Chinoiserie Island Inspiration

Amanda Lindroth

 

Amanda Lindroth has become my favorite interior designer since moving to Florida. Her style combines chinoiserie with a beachy island vibe that I adore. This vignette is a perfect case in point. 

Old School Chinoiserie

Lisa Henderson Interiors - Coastal Living

 

I think you will find this home quite interesting. This newly decorated Palm Beach townhome is featured in the Spring 2023 Coastal Living, but it looks like it could have been done anytime in the last forty years. This is an excellent example of timeless, old school chinoiserie with wonderful chinoiserie fabrics, color, wicker, blue and white Chinese porcelain, Chinese garden stools, grasscloth, all with a Florida vibe.

This sophisticated but fun daughter's bedroom in pink and green features two Quadrille patterns - Tulip Multicolor and Lyford Background. 

The Pink and Brown Chinoiserie Room

Mary McGee - Architectural Digest

 

This wonderful trellis room is in a Palm Beach home once owned by Marjorie Merriweather Post. The manse was built in the 1920s. This was the cereal heiress' first Palm Beach home designed by Marion Sims Wyeth who also designed Post's second now infamous Palm Beach home Mar - A - Lago. The color palette of white with pops of chocolate brown and soft coral pink is so lovely.

The Glamorous Chinoiserie Bathroom

Billy Cotton - Architectural Digest

This wonderful bathroom features one of my favorite chinoiserie wallpapers of all time - Quadrille's Lyford Trellis. It is available in lots of colorways - here in one of their mylars. This design is a classic.

The Beachy Chinoiserie Living Room

Judith Guest

 

This is a gorgeous blue and white beachy chinoiserie living room. A follower asked me recently whether one can do an entire room in rattan. 

Chinoiserie Inspiration

Mark D. Sikes

This is such a pretty example of a chinoiserie vignette that is not in a blue and white color palette. The wallpaper is the classic Quadrille Bali Hai in a green colorway as opposed to the very popular blue.

The Blue and White Breakfast Nook

Hallie Neley Sims - House Beautiful

This darling breakfast nook right off the kitchen features the iconic wallpaper Quadrille Climbing Hydrangea. This is a great wallpaper for anywhere, working beautifully in literally any room of the house.

Les Indiennes Multicolor

Meg Braff Designs - Flower Magazine

Such beautiful colors in this library by Meg Braff. The patterned fabric is a favorite of mine - Quadrille's Les Indiennes Multicolor. Notice in this room the Chinese Chippendale chair, blue and white Chinese porcelain, and Chinese lamp. I think this fabric works beautifully with chinoiserie.

Enveloped in Chinoiserie

John Fondas - House Beautiful

 Several followers commented and emailed wanting to see more of the John Fondas space I included in yesterday's post seen below. The hall in a Palm Beach condo, it is enveloped in Quadrille's Lyford Trellis.

The photo above offers a peek into the room beyond filed with chinoiserie. 

A Unique Color Palette

Meg Braff - Hamptons Cottages & Gardens

 A colorful chinoiserie dining room in a Southampton getaway by Meg Braff. The wallpaper is Quadrille's Lyford Trellis. The coral Indochine dining chairs are from Red Egg. The iron chandelier is from Ironware International, but I can't say I like it. It looks like it has been run over.

This is certainly a unique color palette - she calls it coral, ochre, and chocolate. Meg says this dining room is used more in the winter when one can't eat outside, so she chose a cozy color palette.

The Blue and White Dining Room

Kaitlin Smith Interiors

 A classic chinoiserie dining room. The fabric is Quadrille's China Seas Seya, a tropical design often used in beach houses. Chinoiserie elements include the navy blue Chinese Chippendale chairs, the navy blue faux bamboo sideboard, the gold faux bamboo frame on the coral art, and the foo dog lamp. I have the same seashell encased hurricanes I got from HomeGoods.

Industrial Chinoiserie/New Business Cards

Colleen Bashaw - House Beautiful

I had to share this incredibly unique bathroom that interior designer Colleen Bashaw designed for her daughters. It combines industrial elements with chinoiserie, which is quite a rarity.

The pink chinoiserie wallpaper is a favorite of mine - Quadrille China Seas Lyford Pagoda in pink on white. I love how it includes palm trees and pagodas.

Quadrille China Seas Lyford Pagoda

Then she toughens up the pink palette with a metal apothecary style vanity and industrial sconces by Urban Electric Company. A pair of black inlaid bone mirrors is a perfect contrast to the pink.

A Wonderful Chinoiserie Dining Room

Colleen Bashaw - House Beautiful

 I really love everything about this dining room. For me, it is the perfect mix of classic and modern, of formal and casual.

The marble oval Saarinen tulip table is such a favorite of mine. Created in 1957, it is an iconic and timeless mid century classic. Louis XVI chairs are covered in an indoor/outdoor Quadrille fabric. Practical and beautiful. The fabric is Quadrille's Magic Garden. I love the green tape and nailhead trim on the chairs too.

