Chinoiserie Outdoors

Barclay Buttera 

 Spring is here and this is wonderful inspiration for bringing chinoiserie outdoors. Blue and white ginger jars dress up the table along with blue china and glassware. The coral cushions and coral and white striped pagoda umbrella are perfect choices.

Blue and White Chinoiserie

U.K. House & Garden

Here is a charming blue and white vignette, very British with its blue and white Chinese umbrella stand, blue and white striped umbrella, and blue and white floral festoon/balloon shade. I have always loved this window treatment and it has never gone out of style in England, although here the roman shade is considered more modern. The black and gold Chinese lamps and black and gold mirror ground the space.

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.

More Blue and White Chinoiserie Outdoors

These Chiang Mai umbrellas from Z Gallerie are on sale ($49.89) just in time for summer for your patio or pool. In indigo blue or white, they are made of oilcloth with bamboo poles and interiors. They even come with sleeves for storage. I am doing my patio in blue and white, so I am trying to decide on the color.

Chinoiserie Outdoors - Greek Key

I know that many of you fell in love with this vignette below from La Dolfina's patio with its Chinoiserie mirror. Don't you love the idea of using a Chinoiserie mirror outdoors? Here you get a larger view of her wonderful patio, including the fabulous Greek key umbrella from Z Gallerie that is regrettably no longer available.

The Chinoiserie Wedding

For the most beautiful post on how to have a Chinoiserie wedding, you need to visit my blogger friend Kitty's new blog Kitty's Shindigs & Soirees. She has some of the most wonderful ideas from invitations, to party favors, to decorations, to the wedding cake. Then revisit this post of mine on pagoda wedding umbrellas and parasols. This would be a wedding everyone would remember as incredibly chic, elegant, and one of a kind.

The Chinoiserie Wedding

These wonderful photos are from Bella Umbrella, a Seattle based shop with the world's largest selection of vintage and vintage style umbrellas for sale or rent. They ship worldwide. These beauties are from the early 1900s through the 1960s. I of course am especially enamored with the pagoda umbrellas and Asian parasols. These have been featured everywhere from Vogue, Bazaar, Martha Stewart Weddings, and In Style Weddings. Critical for an outdoor wedding in a rainy city like Seattle, they add a chic, stylish, sophisticated, and Chinoiserie note to any wedding, rain or shine. The owner started the business after collecting seventy five vintage umbrellas for her wedding guests to carry at her own wedding in the event of showers. For a garden wedding, I would have my wedding party carry these instead of flowers. After the ceremony, they make a beautiful backdrop. I also love the idea of them suspended from the ceiling for decoration. This idea is cost effective, earth friendly, unique, and incredibly chic. Visit our post today on Style Redux for more stunning parasols and umbrellas.