crazy about chinoiserie

I have been, at first tempted, then hungry for, and now have an insatiable craving for anything chinoiserie.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the term, " Chinoiserie is a French term, signifying "Chinese-esque", refers to a recurring theme in European artistic styles since the seventeenth century, which reflect Chinese artistic influences. It is characterized by the use of fanciful imagery of an imaginary China, by asymmetry in format and whimsical contrasts of scale, and by the attempts to imitate Chinese porcelain and the use of lacquer like materials and decoration." , and I love it.

Thibaut has some fabulous wallpapers and fabrics that fit the bill.

Iconic images that they include are

pagodas...

birds in blossoming trees and

figural depictions of romanticized Chinese life.

After reading a recent post at Cote de Texas

I am more convinced than ever that I should wallpaper a ceiling or more specifically my dining room ceiling.

Since the top half of the walls will be a Benjamin-Moore Moroccan Red and the wainscoting below a simple white, I was leaning towards the Thibaut above called Cantonese in the aqua colorway.

Its a tough choice.

How would you incorporate a Chinese styled item into your home? Would you go  all in like these Thibaut rooms or add a piece or two as you find them?

Let's rethink wallpaper

This wallpaper from Thibaut has me reconsidering wallpaper.

I'd love to use this wallpaper in a very masculine room, like maybe in my library.

The discussion came about because of our noise problem.

This entry hall and

this family room that have high ceilings and one sofa,  have a reverberation problem at the moment.

I am hoping that by adding more furniture this will lessen.

My husband had the idea of adding grasscloth wallcovering,

 first to my youngest daughter's room to add texture.

 I agreed and thought that it was also a bit sophisticated instead of the obvious juvenile look.

Then the conversation moved on to our family room.

I sprinted to my computer and found this sisal wallcovering on Thibaut's site.

It comes in four colorways.

Then I found the Bankun Raffia in 15 colorways including this bold Cranberry.

Montana Leather

Granada Weave

These two leather looks and an ostrich leather had me intrigued.

Even their grasscloth is not boring. I love this Kunqu Damask.

Thibaut's grasscloth resource offers a variety of looks in grasscloth, including metalic, multicolored, and traditional natural looks.

Click HERE to view all of their collections.

Other people's wallpaper

I like wallpaper, I do. I just hate removing it. I have removed other people's wallpaper many times.

It seems to be a risky choice for the fickle.

When I recieved the sample book of Anna French wallpaper awhile back,

I nearly sent it back with an indignant note about not insulting my client's sensilbitlities or something.

It revived a memory or two

of 1972.

I think Anna French should stick to lace...

which appears to be quite lovely.

Grasscloth

I have taken down enogh ugly wallpaper in my life to think long and hard before putting any up.

This collection from Thibaut has me thinking.

I love the textural quality. When I was a child,  a close friend of my grandparents had grasscloth wallpaper in her whole house. On top of it she showcased her stunning and extensive Asian art collection all in a modest two bedroom house in the suburbs of D.C. I loved it then and I think I still do.

This recent incarnation is much more colorful.

If that weren't enough, Thibaut has done my number one favorite thing in decorating...

juxtaposing traditional and modern styles. They have done it with texture too. The damask pattern above seems so refined. It gets taken down a notch, relaxed a bit by showing up on grasscloth.

I would love to see this in a formal dining room. I think it would tone down the stuffiness and at the same time reflect a tradional sensibilty.

The papers come in different weaves...and colorways.

This metallic gold backed Tahitian weave is cool. I don't know where I might use that.

This one is so bright yet somehow unaffected and not at all obnoxious. You could not say that about paint in the same color. This is the extra fine sisal weave and it comes in a ton of colors.