Here's Why I Think Chinoiserie is Timeless

No doubt you've noticed the resurgence in popularity for all things Chinoiserie over the past few years, probably (sadly) to the point of oversaturation.  I remain undeterred.  I've loved Chinoiserie design elements for decades (seriously) and even though I'm disheartened to see it become so mainstream, I'm not ready to jump ship yet .

Here's why I think Chinoiserie has staying power.

1.  Chinoiserie prints are nature inspired.

Mother Nature has always been and always will be the greatest source of design inspiration.  Period. So it stands to reason that if we continue to look to nature for design inspiration, then Chinoiserie prints and wallpapers will always be relevant.

2.  Chinoiserie is whimsical.  

Can you look at this without smiling?

3.  Chinoiserie works with lots of design styles. 

Here it is combined with modern design elements.

And here Chinoiserie is used in a traditional setting

Chinoiserie and Louis

4.  Chinoiserie is bold.

There is such strength in the form of this Chinoiserie cabinet, yet it still feels refined.

And the strong impact of a trellis design is undeniable.

5.  Chinoiserie is timeless. We have been charmed by Chinoiserie for centuries and will continue to be for centuries to come.

Bedroom by Oscar de la Renta circa 1983.

Would you change anything in this living room by Billy Baldwin?

I rest my case.

Thank you for visiting my blog today.  I will post updates here as my schedule permits.  In between blog posts, I hope you'll consider joining me on Instagram   Pinterest     Facebook

If you're in the Chattanooga, TN area and you're interested in Interior Decorating or Design services, please visit my website.

One Room Challenge - My Hall Bath Reveal

It's done!  For the most part.  I know you're visiting lots of blogs today so I'll be light on the words and heavy on the photos.

Before we get to the "after" shots, I thought I'd share a photo of my hall bath when we bought our house 3 years ago.

Not so cute. And while we did tear out and replace the tile in the bathtub surround and the floor before we moved in, our little makeover stalled out until the One Room Challenge came around.

So, though the magic of wallpaper, paint, a little vision and the husband's renovation skills, I'm thrilled to share my hall bath "after" photos with you!

 I repurposed an antique buffet I've had for a while but had no use for until we decided to transform it into a bathroom vanity.  We only lost the use of the top drawer so not only is the piece unique, it offers plenty of storage. 

I'm so proud of myself for getting this shot (above).  I literally set the timer on my camera, held it against the opposite wall and hoped for the best.  But wait, first take a moment to bask in the glory of that flame mahogany.  So gorgeous!

The shower curtains and valance were made from off the rack curtain panels.  We added grosgrain trim to the curtain panels and my workroom made the valance out of a third panel. The bamboo shade came with me from a former house.  Lucky fit!  The palm frond chandelier is vintage - I painted it gold myself.

So you know how I love a good mix, right?  Since my buffet/vanity (buffity?) is so classic, I wanted to contrast that with a little bit of mod, and I knew this mirror would be perfect. Isn't it though?  It was dark wood when I bought it but I sprayed it gold then painted over that with Liquid Leaf.  

Thanks to all of your input I decided against the vessel sink, because lots of you warned me that they were not so user-friendly - so in this case functionality won out.  I went with a polished chrome faucet because it's timeless and transcends trends.

And I love the little glimpses of my antique mirror wall. 

Most everything in this shot I've had.  The stag sconce is antique.  I've had it for at least 5 years but never could find the right place for it.

The turquoise lamp is vintage too.  Floor tile is readily available from the shelves of Home Depot and it's budget friendly.  I chose it because I like how clean the white looks in a bathroom and the geometric pattern feels old and new at the same time. The wallpaper is Brunschwig & Fils Le Grand Palais.

Thanks for taking the time to visit today.  I'd love to know what you think about my bathroom makeover!

Thank you to Linda for creating and hosting the One Room Challenge.  You can find links to all of the participants here and here.

The Green  Room Interiors provides Interior Decorating and Design Services in Chattanooga, TN.  If you'd like to discover the joy of living in a well designed home, contact Kim Lemmon at 423.653.3186 or email thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com

One Room Challenge Week 5 - Finally Wallpaper

I bet you thought I was going to be a no-show today.  The reason I'm posting so late  is because my wallpaper ladies finished hanging my bathroom just moments ago and I wanted to wait until they were done so I could show you pictures of something more than sheet rock dust and a toilet.

