The Top Ten Chinoiserie Trends for 2014

Layering a silver Chinese Chippendale mirror over a gilded mirror in my pagoda bedroom

 This week, in honor of the start of a new year, we will be looking at trends for 2014 in Chinoiserie. Let me start by saying that Chinoiserie is a timeless classic. None of it ever goes out of style, so you will not have to throw out your ginger jars! We will be looking at what will be especially popular this year in Chinoiserie in colors, paints, fabrics, new mixes, and hot pieces including the reveal of my Chinoiserie Chic Color of 2014.

#1 is Mixing Gold, Silver, and Chinoiserie. Back in the day, using silver and gold together was considered a faux pas in fashion and and interior design. Not so today. Combining silver and gold is modern, glamorous, and luxe, and never more so than when used together with Chinoiserie. Here is some inspiration.

Sunday Inspiration from My House

Now that another One Room Challenge has come and gone I am turning my attention to getting my house all cleaned and polished and spruced up before I start my Christmas decorating.

This week I added a couple of new things. I found these gold foo dogs on sale for half price at Z Gallerie and I had a rewards certificate so they were free! I love them with all the pink and gold on my Chinoiserie chest.

I picked up from the framers this week this wonderful leopard print by artist Caitlin McGauley. I love the combination of the modern print with the very classic Chinoiserie wallpaper in my dining room. Leopard and Chinoiserie are so good together.

I Love You HomeGoods

Mary McDonald

 Many of you read yesterday's One Room Challenge post about how I snagged $2,000 worth of Brunschwig & Fils wallpaper on eBay for my laundry room for $150. Well, it happened again!

I have been working so hard on my laundry room makeover, that I decided to take a little break yesterday and make a HomeGoods run. I have shopping ESP, do you? I sensed walking in that I was going to find something truly amazing. I always head to the lighting department first, because I have posted before about my addiction to Ralph Lauren Chinoiserie lamps I find at HomeGoods.

There it was, calling out to me - "Beth, Beth, I'm over here."

A
Huge
Ralph Lauren
Gold Leaf
And Crystal
Chinoiserie
Pagoda
Lantern

The regular price on it was $2,000 and I got it for $350.00. I have been looking for a new chandelier for my dining room for ages, and what I really envisioned was a gold leaf pagoda. I have lived with the lighting fixture I have for years, knowing it would someday appear. The one below is one I posted on that got away on eBay much to my dismay. I like mine a thousand times more.

There is one small glitch. It is missing its ceiling canopy (the round piece that hides the hole in the ceiling). I spent some time looking for replacements online and none are gold leaf and none have modern lines - lots of antique reproductions. Maybe I can find a simple brass or metal one and have my amazing antique restorer in Old Town gold leaf it for me. I have not shown you a picture of it, as I would much rather have you see it for the first time hanging in my dining room. So you can look forward to my dining room reveal and my laundry room reveal.

As an aside, I have had great luck on Etsy and eBay with wallpaper, especially high end wallpaper. Several years ago a follower of Chinoiserie Chic emailed me about an Etsy seller with 15 rolls of Clarence House Chinoiserie Baroque for $150. Here is the post about it from 2010. It is a very expensive and very beautiful and very discontinued paper worth $$$$. I snatched it up and it is gorgeous in my dining room. Here is a tour of my dining room with the existing chandelier.

Clarence House Chinoiserie Baroque

On the laundry room side, my wallpaper hanger spent all day yesterday skimming and sanding the laundry room walls and they look like glass. Today he is doing still more prep work and priming them, so the hanging won't start until tomorrow. Quite a perfectionist. Tomorrow he wants me to work with him positioning the layout of the design.

The one that got away on eBay, not mine

Easy Chinoiserie DIY

I am not a big DIY type, probably because I am a perfectionist and prefer to hire experts to do things better than I can, but I do love easy DIY projects. I have collected several I would like to try myself and thought I would share some with you over the next few days. I love this vignette by Thomas Jayne with its gorgeous Gracie Chinoiserie wallpaper and the pale blue Parsons desk edged in gold. I found this great blue Parsons desk on Home Decorators Collection for $199. It is made of wood too! It also comes in a file cabinet and bookcase. I think the gold edging could be done with one of my beloved Krylon 18 Kt. Gold Leafing pens or gold paint and a tiny brush. Find the desk here.

Gold & Zebra

I love gold and I love zebra. Check this out. The latest addition at Casa Chinoiserie Chic - the Jonathan Adler Carnaby Zebra Stacking Dish in GOLD. Too fab for words. Find it here.

Sunday Style Finds - The Midas Touch

Gold foo dog pair at Z Gallerie for $49.95

I posted a while back about these gold foo dogs below on One Kings Lane for $1,665.00.  I suggested buying Z Gallerie foo dogs in blue for $39.95 and painting them gold. Z Gallerie must be reading CC because they did just that - gold foo dogs which are VERY hard to find. Let's face it, not everyone can use foo dogs in orange or turquoise in their decor. Gold acts as a neutral in virtually any color scheme and adds a touch of Hollywood Regency glamour. Use these beauties on your desk, entryway table, console, sideboard, dresser, coffee table, or mantel. At bottom is a another great find - a gold chevron tray also from Z Gallerie. It's perfect on an entryway table or dresser as an organizer or as a minibar or serving tray.

Gold foo dogs on One Kings Lane for $1,665.00.

Blue foo dogs at Z Gallerie for my suggested DIY

Gold chevron tray at Z Gallerie for $39.95

Sunday Inspiration - Gold Chevron

This gorgeous gold chevron table wrapping paper comes in 50 foot rolls (20" wide) from Paper Source for $29.95. Wallpaper? Covering tops of Ikea Lack side tables? Shelf liner? Backs of shelves? Place mats? Any thoughts? They suggest it for table runners for weddings, but I just know there are some interior design uses for this. I just wish it were a bit wider - I would use it for the backs of my built in bookcases.