Chinoiserie Gone Wrong

Scale & An Accident Waiting To Happen

I just had to post this. It made me cringe. The room is o.k., not great, but what in the world is that triple gourd Chinese lamp doing sitting on a Chinese garden stool?

*First, the garden stool is too small for any lamp.
*Second, the garden stool is too low for lighting while sitting on the settee or any piece of furniture for that matter.
*Third, the lampshade is too small and its style does not work at all with this lamp.
* Fourth, it must be a magical lamp, because there is no electrical cord.
*Fifth, it is an accident waiting to happen, one bump and the lamp is on the floor.

How could anyone think this looks right? They should have put the lamp on the desk in place of that dinky metal thing. The garden stool and the lamp are both nice pieces, but don't belong on top of each other. And those green pillows are ugly and don't work either. I think someone decided the room needed pops of green and didn't really think it through.

Love it? Hate it? Thoughts?

BTW, I love all the thought that has gone into your comments. Bright, funny, informative - a really nice diversion. Thank you!

A New Chinoiserie Gone Wrong

de Gournay

I received a great response to my new series on Chinoiserie Gone Wrong. Lots of comments, lots of emails, and some great ideas for upcoming posts. Thank you!

I am a huge fan of de Gournay wallpaper. My first post when I created Chinoiserie Chic more than 11 years ago below is of de Gournay wallcovering - a room by Ruthie Sommers. I still love this.

Ruthie Sommers - de Gournay

I had never seen a de Gournay wallcovering I have not liked. Until now. Yikes. Check out the green blobs.

Can you guess what this is supposed to be?

1. Melons?
2. Avocados?
3. Breasts?
4. Alien pods?
5. Green rainbows?
6. Rocks?
7. Exotic eggs?
8. Some strange fruit?

And the correct answer is Kiso Mountains. Wow. And the scale of those flowering trees? Some are as tall as the mountains. I cannot imagine decorating a room with this or living with it. I don't find anything aesthetically pleasing about this at all. Perhaps in a commercial space like a restaurant. Otherwise a hard pass.

Love it? Hate it? Thoughts?

New Series - Chinoiserie Gone Wrong

Tree Root Coffee Table

Lots of people seemed to have enjoyed reading and weighing in on my post on Saturday on the Miles Redd living room.

I thought it might be fun to start a weekly series called Chinoiserie Gone Wrong - rooms done by interior designers with Chinoiserie elements that just don't work for a variety of reasons which we will explore. If you have a photo of an interior designer's room you think would fit, please send it to me at Bethaconnolly@aol.com. I am purposely not posting the interior designer's name as a general rule (although there may be a few exceptions).

I like much about this room above, but simply do not get the massive tree root coffee table - either the scale or the look. IMHO the blue and white Chinese porcelain looks bizarre on top of it. I don't get at all the velvet sofa, silk curtains, gilded mirror, and Chinese porcelain combined with a tree root. It looks to me like a tree might have fallen through the roof in a storm and they kept it. It is also so large it takes over the room. The scale is seriously off.

Love it? Hate it? Thoughts?

Saturday Inspiration - Chinoiserie Valentine's Day

House Beautiful

One Room Challenge Revealed

I hope none of you missed the reveal of my laundry room and all the other participants yesterday. If you did, click here. I hate to see the One Room Challenge come to an end and I have a wonderful idea. Over the next week, we are going to have a One Room Challenge series here at Chinoiserie Chic. I will reveal my sources, delve into some of my design features, and feature some of my favorite rooms of the other participants as well as my favorites of the One Room Challenge linking participants.

Today we look at my umbrella stands. This stunning umbrella stand is available at The Pink Pagoda. I decided to use it for vintage sports equipment of mine. It holds my tennis racquet and my badminton racquet from my days at camp in Wisconsin. I spent 10 years going to 7 week sleep away camp in the summers and even became a counselor in training and then a counselor. These racquets hold very fond memories. The tennis racquet is housed in a vintage Louis Vuitton tennis racquet cover. The umbrella stand also holds vintage polo mallets. These were picked up on eBay several years ago and I previously displayed them in a large ginger jar in the family room.

I also use a large ginger jar I already owned for umbrellas. This is the entrance we use to walk Izzy, so it is very handy to have umbrellas at the ready for rainy dog walks. I have a pair of blue and white striped old school umbrellas I ordered from London and a beautiful pair of black umbrellas lined in orange.

Here is more inspiration on blue and white Chinese porcelain umbrella stands and how to display them. Note that large vases and large ginger jars work beautifully too. The Pink Pagoda has some great choices like this large vase here.

Darryl Carter

Jamie Meares

Today is the finale for the One Room Challenge Linking Participants and there are some great rooms. Go check it out.

New Series

Please don't miss Part 1 of my new series on hand painted wallpaper that began yesterday.

New Series and I'm a Giant Challenge

The day after Thanksgiving, we will turn from Setting the Chinoiserie Table to some new seasonal topics. We will have tons of ideas for decorating your home for the holidays with Chinoiserie Chic style, my top gifts for the Chinoiserie lover, and pictures of my own Chinoiserie home decorated for the holidays. I am also down to the last few touches on my Chinoiserie Chic dollhouse and I plan to do a big reveal in December of all my miniature Chinoiserie rooms. I think you will love it. Stay tuned for a great month here starting Friday.

New Series Announced

On Monday, we will begin our new series on Chinoiserie Lighting. On tap will be chandeliers, lamps, sconces, lampshades, finials, sources, high/low, DIY, and interior designer rooms with Chinoiserie lighting. Thank you for all the wonderful suggestions for upcoming series.