot walls, purple flocked skirted chairs on a yellow and blue rug, a pink tufted ottoman with white fringe trim, a black Klismos coffee table, a pair of canvas palm trees, a blue couch with pink and blue pillows and an antique glass mirror over the fireplace. A very Palm Beach, Hollywood Regency, Mario Buatta vibe. Mario Buatta loved this paint color.

A Pink and Green Church

St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig, Germany

 

I bet you have never seen a church in blush pink and mint green with enormous palm trees to the ceiling, and would have assumed this is in Palm Beach or Bermuda, and not Germany. This is too beautiful not to share. The color palette of soft pink and green and the palm trees and the black and white floor are certainly unexpected in a church, but wonderful inspiration. 

Chaneling Mario Buatta @ CCC

CCC

 

Welcome to Casa Chinoiserie Chic. Yesterday I had a Eureka! moment. Do you see the white wicker chaise? That was in my daughter's nursery 37 years ago with a Laura Ashley pink and white ticking stripe cushion. When we moved to a new home when she was a teenager, it ended up in my sun room with the cushion recovered in a Mario Buatta fabric called Evelyn with a skirted table in the same Mario Buatta fabric. 

When I moved to Florida, I brought both with me. I still love the fabric so much. The chaise has been in my guest bedroom and the tableskirt stored because I couldn't decide what to do with them. Yesterday I had the idea to try both in my great room.

Setting the Chinoiserie Table - Bamboo Flatware

Tahiti by Buccellati Bamboo & Silver Flatware

I was asked by a follower about heirloom quality bamboo flatware. This example above is certainly the quintessential example.

The Tahiti cutlery was born in the 1960s on original drawings by Gianmaria Buccellati and upon specific request of an influential Italian industrialist, who ordered it for his yacht. This flatware in silver and bamboo evokes the Polynesian natural wonders and presents a combination of high elegance and eco-sustainability. The name of the collection is tightly linked to the memory of Paul Gauguin, who lived in Tahiti during the last period of his life and who was very much inspired by the island for his paintings portraying the women of Tahiti and its wonderful landscapes. The house of Buccellati is one of the world's premier silversmiths.

Mario Buatta & An Eye for Color

Mario Buatta - Sotheby's

 I came across these pictures from the Sotheby's auction of the estate of Mario Buatta. Mario was of course a great lover of chinoiserie, but what caught my eye about these are the gorgeous colors. These cabbage boxes are 19th century Thuringian. I wish they had lined up the veins on all of them though - LOL. They did better below.

Rattan

Palm Beach Idyll by Slim Aarons

 

I am so delighted that rattan had made such a roaring return in interior design. I have always lived with it in my homes. My parents were in the Philippines for four years post WWII and brought back to the states a house full of rattan furniture with cushions covered in palm leaf and banana leaf prints. Then I started collecting vintage wicker in the Hamptons during college summers there and my first apartment in DC during law school was filled with the vintage wicker. And my daughter's nursery was all white wicker with cushions in Laura Ashley fabric. My home here has a vintage wicker chaise cushioned in a Mario Buatta fabric, several rattan bar carts, a vintage wicker elephant table, as well as many Amanda Lindroth wicker accessories.

I am always on the lookout for unique new and vintage rattan and wicker pieces for my Florida home and love the way they work with chinoiserie. I have two pieces on pre-order I am anxiously awaiting.

Has anyone picked up this book on the history of rattan?

Rattan by Lulu Lytle

It looks wonderful. Here is a picture from it. 

From the book Rattan

And in my home.

CCC

Seeing Stars

Mario Buatta - Architectural Digest

 Exciting news (for me) - my tile guys were here yesterday and again today and tomorrow installing the tiles in the lanai and front entrance. And one of those spaces will have blue and white nautical stars. The kitchen above is from Mario Buatta's final project - quite beachy and nautical with its blue and white nautical star floor, haint blue ceiling (Benjamin Moore Breath of Fresh Air) and blue and white striped rattan stools - and the kitchen is in Manhattan!

I find it funny that a large percentage of beachy chinoiserie rooms I post are actually in New Jersey and New York - no wonder they all seem to be moving to Florida - tropical dreams.

I think the blue and white nautical star floor will play very nicely with my blue and white Chinese porcelain and give it a beach house vibe.

The Chinoiserie Bedroom

Mario Buatta

This bedroom is such perfection - a palette of pink and green, a canopy bed, Gracie chinoiserie wallpaper, a faux bamboo bench, a pink ceiling, a slipper chair, beautiful linens, and sconces. Look at the detailing on the canopy bed - silver leaf detailing, wooden tassels, a gorgeous pink canopy crown, and the canopy top wrapped in raffia. 
 

The bed was designed by Buatta. This NYC duplex was his final project.

