The Chinoiserie Workspace

Bamboo Pens

 

Happy May Day, also International Workers' Day. Whether you have a dedicated workspace in your home or a desk in the corner of a room, here are some ideas for organizing your space with chinoiserie chic style.

Classic Chinoiserie

J. Joern Cunningham

A wonderful work/study area has been created in the corner of this room.

The wallpaper is the classic Brunschwig & Fils Bird and Thistle. Although not a chinoiserie wallpaper, it is a very popular classic paper that works beautifully with chinoiserie, like the black Chinese Chippendale chair and blue and white Chinese porcelain on the mantel.

Pretty in Pink/CCC

CCC

 This is a favorite room of mine, my office. It is the girliest office imaginable, which is perfect for me. A blush pink velvet sofa, a red leather Mary McDonald campaign chair, a gold leaf zebra rug, and two built in bookcases with desks anchor the space. I have converted one of the desks into a mini bar.

Purple & Chinoiserie

Mary McDonald - Elle Decor

 Purple rooms are still on the rare side, and even rarer mixed with chinoiserie like in this study. Custom de Gournay peacock wallpaper mixes with modern and mid century elements like the Karl Springer mirror, acrylic sputnik chandelier, Italian stools, and chairs in Scalamandre silk check. 

Purple is a color I don't really have in my home, although I love it where it goes more lavender like it does here. I don't use a lot of red either, but I really like lavender mixed with red. My study in Alexandria was lavender with red and pink and I loved it.

My Pink and Red Study To Be

Pink and Red Chinoiserie Chic Inspiration Board

Thanks to everyone who played the home edition of the game show Chinoiserie Chic yesterday with "let's pick a dining table for Beth." And the winner is .......

The Williams Sonoma Home Mercer Table. Thank you for all your comments. So many great points were made - especially that it won't clash with my gorgeous stone floors, it is a classic, its clean lines; I am sold. For those who thought it too modern, the original it is based on is from the 1930s.

Yesterday I returned to HomeGoods and found another even more fabulous Mary McDonald piece - a red leather Chaddock House Grant Campaign Chair. I can't find the retail price online but I bet it was/is a fortune. If anyone can find the retail price for me, I would appreciate it. I got it for $230. It is stunning.

Mary McDonald for Chaddock House

Here is it above in white leather - mine is red leather and white painted wood and brass.

I love the combination of red and pink. The inspiration board I did a while back above combines these colors. FYI, I am not doing this for my study - I wish! Below is a shot from my former library/office in Alexandria.

So, a few hints about my study in the new home. A pink velvet couch. The Mary McDonald red leather chair. Favorite art in reds and pinks. Beautiful built-in desks and bookcases. A pink marble coffee table.

Pink Velvet Sofa

Inigo Jones

Dana Gibson Pink Leopard Pillow

The study is going to be a show stopper. Very chic and girly. The Mary McDonald chair yesterday made it all come together. Funny how that happens.

Pink and red..........

The Chinoiserie Office

Victoria Press - Vogue UK

Isn't this a wonderful example of how to incorporate Chinoiserie in your office, study, or library? A beautiful Chinoiserie desk and a collection of blue and white Chinese porcelain are perfect choices.

Cordless Chinoiserie

Miles Redd - House Beautiful

 I was looking at my file of photos of skirted tables and came across these shots of this room by Miles Redd. It is a library in his mother's home in Bulkhead that he turned into an office for her. He used the dining room table that he thought too large for the dining room, having switched it out for a round table. It is covered in chintz called Althea by Lee Jofa and trimmed in Samuel & Sons fringe. The walls are glazed in emerald green. What caught my eye was the missing electrical cords on the two oversized Chinese lamps. I learned that he snaked the cords between the table leaves and under the rug. I assume he had slits made in the table skirt as well, right?

It reminded me of this iconic photo of Billy Haines at bottom with its cordless Blanc de Chine lamp. Haines had an obsession with cords and drilled a hole in the table so that the cord could run along the underside of the table and not be visible.

I too hate visible cords and do everything in my power so that none are visible. I rubber band them, or attach them to the backs of furniture, or run them behind curtains, or even position furniture to hide the cords. But Miles and Billy have one-upped me here.

Miles Redd - House Beautiful

Billy Haines

The Bold Chinoiserie Study

Parker Kennedy Living - Atlanta Homes

The wallpaper is Fromental. I love the glossy green ceiling.

iMac - A Thing of Beauty

Tomorrow I am off to the Apple store to replace my old iMac with, of course, a new iMac. I thought it would be fun to see some chic work spaces with this stylish and iconic computer. We start with the chicest office of them all belonging to J.Crew's Jenna Lyons. Note how many of these spaces have Chinoiserie - Chinese Chippendale chairs, pagoda lamps, gourd lamps, Chinese screens - Apple and Chinoiserie are a great combination. Accessorize with fresh flowers, a Baies candle, and a sheepskin draped over your desk chair.

To me the iMac is the most beautiful computer in the world, inside and out.

Inspiration Board - My Office Makeover

Here is my inspiration board for my little home office makeover I have just started on. The painter comes tomorrow to paint. The walls will be Benjamin Moore Poppy - I decided my previous two red paint candidates were too brown with this fabric. The window treatment will be Charlotte Moss Caroline in Currant.

My Chinese Chippendale mahogany fretwork desk will get jazzed up with a beautiful blue and white Chinese porcelain lamp and some chic accessories. I have some great art for the room including a huge Inigo Jones that I love. My big score of the weekend was this fantastic dog bed in Scalamandre Zebras because Izzy likes to hang out with me in my office.

A black leather mid century modern bench will be a great spot for not only extra seating but magazines and files. A red lacquer Victoria ghost chair is for extra seating. I have a DIY makeover planned for my desk chair that is still in the planning.

Two projects will be styling the wall of built-in bookshelves and perhaps creating a gallery wall above the bench.

If you have been following along with my virtual makeover of a fantastic Chinoiserie historic property in Coral Gables, Florida over at The Glam Pad, you'll want to pop over today and see what I have envisioned for the kitchen.

The Pink Chinoiserie Desk

I mentioned in my post on Thursday that when I redo my office, I am thinking about painting my Chinese Chippendale desk pink like Julia's (from Pawleys Island Posh) wonderful coral pink desk in her One Room Challenge. I originally got the idea of a pink desk from this Mary McDonald office above.

Mary McDonald says that she brazenly painted the Chinese desk hot pink and gave it a European style studded linen velvet upholstered top. The room also includes aqua Chinese garden stools and antique turquoise Chinese lamps, as well as lots of Chinese porcelain pieces and foo dogs on the desk. l love the pink and chocolate brown color combination with pops of blue.