Pencils

I think that in decorating your home, and in life in general, it is the attention to detail that makes all the difference. What about a bouquet of pencils for your desk? My favorite online stationers Iomoi has the mother lode of pencils in every color imaginable. Put them in a beautiful little container like a silver mint julep cup, a marbled paper pencil holder, or an especially pretty coffee mug. The lovely vignette above is by Ruthie Sommers. Make the ordinary extraordinary.

My New Labor of Love

Please visit my new adventure Chinoiserie Chic where each day I will be featuring wonderful examples of my favorite style Chinoiserie. People have been fascinated with the arts of the Far East since the days of Marco Polo. Travelers to China and Japan have always returned with treasures of silks, porcelain, and lacquer work. Asian objects and decorative motifs have also served as inspiration for fanciful styles in objects of purely Western form, such as pagodas, mandarins, exotic birds, and flowers. Many of my favorite interior designers of today like Mary McDonald and Charlotte Moss use Chinoiserie frequently in their work. The lovely photo above is a dining room featured in House Beautiful by Ruthie Sommers. My finds will be antique to modern, from West Elm to 1st Dibs, so there will be something for every lover of this style. I plan to have some wonderful Chinoiserie giveaways to help launch this new blog, so please stop by.