The Summer Table - Blue, White & Yellow

Juliska

 

When setting the table for summer with blue and white chinoiserie, a great color to add is sunny yellow. This pretty combination always reminds me of Provence.

A Big Yellow Taxi

Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell

Do you remember the classic song Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell? 

… Listen, late last night, I heard the screen door sway

And a big yellow taxi took my girl away

Now, don't it always seem to go

That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?

They paved paradise to put up a parking lot

Yellow & Chinoiserie

Mackenzie Page Interiors

 

This beautiful vignette features Scalamandre's Blossom Chinoiserie Mural and a wonderful tufted and scalloped curved settee with fringe trim.

Palm Beach Style & Yellow

Cathy Kincaid Interiors

This Palm Beach inspired dining room is from a Kips Bay Dallas Show House. I think it is a wonderful example of how well yellow works with blue and white Chinese porcelain. The millwork is beautiful as are the gorgeous plaster palm trees. The palm trees were created by one of Dallas' oldest plasterwork companies. The walls are stenciled.

Blue and White

Brunschwig & Fils

The coastal look has definitely taken over interior design by storm. Everything is styled with blue and white, palm trees, wicker and such. No complaints here - I can't get enough. This is Brunschwig & Fils' Majorelle Collection. I don't use a lot of yellow, but I like it in a breakfast room with blue and white - very French Provence. The same with buffalo checks - a little goes a long way, but it's quite charming in blue and white in small doses.

Happy Groundhog Day & Spring Trends

FOX 4

Today it will be sunny and 80° in Venice, pretty much like every other day here - LOL. 

But wherever you live, Spring will be here soon hopefully. One trend I am predicting in fashion for this Spring and Summer is yellow. A lot of people shy away from yellow, but many skin tones look wonderful in it - it's just a matter of finding the right yellow for you.

The Chinoiserie Living Room

Meg Braff

This remains one of my favorite living rooms of all time - Meg Braff's living room in her home in Locust Valley on Long Island in New York. It reminds me of the grand living rooms of Mario Buatta, and indeed the gorgeous Coromandel screen shown below she found at a local estate once designed by Mario Buatta.

Flower Arranging - Sunflowers & Chinoiserie

Charlotte Moss

 

I must say that it never ever occurred to me to combine sunflowers and chinoiserie, but leave it to Charlotte Moss to make it work. I checked, and in over 5,000 posts, I have never once posted on sunflowers - LOL. They always seemed a bit too country for my taste. I do love the orangey yellow with dark centers with the blue and white. Sunflowers now come in lots of colors (like orange, yellow of course, white, pink, chocolate brown, red) and sizes (dwarf to enormous). 

A Big Coverup

Frances Valentine

One trepidation I had about moving to Florida was my skin. I have seen so many people who move here and their skin gets brown and wrinkled and leathery. I have always taken really good care of my skin and I have great skin. One tip I have is Creme de la Mer Moisturizer that I have used forever. I used Erno Lazlo (Jackie Kennedy was a devotee) in my twenties and then moved on to La Mer. It is worth every penny.

A Unique Color Palette

Meg Braff - Hamptons Cottages & Gardens

 A colorful chinoiserie dining room in a Southampton getaway by Meg Braff. The wallpaper is Quadrille's Lyford Trellis. The coral Indochine dining chairs are from Red Egg. The iron chandelier is from Ironware International, but I can't say I like it. It looks like it has been run over.

This is certainly a unique color palette - she calls it coral, ochre, and chocolate. Meg says this dining room is used more in the winter when one can't eat outside, so she chose a cozy color palette.

The Library Dining Room

William McLure

From the Traditional Home Southern Style Now Showhouse in New Orleans. This room is confusing to me, but quite lovely. Is it a dining room or a study or both? It was described as the dining room in the show house, so how do you eat? On top of the books? I remember a NSO show house in D.C. years ago where there was a massive bed in the living room. That was really odd. It's sad that so many show houses have shuttered for good. I used to love attending them.

