The Breakfast Room Before & Sneak Peek

CCC

I am fortunate in my Florida home to have several options for dining - there is the dining room, the breakfast room, the breakfast bar, and the lanai. 

The breakfast room has my Warren Platner table and Chinese Chippendale chairs from my previous Alexandria home. The beaded and tasseled chandelier is from Ballard Designs. The tulipiere oil painting is from a favorite shop in Alexandria, Virginia now long gone called The Pineapple. It hung in my foyer in Alexandria.

I had a fun day styling the breakfast room yesterday. But it was a rare rainy day yesterday, so I deferred taking photos until today with natural light. I promise photos tomorrow.

Here is another view of the room before. It's quite spacious.

Here is a sneak peek ----

CCC

Another Chinoiserie DIY

This tiny powder room went from frumpy to Chinoiserie Chic fabulous with Chinoiserie stenciled walls, a thrift store mirror painted coral, and a coral roman shade with Greek key trim at Worthwhile Domicile.

A Chinoiserie DIY

Look how this china cabinet went from traditional to Chinoiserie Chic fabulous by two friends with some red, black, and gold paint. What a fantastic Chinoiserie DIY transformation. Have your own Chinoiserie Chic DIY? I'd love to see it.

Another Before and After

I am always fascinated when I find a picture of a room in a magazine and then run across the "real" room before it has been styled, staged, and photoshopped by the magazine. I will have to put together a post on all of the examples I have blogged about before.

Above is a beautiful Chinoiserie vignette from the home of interior designer Mark Sikes that appeared in House Beautiful and has been pinned and posted countless times. Look at all the changes they made - the orchids and clay pots are gone. They have added dramatic blue and white Chinese porcelain vases filled with palm fronds, seashells and coral, the mini pagodas I am always posting about, and have rearranged things in a much more symmetrical and pleasing way.

The close-up shot loses the rather unattractive rug and awkward sconce on the wall and makes the console table appear less heavy. The only thing I would have tweaked in the after shot above is to lose the electrical cords hanging below the console since the lamps are not on in the photo anyway. I have a close friend with exquisite taste who is a fanatic about exposed cords and will get a kick out of this. I was once in a show house where the interior designer had cut off all the lamp cords from all of the lamps in the entire house!

Chinoiserie Chair Before and After

Kimberly of The Green Room Interiors sent me this fab chair makeover she did. With a little paint and a little fabric-Scalamandre China Rose from Shannon at The Designer's Attic, what a transformation! The chair is available here as are other wonderful Chinoiserie makeovers. I had an amazing weekend at an auction filled with Chinoiserie treasures, and plan to show you some of my finds in upcoming posts. Enjoy the beginning of spring.