Faux Bois & Chinoiserie

Charlotte Moss

 

I love chinoiserie and I love faux bois (French for false wood) and they look so great together. This blue and white tile tray is likely Delft, but Delft mixes beautifully here and with blue and white Chinese porcelain.

This dining room below by the late Andrew Raquet is my favorite example and a favorite dining room. He was immensely talented and died at forty five. Wallpaper is Gracie. Faux bois on the chairs is Quadrille's Alan Campbell's Meloire Reverse.

My painters are due over shortly. The projects never end!

Andrew Raquet

Andrew Raquet

The Blue & White Chinoiserie Bedroom

Jonathan Adler - Elle Decor

 

This is a bedroom with so many ideas to inspire. I love the seating area at the foot of the bed with the pair of wicker elephants as side tables and the pair of side tables as a coffee table. The sofa is divine - stried, tufted, and bullion fringe. The pair of rattan bar carts as bedside tables is another favorite. Perhaps my favorite is the two different Quadrille chinoiserie patterns - Lyford Diamond Bamboo wallpaper and Paradise Background as a headboard. And as an aside, I am so delighted my house came with plantation shutters - simple, classic, private, easy, perfect for a tropical climate. 

The Blue and White Powder Room

Kara Miller Interiors

 

This wonderful powder room features one of my absolute favorite wallpapers - Quadrille Lyford Trellis. The bamboo and cane mirror is perfect. The hand soap looks like Nest's Ocean Mist and Sea Salt. The picture light style fixture is very chic.

 Perhaps my favorite element is the vintage Steve McQueen black and white photograph. BTW, using a framed photograph is a great way way to keep a room fresh and modern and edgy and not granny. The photographer was famed war photographer and photojournalist John Dominis for Look magazine. 

Tropical Vignette

Emily Painter - Southern Living

 Lots of great inspiration here to lend a tropical/island/chinoiserie vibe to your home. The wallpaper is Balinese Batik by Quadrille. Note the chic and economical seagrass matting, a bamboo Chinese Chippendale chair, Amanda Lindroth wicker hurricane used as a vase, a pair of trellis lamps, a Chinese console table, and an absolutely amazing seashell mirror.

Wallpaper Surprises

Osborne & Little Coronata Star

Yesterday I found my stash of wallpaper - it includes vintage, discontinued, and very high end papers.  The catch? It is 2 rolls  of this, 4 rolls of that. Not enough to do rooms. So I am going to get creative and think of unexpected spots for some of this beautiful wallpaper in my new home.

I have in my arsenal 4 rolls of Osborne & Little Coronata Star wallpaper that I picked up for $20 at a favorite thrift store in Alexandria. (Look Again at 900 King Street). If any of you are in the NOVA area, it is in Old Town and benefits The Society for the Prevention of Blindness. (Secret - interior designers in Alexandria often donate there).

I am thinking of using it in the the vestibule on the ceiling. Why not?

And I have a gorgeous double roll of very vintage Louis W. Bowen Chinese Lattice (now manufactured by Quadrille/China Seas under the name Trellis Background and by Bob Collins & Sons as Chinese Lattice. It might end up in the pantry.

Louis W. Bowen Chinese Lattice

My wallpaper hanger is coming over on Wednesday morning for estimates on the guest bath and laundry room projects.

Have you used wallpaper in any unexpected places?

A closet?

A ceiling?

A pantry?

An armoire?

A bar?

Closet doors?

The backs of shelves?

I also have a stunning pair of Paul Montgomery Chinoiserie panels I have never used. And I have perfect spot for them.

Paul Montgomery Silver Leaf Panels

I would love to hear about your wallpaper projects (not on walls) for inspiration.

Mixing Pattern

Leta Ann Foster - House Beautiful

This is a very pretty breakfast room with a blue and white palette and fabulous Chinoiserie wallpaper (Quadrille China Seas Trellis Background) and a wonderful blue and white lantern.

But, do you think there are two many patterns going on here? With the wallpaper pattern (1), fabrics in different patterns (5), and lantern trellis design (1), that's a lot of pattern. Seven patterns in a small breakfast room. Do you like it, is it too much, or does it work because it is all in blue and white?

And a second point, what is your take on a roman shade on one window and cafe curtain on the other?

Personally, I think it's too much pattern and especially do not care for the window treatment. I would have gone with roman shades on both in linen in a solid color. Then navy blue Performance velvet on the chairs and bench with pillows in one or two fabrics. Less pillows and less patterns. I think with such a bold wallpaper, one or two other patterns works best personally.

Orchids

Miguel Alias - Traditional Home

I have always loved having orchids in my home, but in Florida I am enjoying them even more. When they are finished blooming indoors, I bring them out to the lanai, and with the warmth and the light, it is like a greenhouse and they send up new stalks and rebloom and then I can rotate them back through the house. I always buy my orchids at Trader Joe's - IMHO their quality and price can't be beat. I have a collection of blue and white Chinese porcelain cachepots for them. And I'm sure everyone knows the trick of watering them with three ice cubes once a week.

Here is the ultimate orchid fantasy - a gazebo filled with dozens of orchids. The fabric is Zig Zag by Quadrille.

Orchids in my bathroom