What are those lamps doing on the table and do they light? Are they cordless/battery? I believe someone asked the designer about the lamps and he said he drilled holes in the table. But that means holes in the tablecloth and rug as well. Seriously? I am very detail oriented - things like that puzzle/annoy me.

I guess it's the move to Florida, but I am really focusing now on Florida/Palm Beach/Tropical elements in rooms. Here, we have a beautiful piece of coral on the books and a Sago palm in the urn on the left. The Sago palm is ideal for containers indoors or out.

Here is a closeup - no cord?

I do like this room - the Chinese Chippendale chairs, the pair of blue and white ginger jars, yellow walls (an underused color IMO), a wonderful chandelier, and a great piece of art.  But those lamps still bug me. Do you remember the Miles Redd dining room turned study in his mother's home where he did the same thing with a  pair of lamps?

Miles Redd - House Beautiful

And a closeup - no cords?

The Chinoiserie Powder Room

Fine & Dandy Co.

A really stunning little jewel box of a powder room featuring emerald green wainscoting and ceiling and yellow Chinoiserie wallcovering with cranes and wisteria. I like the yellow striped towel as well. The black floor and striped glass ceiling fixture add an Art Deco vibe.

Yellow and green is a fresh combination that works beautifully with Chinoiserie.

Hillary Thomas

de Gournay

Tobi Fairley

And my HomeGoods find yesterday - a pink pagoda - definitely not yellow and green, but I am a pink girl always!

Classic Chinoiserie

Meg Braff - Veranda

A massive Coromandel screen, a Chinese gourd lamp, and a gilded faux bamboo bergere chair add Chinoiserie elements to this classic living room. I love the fringed yellow sofa as well.

The Chinoiserie Dining Room

Meg Braff - Hamptons Cottages & Gardens

A colorful and chic dining room with Chinoiserie chairs by Red Egg and Quadrille Lyford Trellis wallpaper.

Yellow

Williams-Sonoma Home

Pops of yellow is an emerging trend for 2018 and is sensational with blue and white Chinese porcelain.

Color Inspiration

Sothebys

A stunning yellow cloisonné vase against an antique blue and white Chinese screen.

Yellow

Wiiliam McLure

A lovely vignette with a dolphin console table, Chinese Chippendale chair, blue and white Chinese Garden stool, and modern art. I love the yellow walls and curtains. Yellow is having a moment right now, and I think to works beautifully with Chinoiserie.

Pink de Gournay

de Gournay

These gorgeous pastels have me in the mood for spring. Although I adore blue and white, I also love pink, yellow, and green.

Chinoiserie Trends 2017 - Yellow

Elle Decor - yellow Chinese Chippendale chairs

Today I am launching my picks for what will be hot in Chinoiserie in 2017. My first trend is yellow. Yellow is a classic color in Chinese culture conveying divinity, happiness, and success. It is a happy and optimistic color. A pop or two of yellow Chinoiserie is a great way to perk up any room. Here are some great ideas - above  - Chinese Chippendale chairs lacquered in yellow.

Nick Olsen - a yellow Chinese gourd lamp

Sullen Gregory - yellow Chinoiserie wallpaper

New England Home - ottoman coffee table with yellow Chinoiserie fabric

Ruthie Sommers - doors upholstered in yellow Manuel Canovas Pagoda

Alessandra Branca

This is my favorite yellow Chinoiserie room - with yellow Fromental wallpaper, yellow silk curtains, as well as yellow pillows and chair.

The Chinoiserie Dining Room

Shelby Wagner Design

A lovely dining room vignette with a pair of blue and white framed Chinoiserie panels. I really like the pair of dogs on the sideboard and the pops of yellow. The chairs look like a favorite of mine - Suzanne Kasler's Amsterdam chair for Hickory available in so many great options and its small footprint allows you to get more seating even in a smaller dining room.