But before we get to that, I want to thank you for checking in on my week FIVE (!) progress of the One Room Challenge.  In case you're not familiar, it's the internet sensation (if you like this sort of thing) where bloggers make over a room from start to (hopefully) finish in 6 weeks posting their progress every week either on Wednesday or Thursday. The entire concept for this event was dreamed up by Linda and you'll find links to all participants here and here.

Now, on to my bathroom situation.  If you follow me on Instagram then you already know I got cold feet where my wallpaper was concerned.

 Because although that damask pattern is pretty, it's also super traditional, kind of gigantic,  and somewhat formal.  So I did what any insecure, self-doubting decorator would do.  I put it in front of my Instagram followers to decide.

Yes, the damask had a formidable opponent in this latecomer. I mean who doesn't love a good bamboo treillage wallpaper?  I certainly do and apparently my Instagram followers do because they voted for the treillage paper over the damask.

And after all of that input and indecision,  I followed my heart and took a leap of faith with my original choice.

iPhone 4S photos cannot accurately capture the magnificence of this paper. And I also have to say that in this world of seamless glass and showers and understated finishes, my heart will always belong to pretty color combinations and interesting pattern mixes.  

In other bathroom news, I hinted last week that I was considering painting the wainscoting blue, yet I decided to keep it crisp and go with white. But now I think I want to paint my boring door black.  What do you think?

So there is lots left to do to get ready for next week's reveal.  We haven't even begun to convert the buffet, much less pick out  a sink and faucet. We are tired and somewhat overwhelmed.  But the good thing about week 5 is that the finish is in sight and it kind of gives you the shot of adrenaline you need to bring it all together for the reveal.  That's what I'm hoping anyway.

So I'll see you back here next Thursday.  If you absolutely cannot wait to see more bathroom tidbits or you just want to show some love and devotion, I suggest you follow me on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.  I can't wait to show you my finished bathroom!


The Green Room Interiors provides Interior Decorating and Design Services in Chattanooga, TN.  If you'd like to discover the joy of living in a well designed home, contact Kim Lemmon at 423.653.3186 or email thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com

One Room Challenge Week 4 - A Little More Progress

Welcome to this week's installment of the One Room Challenge.  In case you're not familiar, this is the event created by Linda from Calling It Home where participants make over the room of their choice in six weeks sharing their progress once a week along the way. I have been linking up with the makeover of my hall bathroom.  Week 4 is always tough,  and I feel like I haven't completed nearly as much as I had hoped to at this point.  

Remember last week when I shared that I was planning to do a wall of antiqued mirror tiles behind my vanity?  The good news is I got all of the mirrors successfully antiqued and I'm  pretty happy with how they turned out.

The not so good news is that we haven't had a chance to install the tiles on the wall yet.  :-( .

In other news, the wall repair has been a huge undertaking.  There has been sanding and more sanding followed up by more sanding. And you know how awful that superfine sheet rock dust is. My husband came out of the bathroom on Sunday looking like a powdered donut.

Here's something positive. The box molding has been added to the lower third of the walls (Yay)

and I'm thinking that rather than painting it out white, I'm may just paint  the wainscoting a shade of blue that's slightly darker than the blue in the wallpaper.

Benjamin Moore Buxton Blue in particular.  What do you think about that idea?  Do you like the idea of painting the wainscoting blue or would you paint it white?

I'm also struggling with whether to go with a vessel sink or a drop-in sink for my antique piece turned bathroom vanity.  Originally I had planned go with a drop-in sink but after consulting with Professor Pinterest, I think the vessel sinks look so much better in this situation. Look:

Don't you agree?  I think the vessel sink looks so much better.  

This is all of the progress I have to share with you today.  Things should really start to come together next week (really!) as the mirror wall will be installed, the rest of the trim will be installed and painted, and I'm hoping to get the paper up and the vanity placed. It's an ambitious list.

Say a quick prayer for me and be sure to tune in next Thursday.  To find the links to all of the other participants, click  here and  here .

ORC Linking Event - I'm Doing My Hall Bath

It's time to clear the cobwebs off of the ol' blog and start cranking out some serious decorating posts.  As you may have guessed, I've decided to join in on the internet's biggest decorating sensation - The One Room Challenge.

