wallpaper borders

From time to time, I love to post on emerging trends I perceive in interior design. These are not the hot trends written up in shelter mags, but looks I start to see repeated in rooms that I feel work especially well with Chinoiserie. Last year I did "Trending" posts on -

*Pineapples
*Malachite
*Purple
*The Big Chinoiserie Lamp
*Antelope
*The White Elephant
*Brushstroke
*Mudcloth
*The Return of the Skirted Table
*Combining Pink and Orange
*Black Windows

My first emerging trend for 2014 is combining pink and gray. I believe that gray is here to stay as an elegant, versatile, and sophisticated neutral. People will be looking for new ways to use gray and I absolutely adore this combination. Here is some inspiration -

Gray with hot pink -












Gray with coral pink -






Gray with pale pink -

In an ironic interior design switch, pale pink used to be reserved for baby girls' nurseries but was rarely seen elsewhere in a home, except for the bedrooms of little girls. Now more and more, nurseries are gender neutral and pink has escaped into the rest of the home, especially into living rooms.

In the photo above and just below, Ruthie Sommers has used Farrow and Ball Middleton Pink on the walls, a great neutral pink that is a favorite with interior designers. These new neutral pinks are sensational with Chinoiserie.

Chinoiserie Trend #8 is Neutral Pink with Chinoiserie. This shade of pink is amazing with blue and white Chinese porcelain and with black and gold lacquered furniture. To stay on the more neutral end of pink, in the paint store look for warm beiges with pink undertones. Examples are Benjamin Moore First Light, Pink Cloud, and Brandy Cream and Farrow and Ball Pink Ground.

This blush pink is also a wonderful choice in Chinoiserie wallpaper. Not ready to go full out pink? Framed Chinoiserie panels in a soft pink are gorgeous, as are blush pink silk curtains and pale pink accessories.

Farrow and Ball Middleton Pink

My daughter Kate sent me these instagrams of her fabulous pink Christmas tree and I thought you would enjoy seeing it.