Thursday, February 28, 2013

Welcome JAMIESHOP.COM


I am delighted to welcome as a new sponsor of Chinoiserie Chic the online buying service JAMIESHOP.COM - your access to "to the trade" for your home at as much as 30 - 40% off retail.

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JAMIESHOP.COM provides exclusive access to luxury "to the trade only" manufacturers at designer wholesale prices. Their fee structure is 25% above their designer wholesale net cost. You will receive a copy of the manufacturer's original invoice.

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My Home Office Makover


Tomorrow is March 1 and spring is in the air here in DC. In my own garden, the camellias, Japanese quince, and hellebores are blooming - three of my favorites. Did I ever tell you all how much I love gardening? I have a certificate in landscape design and am a Master Gardener and I love this time of year in DC especially. Someone once said that spring is something DC does well and it is very true.

Whenever spring arrives I love to tackle a decorating project in my home. This time I have decided my home office needs some updating. As is often the case with me, my inspiration came from a fabric - a Charlotte Moss fabric "Caroline" that I have been wanting to use ever since it came out. It reminds me a bit of Clarence House David Hicks The Vase. The colorway is currant, but these pictures don't do the color justice - it is the yummiest deep coral pink. And the scale of this design is huge. So dramatic! Follow along the next several weeks as I post my weekly progress on this room from inspiration to completion.

Next I will be working on a Pinterest board, an inspiration board, and a paint color for the room. Speaking of Charlotte Moss, I received this photo at bottom from her last night as part of an announcement about an upcoming auction and book signing of hers in NYC. Check out that coffee table - a Chinoiserie wallpaper top under glass -  a great DIY project.

Don't miss Chinoiserie Chic tomorrow - my daughter Kate has done a fabulous inspiration board and I will be revealing my Houzz Ideabook for March.




Wednesday, February 27, 2013

One Room Challenge - Week 4 - The Devil is in the Details








With a tiny room like a powder room, every detail is important. When selecting accessories for my One Room Challenge powder room, I have tried to make every detail special and unique. Can toilet paper be a beautiful design feature? Why not?

A few year's ago, I saw a photo of a beautiful Chinoiserie powder room with black toilet paper and did a post on it. I showed the powder room with white toilet paper and another photo with black and the black looked so much better. Research for that post almost four years ago led me to the discovery of Renova - the world's first luxury toilet paper available in gorgeous colors shown above. Their advertising campaign is the world's sexiest toilet paper - some examples of their sexy and suggestive ads are below. This ad campaign is pretty wild by American standards, but I much prefer it to Charmin's toilet paper ad campaign which you will find here.

Designer toilet paper has become a chic trend all over Europe in swank hotels, restaurants, and bars. It has now hopped the pond and is popping up here in trendy spots and in homes of the rich and famous like Simon Cowell who uses black toilet paper in all of his homes.

Since I am doing a very small powder room where every detail counts, I thought using this toilet paper in my One Room Challenge would be fun. I will be using the black toilet paper on a beautiful nickel faux bamboo toilet paper holder. This paper can be found on their United States website here and on Amazon. Although it is a bit pricey for everyday use, it is perfect for a powder room.

You can always catch up on all my One Room Challenge posts by clicking on the navy ORC button in my sidebar.

Now go see what the One Room Challenge crowd has been up to besides toilet paper.

My black Renova toilet paper

My faux bamboo toilet paper holder

Renova ad

Renova ad

Renova ad

Renova ad

Renova ad

Renova ad

Toilet paper wallpaper - yes, you can buy this!

Where's Waldo? Can you find the real toilet paper?


Chinoiserie powder room with black toilet paper

The same room with white toilet paper

My dollhouse bathroom with the world's tiniest toilet paper



Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Mary McDonald, Your Votes, Elegant Business Cards

Pet Sitter, Dog Walker, Dog Groomer, Doggie Day Care, Pet Boarding
Thanks so much to those of you who gave me a head's up that Mary McDonald mentioned Chinoiserie Chic last night on Facebook. Very fun. Thanks also to everyone who joined in the fun yesterday and voted for my Raw Meat entry in the ugliest fabric contest. Things are looking good - I have received every vote but 1 so far. If you missed yesterday's post, you can read all about it here and vote here.

