Blue and White Chinese Planters

Ralph Lauren

 

Blue and white Chinese planters are such an elegant and classic choice for potting real or faux large plants or trees indoors or out. And there are other great uses for one too.

Palm Trees Indoors

Amanda Lindroth

 In this fanciful tropical bedroom, Amanda Lindroth combines many of my favorite things. Wicker and rattan is in abundance - they will continue to be huge trends in 2021 - especially designer versions of these wonderful natural elements. The rattan canopy bed is fantastic and I am a sucker for canopy beds. I always wanted one as a child and my parents refused in their ultra modern mid century home. Note the wicker pagodas and rattan breakfast tray. 

Other favorite elements include the palette of pink and green, orchids, seashells, and stripes.

I like her use of faux canvas palm trees mixed with real palm trees. I have an extra blue and white Chinese fish bowl and I love the look of a live palm in a fish bowl topped with moss. Which palm species have you all had good luck with indoors? I think I will venture out to Home Depot and Lowe's today as I am also looking for camellias.

A Chinoiserie Christmas

Matthew Monroe Bees - House Beautiful

 In his Charleston home, this interior designer places his Christmas tree in a blue and white Chinese fish bowl. He says it leaves more room for presents and elevates the tree making it look more grand. OK you smart people, this looks to be a cut tree and tree stands tend to have larger bases with wider legs. I would love to know how he secured the tree. 

Here's a cute idea by Amanda Lindroth - she has decorated her wicker pagodas (this is her Charleston store) with miniature red Christmas ornaments. I would love to hear ideas from you on how you combine Christmas and Chinoiserie in your home. 

Amanda Lindroth

Chinoiserie in the Bathroom

Alex Reid - Architectural Digest

We have of course seen lots of blue and white Chinese garden stools in the bathroom to hold towels, but I got a kick out of the creativity here. In his Greenwich Village townhouse, interior designer Alex Reid wallpapered his bathroom in art, many of it flea market finds or art he created himself. A blue and white ginger jar sits on the window sill. It looks to me like he made a top for a blue and white fish bowl to hold his collection of colognes and toiletries. Very clever.

I am SO happy. I am finally down to the short strokes on projects at CCC, and I am spending this entire week doing anything and everything I like. Pure bliss.

BTW, Amazon Prime Days starts midnight tonight Pacific time, or 3 AM here. I am hoping a Samsung frame TV is offered like last year. Finger crossed.

Gardening ESP

Duranta Erecta Standard

I had the best day yesterday. On Thursday I decided I wanted to find a fairly obscure plant that was at the Sarasota house. It is called Duranta. I was trying to source it by mail order, having already called a few places locally with no success, and all I could find were little starter plants in California.

I went to my favorite Lowe's yesterday because their garden center is A plus. What was waiting there for me but 2 Duranta Erecta "Sapphire Showers" which is a new cultivar and stunning. And they are standards and I am topiary crazy. I cannot get enough. My dream would be to live at Ladew Topiary Gardens in Maryland. I think adding some topiaries will help give the garden a more structured and formal feel which I think is a great mix with my tropical jungle in back.

I am trying them in my blue and white Chinese fish bowls. And please, I know they need to be elevated and topped with moss or whatever, but as my wonderful grandmother used to say, "Rome wasn't built in a day." Because just as I put them in the fish bowls I got an email that my Mercer dining table is ready for delivery. It is being delivered on Wednesday finally!

And I also found a lovely pair of Eugenia topiaries that will be finding a home in the garden today. I am having a ball in the garden. I also came up with a game plan for the side yard that I am super excited about and will be sharing soon.

Faux Palm Tree - Help Me Decide

Canvas Nursery Buddha Palm - Allison Allen Design

So, my one completely and totally crazy and fanciful purchase for the new house is a canvas palm tree from the Canvas Nursery. I have wanted one of these since I first saw it in Rebecca de Ravenel's LA apartment, but this would not have worked in my Virginia home at all. In Venice, it will be amazing.

Why do I need a faux palm when I look out onto a hundred? To me, Chinoiserie is about the fanciful, the whimsical, and this will make me smile every day. This house is all about returning joy to my life after a truly terrible period in my life.

Rebecca de Ravenel

I am using a 9 foot one and it will go in the great room. I have narrowed it down to the four below. Which of these do you like? It is an hour drive south of me, and as soon as I move I will buzz down and pick it up in person. The owner is really nice.

The Royal Palm

This palm is a classic - there are several in my yard here. Elegant and stately, this is their top of the line palm.

Feather-Hawaiian Palm

Feminine and delicate, this palm would be a pretty choice.

Banana Tree

Love banana leaf fabrics and wallpapers? - well this is the real thing - but in a faux version. LOL! BTW, the banana tree is technically not a palm.

