Decorating with Antique Quilts

Tory Burch - Mercer Street Store in SOHO

I love going to Tory Burch stores not only to shop, but to get interior design inspiration. Her stores are gorgeous. Her NYC SOHO store is wonderful, filled with wicker, ferns, topiaries, lettuce ware, spongeware, chintz and vintage quilts. My mother had a serious passion for collecting quilts and had an armoire filled with them despite their mid century modern home filled with Danish modern decor. She couldn't sew a button on, so she didn't make the quilts, but loved finding them and adding to her collection. 

Chinoiserie DIY

This vintage chest has been upcycled with Chinoiserie wallpaper and is available for $12,300. Looks like a great DIY project to me. An Ikea dresser could also be used.

Unique Chinoiserie Art

These are some new additions to Susan Brown's fun, chic, and hip collection of vintage vinyl Chinoiserie art. Prints of her original works of art are applied to scratched and unusable vintage records creating this unique art. Signed by the artist. Frames are easily found online or in stores.

Welcome Artist Susan Brown

I am happy to welcome artist Susan Brown as an Etsy Sponsor of Chinoiserie Chic. Susan has a special interest in Chinoiserie as you can see. Visit her Etsy shop to view her current collection of original paintings, prints, and even furniture. A very cool idea is the way she has upcycled unusable vinyl record albums into works of art with prints of her paintings. Have you see record frames at places like Michaels? - I have shown an example below. I think a grouping of these album prints framed would be wonderful. You can find Susan's link in my sidebar - check back often as she is always adding new works of art.

Using Antique Saris

This Antique Indonesian Bamboo Table and Stool Set available on Etsy is quite lovely, but what intrigued me most was that the stools have been upholstered using antique quilted saris. Remnants of antique kimonos and saris are quite easy to find on places like eBay and Etsy and using them to upholster stools, benches, ottomans, and the like is a wonderful idea to borrow.

Chinoiserie Bench Inspiration

Several people have emailed me or commented that they bought the JCP (I can't speak its name) Chinoiserie bench and are planning on glamming it up. Here are some examples of high or higher end Chinoiserie benches that may be a source of inspiration. As for the base, what about Chinese red, black, black and gold, or even black with accents of gold, red, and turquoise? Fabric could run the gamut from a great Chinoiserie toile, a red or coral pink silk damask, raw silk, leopard, leather, even a tufted cushion. One follower of Chinoiserie Chic may try a faux malachite finish-doesn't that sound fabulous? If anyone would like to send photos of their "after" results, I will do a post on any I receive along with my efforts. Sounds fun! What would you do to glam this up? Do tell!

English 1920s Red Painted Chinoiserie Stools at 1st dibs

Southern Living Georgia Idea House used three to form a bench-great idea!

Palace stool at Gumps in gold with scarlet "silk" cushion

Moss colored leather with nailhead trim at 1st Dibs

An antique English Queen Anne Chinoiserie version with cane seat

French 19th century at Roslyn Raphan

The Chinoiserie Kitchen

This small but gorgeous kitchen by Miles Redd was featured in the July House Beautiful. Rather than rip out the existing laminate kitchen cabinets, Miles simply had them painted in Bamboo Leaf by Fine Paints of Europe. Their Hollandlac Brilliant is a perfect paint for this type of use. It is an ultra durable marine grade paint that will give you a very high gloss enamel finish. This green is a wonderful choice. Other ideas for a Chinoiserie lacquer look include red, yellow, or black. Lacquer has been used in China and Japan since 7000 BC for its beautiful and durable finish. Fines Paints of Europe does an incredible job of creating this lacquer look. This idea is elegant, green in every sense of the word as you are upcycling your existing cabinets, and budget friendly.