I'm participating in the Link-up event which airs for the next 5 consecutive Thursdays, so for goodness sake please come back to check in on my progress!  I need your feedback and encouragement! Mostly because of this ridiculousness:

Enter aforementioned hall bath in its current state.

As you can see it's crying out for help.  In a big way. Those walls.  They look like this because a few weeks ago I spent hours stripping off the top layer of wallpaper only to find ANOTHER layer of old wallpaper combined with unsized skim coated sheet rock in other areas.  Holy. Wallpaper. Hell.

This is what happened where the wallpaper was applied to a skim coat of bare sheet rock mud.

It totally damaged the sheet rock underneath.  I know what you're thinking.  "Thank goodness you have that pretty mirror".  True, but a lot of hard work needs to happen before we can revel in the goodness of the mirror.

And rather than do up an inspiration board, I'm going to drag you down this road with me one post at a time because some decisions have yet to be made.  

Before you go, let's have a look at some bathrooms that are inspiring my little makeover shall we??

Yes, there will be wallpaper in the damask category. And it's super gorgeous because that's what Brunschwig & Fils does.   I gave you a sneak peek here.

And no ORC makeover of mine would be complete without repurpose-ing a piece or two of vintage furniture.

This is so gorgeous it takes my breath away. And it makes me wish I had been born with the "understated" gene.  But let's not kid ourselves.  We're more likely to see something with more color, pattern and layers. 

and I'm okay with that.

So, same time next Thursday???

You can find links to all of the other participants on Linda's  (our hostess and mistress of ceremonies) blog here.  And in case you missed the ORC participants that posted yesterday, find those links here.  Hours of entertainment.  Literally.

PS.  I'll likely be posting little updates on my Instagram feed so let's buddy up.

Mad for Marbleized

It's no secret that I love anything marbleized - just look at my blog background.  Marbleized paper has been around for centuries so it roots are traditional, but it has an abstract quality that gives it a modern edge.

I  have a few marbleized accents in my home.  I bought this little lamp just for that shade.

And if you recall in the last One Room Challenge, I gave my china cabinet a makeover with marbleized wrapping paper.

When the October issue of House Beautiful arrived over the weekend,  I was in marbleized heaven!

Truly, the entire spread by Schuyler Samperton had me mesmerized.  I adore the Pheasant wallpaper by Twiggs she used in her clients' bathroom.

Cockleshells by Meg Braff Designs .  

This wallpaper would be amazing in a powder room with black trim or behind black bookshelves.

And I found a few other marbleized goodies from around the web.

here

Wouldn't a series of these marbleized papers be a stunning art installation?  I would hang them in a grid pattern in simple white mats and frames. This is one of several beautiful marbleized papers available at Artonwater's Etsy shop. 

here

here

And I'll leave with you with this little bit of marbleized heaven from Kelly Wearstler.

Are you a fan?

The Green Room Interiors provides interior decorating and design services in Chattanooga, TN.  If you'd like to discover the joy of living in a well designed home, contact Kim Lemmon at 423.653.3186 or email thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com

An Open Letter to Ruthie Sommers

Dear Ms. Sommers,

In a design world filled with shades of greige, clean crisp lines, bleached wood, and ruthlessly (no pun intended) edited interiors, I'd like to personally thank you for the colorful, vibrant, happy spaces you created that were featured in the March 2014 issue of House Beautiful.

You make it cool to combine feminine colors like turquoise and pink, and then you go the extra mile by topping it all off with a crystal chandelier, lots of flowers, silver candelabra, and a scrolly gold mirror.

       You make combining floral wallpaper with floral fabric look fresh and new! All this and flowery lamps with pink shades!?!  Color me enamored.

And you can layer some colorful pattern like nobody's business!  You make me want to climb into this page and ride out the rest of the winter on that sofa.

So on behalf of all of us on team Pretty, thank you for doing what you do, and for making it hip to walk on the pretty side.  Keep up the good work.

xo

Kim

PS - I'm honored to be posting 4 of my Favorite Finds over at Classicly B today.  Stop by and say hi to Brittany!!

The Green Room Interiors provides Interior Decorating and Design Services to Happy Homeowners in Chattanooga, TN.  If you'd like to discover the joy of living in a well designed home, contact Kim Lemmon at 423.653.3186 or email thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com

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