Art Inspiration

Suzanne Kasler

 

OK, I officially have art envy - a gallery wall of Slim Aarons. The coral pink is a stunning wall color and so Palm Beach. I love the idea of art ledges so the art can be moved around and switched out at will. Note the white frames - I have started framing everything in white - so fresh, clean, modern and perfect for a Florida beach house. The mini bar is so fun - I always find myself trying to see what booze bottles are on bars. LOL. The only hard pass is the potted "plants" that I find downright creepy. 

Eclectic Mix

Melissa Morgan

 In this entry, a large collection of Goya etchings mix with a dramatic pair of antique blue and white ginger jars. Lots of texture with the exposed brick wall and tile floors. If you hang a collection of art with minimal space in between, visually it becomes one large pice of art.

The Chinoiserie Dressing Room

Danielle Rollins - Veranda

This post is a real favorite of mine. Some of you may recall that in my home in Alexandria, Virginia, I had converted a bedroom into a walk-in closet and it was pink - I color matched the walls to a Thomas Pink shopping bag.

Thomas Pink

Alas, I unfortunately do not have a spare room to convert here in Florida, but I do have a walk-in closet with ten foot ceilings and built-ins that works just fine.

I am loving the idea of a gallery wall in my closet. The Danielle Rollins dressing room is absolutely stunning. I love it all - the coral pink, the Chinese Chippendale casegoods turned into a wardrobe, the slipper chair, the gallery wall, and that monogrammed tote. The straw tote is from Nantucket Monogram & Design, but I don't see it on their website - I hope it is still available.

Danielle color matched the walls to a sadly now discontinued Estee Lauder lipstick "Princess Grace," a gorgeous coral pink. I wish I had purchased a bunch when they came out with it. It is a great color!

In the shots below you can see a vintage wicker and faux bamboo pagoda chandelier, a Chinese garden stool, and a pair of mirrored chests placed back to back topped with plywood, Chinoiserie fabric, and glass.

 My goal this weekend is a gallery wall in my closet and styling it. Stay tuned. This has really motivated me. Mine will be far less luxe, but this is wonderful inspiration.

Models at a Beach - Loise Dahl-Wolfe

Here is a sneak peek - my earring drawer -

The Chinoiserie Gallery Wall

My Daughter Kate's Gallery Wall

I thought you might enjoy seeing the gallery wall that my daughter Kate and her boyfriend just put up in their home - it's a combination of pieces I gave them when I moved to Florida and Kate's great finds from Etsy, eBay, and HomeGoods. This is my absolute favorite color palette - pink, blue, gold, and black. Gallery walls are harder than they look - getting the spacing and balance just right takes a good eye and some playing around. One key is to add elements that are not framed art to mix it up - the gold animals and giraffe mirror are darling. I like the framed blue and white ginger jar - she found that at HomeGoods. I really miss my weekly HomeGoods excursions.

The Chinoiserie Entryway

Lindsay Coral Harper - Traditional Home

Wow - this is sensational. Three foot tall peonies on a poppy ground Chinoiserie wallpaper and a gallery wall combine in this petite but statement entryway. The lantern is by Circa Lighting. Wallpaper is Gracie Studio. That fabulous bird sculpture must be a piece of hers - I've seen it pictured in other rooms she has done. This was from a 2018 Charleston show house.

Chinoiserie Touches

Katie Rosenfeld Design

A beautifully styled console table with a Bunny Williams brushstroke double gourd lamp, a foo dog, and a blue and white Chinese vase.

The Gallery Wall

via Gallery of Nostalgia

Free Ship Friday at Kerry Steele

Today only, Kerry Steele is offering free shipping on her canvases. The code to use is Friday1. For inspiration, I thought you would enjoy seeing some of her works in real people's homes. I think it really helps to visualize to see how beautiful they are in actual settings and how amazing they look with Chinoiserie!

Also, if you are an interior designer or an individual interested in commissioning a piece from Kerry, her cutoff to receive it by the holidays is October 15th. Kerry has also started experimenting with some petite canvases that are perfect on a tabletop easel or in a gallery wall. Below you will see a few. Stop by Kerry's store now for Free Ship Friday here.

5x7 Blue and White Abstract

8x10 Small Floral Oil Abstract

5x7 Oil Painting

Sunday Inspiration - Gallery Wall

New York Times

I love a great gallery wall. Add a a pair of foo dogs for a touch of Chinoiserie! This is Ben Pentreath's shop on Rugby Street in Bloomsbury, London.