Mario Buatta - Architectural Digest

Mario Buatta - Architectural Digest

Mario Buatta

Mario Buatta

 A stunning but to me rare space by Mario Buatta in that it is largely black and white sans his usual color. The painted wood floors are wonderful. I am a sucker for a black and white checkerboard floor. This is the Charleston home of Patricia Altschul.

Note the black and gold Chinoiserie chest topped with a Chinese bowl.

A busy day yesterday at CCC. I had three gardeners here pruning all my hedges. Then my tile guys stopped by to look at the job - I have decided to have my front entryway tiled as well as the lanai. 

Wicker & Rattan Meet Chinoiserie

Amanda Lindroth

There is no question that wicker and rattan have returned to the interior design world full force. I think there are many reasons - for baby boomers it is a look we remember fondly from our pasts - my daughter's nursery was white wicker with Laura Ashley pink and white ticking stripe fabric. For grandmillenials, it represents a traditional and classic look. And for the coastal look that has been so popular in recent years, wicker and rattan are a perfect choice - organic and light and airy.

Wicker and rattan have always worked beautifully with Chinoiserie. Designers like Mark Sikes often included pieces. Today you can find wicker and rattan everywhere from Urban Outfitters and HomeGoods to designer collections like Sarah Bartholomew and Amanda Lindroth. And Amanda's collection includes wicker Chinoiserie like pagodas. I have been finding lots of wicker wrapped candles and hurricanes at HomeGoods that look just like hers for a fraction of the price.

Wicker in my home includes a vintage wicker elephant, a vintage wicker chaise in Mario Buatta fabric - Evelyn - still a great favorite of mine, and two new wicker S chairs that I will use with my Mercer table that is arriving today.

My handyman and I worked VERY hard yesterday and got everything off my punch list. So I was able to schedule the wallpaper hanger for next week. I had put in a new alarm system and the control panel from the old ADT system was on the main wall in the laundry room which will be wallpapered and removal required dismantling of the old system. But now it's done.

I can't believe I moved in July 29th and the house is almost finished. I still need to have my art hung, but I have four major pieces on order and am awaiting their arrival.

The Mercer table is scheduled for noonish, so this afternoon I get to start styling it. Very fun. I need to make a Trader Joe's run for orchids if I can squeeze that in. And restock my wine! (And Wednesday is Sushi Day at Publix - a must for me).

Chintz Returns

House Beautiful - Can you guess the year?

OK you smarty pants. What year is this from?

Current
2011?
2001?
1991?
1981?

"In the 1980s, chintz worked in just about every room. Featured in our October 1981 issue, a sitting area in Old Westbury Gardens in Long Island, New York, the Baker sofas are covered in Brunschwig & Fils's Westbury Bouquet glaze chintz." ---- House Beautiful

So almost 40 years ago! This room is timeless IMHO. A blue and white Chinese garden stool, blue and white Chinese porcelain, wicker, and a classic chintz which is having a resurgence. The only tip off is the chairs matching the sofa.

But chintz is having a moment again with Grandmillennials - the key is to use just a bit - don't go full Mario Buatta. Pointers - use a classic chintz - high end, glazed is gorgeous, think Brunschwig & Fils, Colefax and Fowler, Lee Joffa in peonies, roses, hollyhocks, and the like. Use it as an accent - don't go all matchy matchy. A beautiful pair of chintz pillows is a great example.

Society Social

Society Social

I still have a wicker chaise and table skirt in a gorgeous Mario Buatta chintz that I plan to use in one of the guest bedrooms. An aside, I would love to see the return of aubergine - does anyone remember Mario Buatta's aubergine lacquered walls? Wonderful!

Mario Buatta

Dated?

Mary McDonald - Schumacher

Personally, I love curtains with a floral design and an elaborate trim but rarely use it. It seems too chintz/eighties/Mario Buatta for today's homes and tastes. I tend much more towards silk, linen, or velvet in a solid with a simpler trim like Greek key. What are your thoughts?

Aubergine & Chinoiserie

Matthew Bees - House Beautiful

 The bedroom above by interior designer Matthew Bees is in a historic Charleston single in Charleston, South Carolina. My home in Alexandria is modeled after a Charleston single where the narrow side of the house faces the street.

I love the aubergine walls and ceiling paired with blue and white and lots of blue and white Chinese porcelain. I would love to use this color sometime in my home. Below are some other favorite aubergine rooms with Chinoiserie.

Mario Bautta

Celerie Kemble

Alex Papachristidis

R.I.P. Mario Buatta

1st dibs

Palm Beach Chinoiserie Chic

Mario Buatta - Architectural Digest

I am in the midst of house hunting in Florida and love the idea of a Chinoiserie filled living room like this - note the pair of pagodas, the fabulous pair of Blanc de Chine planters, and the Chinese garden stool.

The Chinoiserie Living Room

Mario Buatta

A stunning living room features a Chinoiserie covered sofa, leopard carpet, and a tiger bergere chairs.