A Silver Halloween

Carolyne Roehm

 

I love these ideas by Carolyne Roehm for a very luxe Halloween, especially for those of us who are not big lovers of orange. If you love Halloween, but want a more elegant and sophisticated look, silver is a great choice. Above, carve Jack O'Lanterns and paint them silver. You can use silver spray paint or silver craft paint with a sponge brush. Gray tulle adds an ethereal touch.

The Midas Touch

Cadiz Handknotted Shoulder Bag in Metallic Gold

I am a huge fan of gold accessories for a luxe touch, especially for evenings out. This darling bag is just the ticket.

Silver, Florida, and Humidity

Flower Magazine

 

Now that my Christmas decorations are put away, I have turned my attention to other projects around CCC. One is polishing all of my silver. Isn't this floral arrangement by Molly Copa and Hattie Sloane of Flower Fetish in Austin gorgeous? A silver Champagne bucket makes a beautiful container. You can read how to create it here in the wonderful Flower Magazine.

All That Glitters

Ginny Loafer

 

The holidays are full of glitter that seems to end up everywhere - I even found glitter on my dogs yesterday! It is the perfect time to add a sparkly piece to your wardrobe.

Car Shopping

Audi A4 Allroad

A little while back I mentioned that I was car shopping. I ended up delaying my purchase because of the conventional wisdom that supply line issues would ease the second half of this year. Well, that didn't happen, so I've decided to take the plunge anyway. 

Setting the Chinoiserie Table

Ware M. Porter

As a follower of social media, the vast majority of table settings I see use bamboo flatware. I have two sets and use mine all the time. Especially in Florida, my silver flatware seems too serious. But this is an interesting alternative - mixing bamboo and silver for a more formal table setting. I love this idea. The script on the place card made me laugh - at first I thought it spelled "nerd."

 

Grandmillennial/Old School Chinoiserie

Ware M. Porter

This was the color of my daughter's nursery, a very soft mint green. I love this. It looks like the Chinese Chippendale chairs are painted the same color. I still love relaxed roman shades like these and a beautiful brass chandelier. And don't miss the hand painted or stenciled palm trees. The table is set with beautiful place mats - yeah!, silver, candlesticks, place cards, and bamboo flatware. Please check out the individual floral arrangements at each place setting.

This is so beautiful. I am really liking the idea of the painted palm tress. My painter does beautiful faux painting - I think I mentioned in my kitchen he surprised me by painting the 10 foot column faux marble to match my countertops. He could do this. Don't those look stenciled? Isn't this a lovely room?

The Chinoiserie Powder Room

John - Oetgen - Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles

A lovely powder room with blue and white wallpaper, a silver faux bamboo mirror, and a pagoda candleholder.

The Chinoiserie Powder Room

Pinterest

Perfect choices in this blue and white powder room with its Chinoiserie wallpaper, silver leaf mirror, and lovely accessories.

Blue and White

Ethan Allen

A favorite combination of mine - blue and white Chinese porcelain, silver,  and abstract art.

The Chinoiserie Dining Room

Bunny Williams - Veranda

A palette of blue and white, buffalo checks, blue and white Chinese porcelain, and antique Chinese botanical engravings cut out and glued to silver tea paper and hung as wallpaper in this lovely dining room.

The Chinoiserie Bar Cart

Michelle Morgan Harrison - New England Home

Gray Chinoiserie wallpaper by Gracie is a beautiful backdrop for this silver bar cart outfitted with crystal and silver.

Blue and White

Portobello Home

Blue and white Chinese porcelain mixes so well with pewter and silver.

The Chinoiserie Powder Room

Suzanne Kasler - Veranda

The Gracie wallpaper and Greek key upholstered stool are so beautiful in this blue and silver powder room.

A Chinoiserie New Year's Eve - Day 1

The Glitter Guide

This week let's look at some ideas for entertaining on New Year's Eve with Chinoiserie style. This bar cart from Target shines with its backdrop of Scalamandre Zebras wallpaper and the silver streamers.

A Chinoiserie Christmas - Day 5

Traditional Home

Let your love of blue and white Chinoiserie carry right through to your Christmas decorating as with this living room with blue velvet stockings, blue and silver ornaments, and even coordinating gift wrap.

A Chinoiserie Thanksgiving

Domino

These gold, silver, and copper leaf pumpkins would be a beautiful centerpiece for your Chinoiserie table setting. This look could be achieved with either the metal leaf sheets or Liquid Gold available in gold, silver, and copper. Heirloom pumpkins that are so heavily ribbed would give the best look. I still have all of mine from Halloween uncarved so I am going to try this myself.

Sunday Inspiration

Carolyne Roehm

If there is a color palette I love more than this, I can't imagine what it would be. I am always drawn to black, gold, every shade of pink, and of course, the hues in blue and white Chinese porcelain. I love mixing metals, here a gilded mirror, silver vases, and brass sconces. The roses are lovely - I am a fan of David Austin's English roses and have many in my garden. A beautiful green on the walls - my living room walls are a Farrow and Ball color called Bone that has a lot of green in it, but lighter and grayer than this. My kitchen walls are a soft celadon green. I find green walls to be a great backdrop.

White Christmas Tree Contest

Treetopia contacted me recently and asked me if I would like to choose and decorate a white Christmas tree. I was excited to do so because I thought it would be a great opportunity to use a beautiful collection of vintage silver and gold ornaments in my collection. Here is the finished tree; I hope you like it.

In addition, Treetopia has a little contest for my followers. If you pop over to their website and look at their selection of white trees and guess correctly which of their white trees I chose, you will be entered to win a $100 gift card from Treetopia. Just leave a comment on this post with your guess.

Which tree did I use?

The Top Ten Chinoiserie Trends for 2014

Layering a silver Chinese Chippendale mirror over a gilded mirror in my pagoda bedroom

 This week, in honor of the start of a new year, we will be looking at trends for 2014 in Chinoiserie. Let me start by saying that Chinoiserie is a timeless classic. None of it ever goes out of style, so you will not have to throw out your ginger jars! We will be looking at what will be especially popular this year in Chinoiserie in colors, paints, fabrics, new mixes, and hot pieces including the reveal of my Chinoiserie Chic Color of 2014.

#1 is Mixing Gold, Silver, and Chinoiserie. Back in the day, using silver and gold together was considered a faux pas in fashion and and interior design. Not so today. Combining silver and gold is modern, glamorous, and luxe, and never more so than when used together with Chinoiserie. Here is some inspiration.