The Pretty Gallery Wall

I think most of us associate gallery walls with either a modern black and white look or a funky and eclectic grouping of art. People went nuts over this gallery wall above that I posted and pinned, with its traditional furniture and antiques, Chinoiserie, pink walls, and amazing overlapping arrangement of art. It is a lovely example of how gallery walls can be pretty, feminine, and work beautifully with classic furnishings and Chinoiserie. I love these rooms below with pastel walls and wallpaper. I have many more examples on my Pinterest board here.

April Fools' Day Aftermath

Paper mache deer head

Yesterday was an odd day. For those of you who did not grow up on this planet, it was April Fools' Day, where the tradition is hoaxes and practical jokes. This year I decided to combine April Fools' Day with social commentary on the awful trend of using dead animals in interior design. Most of you got it, a few did not.

Here is a favorite comment -

"Thanks for a great April Fool's joke used to bring attention to an important topic. This isn't, IMO, a "design" or "taste" issue - it's a humanity issue. Animals killed purely for sport, sewn together at their hind quarters and bedazzled with fabric is just horrifying. There is no redeeming factor here - these aren't animals killed for food humanely by people who used animals as food; these were animals killed by people who thought it was funny to shoot and kill and then stuff them and ship them home and laugh about them while they hung on their walls. Sorry to get so worked up, but thanks CC - I adore you for sticking up for pink, Palm Beach Chic, and animal welfare."

One follower had a meltdown -

"This is the most surprising and horrific post I've ever seen related to fashion design. You are help creating a demand for animals that will decimate populations already endangered and also employ suffering and an untimely death for "decorations." What's worse is that you dress the bodies up in costume as some sort of humorous attempt at clever decor -- when you know full well that these majestic animals were in fact, killed for this purpose. It's not only creepy, but immoral. These animals are a part of our natural world; They are important part of the web of life and stand as symbols of majesty and beauty -- in their own living world. Wild animals such as you portray are currently suffering and endangered by the mass slaughter by poachers for their coats, plumage and ivory, For shame that you would project such a oblivious attitude towards these animals all for the sake of superficial show. I hope that you will revise your thinking -- borrow from nature, yes -- but do not kill the precious few we have left! Manmade textiles and materials are a much better choice than Dead Animals. Your cynicism is so hard to take. There is nothing Chic about this. Please write an apology to your readers and make a donation to the World Wildlife Fund to actively support the preservation of these animals.

I hope I don't have to release myself from your blog because I've enjoyed it -- until now."

After emailing her and explaining that I was trying to shine a light on this horrible trend, she got even more livid that she had been duped -

"You know, it's really a stupid joke Beth because it's not funny and because clearly so many of your readers also believed it to be true. I wouldn't do a piece on jewelry from Holocaust victims' fillings for April Fools -- this is in the same vein of horrendously bad taste and poor judgment on your part as Dead Animals. That you could take up my time for a post and "fool" a busy educated journalist and mother shows an incredible lack of judgment on your part, it's beyond the pale. I subscribe only for design, not tasteless jokes at my expense.

I'm unsubscribing."

Yikes!!!!! She sounds like lots of fun.

Update - a great email I received just now -

"I am sorry the other person did not get it and chose to make a horrifying Holocaust reference; she needs to push a faux bamboo gilded bar cart over to her sofa, pour herself a frosty cocktail, lie down on a Scalamandre pillow, don a Lilly P eye mask, open an enameled pill box, remove a Xanax, swallow it, and get over it. "

Well, back to interior design and Chinoiserie. This week I am focusing on a DIY version of the juju shown below from the apartment of Lonny editor Michelle Adams since I can't find it anywhere. There are lots of DIY tutorials.

I will also be working on styling my bookshelves for my home office makeover. I have a Pinterest board on bookshelf styling here.

I am awaiting one more piece of art for the gallery wall for my office and I will begin the framing. I have a Pinterest board on gallery walls including some with Chinoiserie and some with pink walls for inspiration here since many gallery walls are more modern or monochromatic than mine will be.

My Gallery Walls

These are the pieces I have so far for my planned gallery wall in my home office -
A vintage Vera scarf from eBay - arrived.
A nude sketch from Furbish - arrived.
An abstract by artist Kerry Steele
A 24K gold and pink flamingo from Etsy - arrived.

I have decided to play around with a DIY project on the framing. Here is the gallery wall below that I did for my kitchen One Room Challenge. I used a mix of unframed canvases, ready made frames, and custom frames and love the result. I smile every time I look at it and yes, I love pink!