Today I am featuring the wonderful business cards at Charming Elizabeth. I love the idea of business cards with an illustration suggesting the type of business you have. I really like the new Chinese Chippendale garden folly with the dachshund above for someone who cares for pets. This is my business card below from Charming Elizabeth. I have chosen my favorite Chinoiserie cards with ideas on businesses they would be perfect for, but there are many more here with lots of other illustrations if Chinoiserie is not your thing.

My card

Travel Writer, Travel Agent, Rare Book Seller, Cruise Director, Tour Director

Art Dealer, Antiques Dealer, Upholsterer, Vintage Furniture Seller, Consignment Store, Furniture Maker

Book Seller, Rare Book Seller, Home Stager

Artist, Faux Finish Artist, Art Supplies, Art Therapy

Party Planner, Caterer, Party Store

Asian Antiques Dealer, Art Consultant, Interior Designer, Interior Decorator

Asian Antiques Dealer, Interior Decorator, Interior Designer

Landscape Designer, Carpenter, Asian Antiques Dealer, Auction House

Monday, February 25, 2013

Raw Meat, Guest Post, New Inspiration Board

Raw Meat Fabric - My Contest Entry
The other day I was researching one of my favorite fabrics - Scalamandre Zebras and came across the 2013 First Annual The Ugly Fabric Contest using Scalamandre Zebras in the yellow colorway as the Pinterest board cover for the contest. Shocked, I clicked over to the blog and contest rules and decided to enter the contest. This is my submission - Raw Meat above. Voting for the ugliest fabric starts today and runs through Sunday. The blogger, who has a sewing workroom, plans to make window treatments out of the top three finalists' fabrics. This I want to see!

Please stand up for all that is Chinoiserie Chic and Palm Beach Chic by voting here for my submission - Raw Meat. You vote by leaving a comment over there choosing my submission - Raw Meat. And yes, if you'd like to buy this lovely fabric you can purchase it here in cotton, a linen blend, or even silk. Perhaps a roman shade for the kitchen or silk panels for the dining room? Nothing whets the appetite like staring at yards of raw meat.

And speaking of Chinoiserie Chic and Palm Beach Chic, today my series at The Glam Pad continues where I am doing a virtual makeover of a fabulous historic house in Coral Gables - The Chinese Village House. Pop over and see my new inspiration board for the dining room.

If you missed my first post in the series - a makeover of the entryway and main hall, click here. And yes, I did use Scalamandre Zebras.

And don't forget to vote for Raw Meat by leaving a comment over here. ;-)

Scalamandre Zebras

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Budget Friendly Chinoiserie Monograms


People are always asking me about budget friendly Chinoiserie monogrammed linens, since Leontine Linens are gorgeous but quite costly. One choice is to print out an example of a Chinoiserie monogram - find many examples on my Pinterest board - and see if your local monogram shop can copy it.

Another great idea is to find pillows, sheets, or towels in Greek key fabric or with Greek key or fretwork embroidery and have them monogrammed in a traditional block or script. The Greek key and fretwork give you the look for far less! I did this with Greek key towels I found at Marshall's. I have shown examples below.








Saturday, February 23, 2013

Chinoiserie Monograms


I love monograms and especially love Chinoiserie monograms. I get so many emails from followers on this topic. I had an "aha" moment yesterday and decided to start a Pinterest board of Chinoiserie fonts and monograms and rooms that combine Chinoiserie and monograms. Leontine Linens is of course the premier source for monogrammed linens, but you might be able to print out one of my examples and have it copied at your local monogram shop as a budget friendly alternative. Check out my Pinterest board here.