Nelly Vintage Homes: chinoiserie

I'll never forget the story that antiques dealer John Rosselli told me about how Babe Paley once said to him, "you know John, you can never be too rich or too think or own too much blue and white porcelain." While blue and white Chinese porcelain looks great year round, it has always been associated with summer for me. It looks perfect paired with lighter shades and seagrass rugs, both indoors and out. I regret passing up some beautiful blue and white pieces recently at the flea market and may have to start collecting it again. The first place I am headed tomorrow though is down to Pearl River Mart to look for a planter for a tall topiary like I saw in the new AERIN store. You can also find great pieces at William Wayne if you are looking to add more blue and white into your life.

Photo of what I passed up last year at the flea market by me via instagram.

Carolyne Roehm

Mary McDonald

Grant K. Gibson

Markham Roberts

Carolyne Roehm

Better Homes & Gardens

Outtake of Michael Bastian's showroom from my book Creativity at Work.

Homes & Antiques

Michael Smith via Elle Decor

Another flea market find I passed out a few weeks ago in Pennsylvania.

Natalie Leeds Leventhal via Vaunte

Melanie Turner

Kelli Ford & Kirsten Fitzgibbons via Veranda

Mary McDonald

Tory Burch via Vogue

Martha Stewart Living

Mario Buatta

Cathy Kincaid

Carolyne Roehm

John Rosselli

My instagram photo from Ralph Lauren Home.

via Elle Decor

via i suwannee

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Chinoiserie Chic

As a follow up to my Griffin and Wong post, I thought I would post a little chinoiserie wallpaper inspiration. I also learned more about the history of the wallpaper from their site and thought you might like to read it as well.

Chinese silk wallcoverings are one of the earliest global luxury products. Originally, the exclusive domain of Ming Dynasty Chinese nobility, by the 18th Century, the papers had also been widely adopted by the English and French nobility as the high-water mark of interior design. In France, they were known at the Louis XIV Versailles court as” papiers peints panoramique”.

Chinoiserie wallpapers that depicted flowers, birds and butterflies subsequently became the rage of the day with the affluent 18th and 19th Century European Commercial class, and became a standard of elegant living during this period. With the gradual shift of wealth and power to the New World, silk wallpapering followed, and the look became closely associated with the rise of the railroad and manufacturing dynasties of the Vanderbilt, Huntington and Carnegies (many fine examples of silk wallpapering still exist in Newport and other Eastern US historic homes).