wallpaper borders

Last December 28, 2012, I did this post about my New Year's Resolutions for 2013 - the two rooms in my home I wanted to redo this year, my powder room and my laundry room. Here is that post -

Charlotte Moss

What would a New Year's Eve series be without New Year's Resolutions? Mine always seem to focus on home improvement projects. I have two rooms in my home I would like to redo this year. The first is a little powder room off the laundry room and the second is the laundry room itself. Here are my inspiration photos that I hope will inspire me to get these done. Of course both have Chinoiserie.

The Charlotte Moss powder room intrigued me because of the draped walls - wonderful if there are no architectural elements or things you need to hide. You will see what I mean when I post before pictures of my room.

The Draza Stamenich laundry room I saw in person at a DC Show House and I have never forgotten it - a tiny little space filled with luxury elements never seen in a laundry room like Gracie wallpaper and a Neirmann Weeks lantern.

It seems that I am always juggling so many balls that these two rooms never get attention. Hopefully this year they will. Do you have an home goals for 2013 that involve Chinoiserie?

Draza Stamenich

If you are a follower of this blog, you will recall that I did actually make over the powder room and the laundry room for this year's two One Room Challenges. Thanks to Linda of Calling It Home for inviting me to participate - nothing like competition and a deadline to keep one on track.

Here is a peek at my powder room. If you'd like to follow the entire powder room process you can click here and the final reveal is here.




I did my laundry room next. Here it is. You can follow the redo of it here and the reveal here.




Mission accomplished. I have decided on the next two rooms I will make over and both will be a decorating side of me you don't usually see. I will reveal them in a post soon so stay tuned.

If you have a room you would like to tackle, Linda of Calling It Home is hosting round two of the One Room Challenge Linking Party starting April 3, 2014. Perhaps you'd like to participate. A deadline is a wonderful way to keep a New Year's Resolution - trust me!

Today for my One Room Challenge series I am featuring one of the linking party participants, Andrea from The Glam Pad. A girl after my own heart, she has created an incredible Chinoiserie powder room on a budget. The room includes "faux de Gournay" hand painted silk wallpaper she commissioned in China, a Sherle Wagner marble sink retailing at over $22,000 she got on Craigslist for $250, faucet, sconces, and chandelier from eBay, and a DIY mirror.

The result is a Moet & Chandon Chinoiserie gem on a Bud Light Lowe's budget. This room points out two important interior design truths.

First, that money is no substitute for taste and style. If you have a good eye, you can walk into HomeGoods or a thrift store or stalk Etsy and eBay and walk away with beautiful things for pennies.

Second, hiring an interior designer is no guarantee of a beautiful home. There are lots of interior designers out there with no talent whatsoever. I think you are either born with the talent or you are not. Style is not something you learn. Did you know that Miles Redd, Charlotte Moss, Darryl Carter, and Mary McDonald do not have degrees in interior design? Darryl Carter graduated from Georgetown Law School!

At any rate, I digress. I just found it interesting that in the One Room Challenge and with the One Room Challenge Linking Participants, almost every one of my favorites was done by a "non-professional."

This amazing powder room is such a perfect example of this. Pop over to The Glam Pad to read all the details and to follow the transformation from start to finish. If you missed my laundry room reveal, you can find it here. It too was done on a budget with (I think) a great result.

The Glam Pad

Linda at Calling it Home has invited bloggers to play along at home with a new board game version of the One Room Challenge called the One Room Challenge Linking Party. There are something like 72 participants and some serious talent. I suspect Linda is secretly scouting talent from this group for the next One Room Challenge. Three have caught my attention as ones to follow. Above, a favorite blogger of mine already, Andrea from The Glam Pad, lover of all things Palm Beach Chic and Chinoiserie, is creating a "faux de Gournay" powder room and I am so excited. You can check out her first two posts on it here and here. This is going to be fabulous.

Below, Kim of Kim Macumbers Interiors, a past participant in the One Room Challenge, says she caught the bug from Chinoiserie Chic and The Pink Pagoda to have some Chinoiserie of her own. Her powder room will have a pagoda mirror, elephant prints from The Pink Pagoda, Leontine linens, and a gold chevron wastebasket. You had me at hello. Check out her first two posts here and here.

Kim Macumber Interiors

This Chinoisy Safari Chic master bedroom from Chez V has all the makings of amazing, with its Chinoise Out of Africa British Colonial vibe and my favorite pillows in the whole world - the leopard pillow by Dana Gibson. Here and here are her two posts to bring you up to date.


I will be so happy to watch these three fabulous Chinoiserie rooms come together as I work on my own Chinoiserie laundry room makeover.