Coconut Palm

These palms are all over where I live - the coconuts fall into the lake behind my house and bob up and down in the water.

So, which is your favorite? I had a hard time narrowing it down to my top four. Your comments are really really helpful. I am thinking about using one of my beautiful blue and white Chinese fish bowls for it.

Chinoiserie Gone Wrong

Aerin Lauder - House and Garden

Today's Chinoiserie Gone Wrong is about scale. Above is a photo of Aerin Lauder's East Hampton home's foyer from a 2007 House & Garden Christmas issue. The scale of that short and wide palm in a blue and white Chinese porcelain pot does not work at all in that space. Perhaps it was just pulled in for the photo shoot, who knows, it is just wrong. Not to mention that the poor thing would have perished in that dark corner. Here below is the same space more recently with furnishings in scale.

Harpers Bazaar Arabia

I love a potted palm in a home. But please use a large blue and white Chinese fish bowl with a big palm and add some drama! Here is a perfect example in a Ralph Lauren room. If in doubt, go larger, as opposed to small. Dinky does diddly-squat in a room. I am not a houseplant fan anyway, with a few notable exceptions. I love potted orchids. Trader Joe's are the best quality and price. Feed your orchid three ice cubes a week and it will last for months. I love a large potted palm or a large potted fiddle leaf fig. Put them in either a blue and white Chinese fish bowl or a beautiful big basket. But with both, go bold or go home.

Ralph Lauren

The Fiddle Leaf Fig in Florida

Unknown

 "The fiddle leaf fig in Florida" - say that 5 times really fast! I have been wanting one of these chic plants for ages but heard they are notoriously finicky. Well, everything in my lanai grows like crazy and huge fiddle leaf figs are available here at Lowe's, so I am ready to pull the trigger. Here is an example of one in a lanai.

Fiddle leaf fig in lanai

I would love to find another Chinese fish bowl to pot it in and top it with moss like this palm below. My two Chinese fish bowls are currently in the lanai with Areca palms in them.

Ralph Lauren

Chinese fish bowl

Have any of you grown a fiddle leaf fig outdoors? So far in my lanai I am growing palms, bouganvellia, an herb garden, a collection of agave, and orchids. And I received my giant clam shell yesterday - I love it!

My bouganvellia

Blue and White

HGTV

Love this space with its two large blue and white Chinese fish bowls and a pair of blue and white Greek key pillows.

British Colonial

Ralph Lauren

Blue and white Chinese porcelain including ginger jars and fishbowls with palms and a pair of red and gold Chinoiserie mirrors combine with dark woods in British Colonial style.

More Blue and White

Old House Online

I really like the idea of using an oversized blue and white fish bowl as a table base.

Surviving Winter with Chinoiserie

Mark D. Sikes

What better way to brighten up a winter day than a beautiful plant in a blue and white Chinese fish bowl? Here is inspiration. Two pointers - unless the container is truly massive like in the Ralph Lauren example, I like it elevated on a stand. It is also important to have the plant a bit high in the container and to top it off with lots of moss.

Mark D. Sikes

Ralph Lauren

David Lawrence

Sig Bergamin

One

Mark D. Sikes

One statement piece of Chinoiserie can transform a room, adding drama and interest. The scale of this blue and white Chinese fish bowl with palm is perfect.  I love to add lots of moss to the top as here adding textural interest.

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.

Bringing the Garden Indoors With Chinoiserie Style

David Lawrence

Chinoiserie Greenery

Ralph Lauren

I  just ordered and received two large Chinese pots like this. I can't wait to plant them up  - love the moss. I think this is a triangle palm.

Chinoiserie Houseplants

Mark D. Sikes

I am not a fan of house plants at all, but the two exceptions are potted orchids and a tree potted in a blue and white fish bowl. The photo above has beautiful examples of both.

Mary McDonald

Preppy Chinoiserie

Chinoiserie and preppy together really are a marriage made in heaven. I was thinking these deep thoughts yesterday as I was shopping in Ralph Lauren and Vera Bradley, both beautifully decorated with Chinoiserie everywhere. I was especially taken with this window display above at Ralph Lauren (taken on my iPhone) and it has given me great inspiration for a vignette in my family room. I've decided to see if I can replicate this look for my own home. I'm on the lookout for a collection of vintage polo mallets and a massive blue and white Chinese jar. I'll show you the results when I do! If you have been in many Ralph Lauren stores, they love using blue and white Chinese porcelain contrasted against all the dark woods of the stores. Wonderful looks they employ are blue and white Chinese fish bowls with Kentia palms and massive blue and white ginger jars. This British Colonial style is especially nice in the summer.