Decorative Screens

1st Dibs is certainly not lacking in decorative screens this week. There are some beautiful ones that I thought I would share with you.

Michele C Antiques of Los Angeles has a circa-1985 screen comprised of Zuber wallpaper panels (the site calls them Juber, but I'm assuming they meant Zuber). The wallpaper is an 1830 design entitled "Views of Brazil" that was created using the original wood blocks. I just love the rich colors and the charming "exotic" scenes.





George N Antiques of NYC is offering a circa-1830 Neoclassical painted canvas screen. The two central panels depict a pastoral scene with a gentleman, two ladies, and a dog, and the two outside panels are painted with very typical Neoclassical design motifs. Also notice the faux-marbre effect at the bottom of the screen.





Screens are such wonderful accent pieces, and one of the beauties of screens is that they can be fairly easy to make. For full-on art deco glamour, why not make a screen using mirrored or antiqued mirrored panels? Or, if you're on a budget, you could have a handyman make a three or four-paneled wooden screen. You could add the design element by gluing on your favorite wallpaper!

Lorely Furniture

I'm sure many of you are familiar with Laura Yaggy's Lorely Furniture line, especially her popular python telephone table. I finally got around to checking out her website, and I truly love her furniture collection. The pieces are so simple, but what is so great about it is that you can choose amongst a multitude of finishes and colors- lacquer, crackled lacquer, lacquered linen, python, faux emu... the list goes on! She will even finish some of the pieces in faux tortoise- my current fave (as seen in my post from this past Monday). You can go as wild (or as tame) as you would like.

Here are some of the selections from her website:

Classic Design- Tortoise

These Jansen chairs (sold by Benjamin Stork Ltd.) are fabulous and so inspiring! Of course, the Regency style of the chairs is very Jansen. But what really makes these chairs so striking is the tortoise print oilcloth.

Tortoise print is such a classic and sophisticated way to add zip to a room. Tortoise furniture and accessories were long considered to be a luxury, and we can now recreate that luxury with faux tortoise painted furniture. Markham Roberts designed the faux tortoise mirror below using warm, rich tones. Jeffrey Bilhuber, on the otherhand, used more neutral tones for his tortoise bookshelf.











To add some major wow to your room, why not give the tortoise treatment to your room's architecture? One designer created this knockout faux tortoise door using dramatic red and brown tones as well as a lacquered finish.

For a more stylized and whimsical approach to tortoise, Tyler Hall has designed a witty tortoise print called "Sardinia Tortoise Shell" which comes in five colorways, including a cool platinum.

Chinoiserie Redux

After writing my post from yesterday on the Royal Pavilion at Brighton, I decided to search the web for contemporary Chinoiserie design. What I found was a profusion of fabric, wallcoverings, furniture, and tabletop items that incorporate this classic style. Here's a little of what I found, and hopefully it will inspire you to create your own Royal Pavilion!

Source Perrier is a great source of traditional and affordable furniture and accessories. They have many Chinese inspired items, but my two favorites are the Red Chinoiserie Mirror and the Chinese Porcelain Figures.

Clarence House has many Chinoiserie fabrics and wallcoverings. Why not make a few throw pillows in their "Fete d'Orient" pattern for a little Chinese chic?

For an authentic Royal Pavilion feel, why not wallpaper a foyer in Zuber's aptly named "Brighton" wallcovering?



Charles Edwards has a plethora of fabulous lights, lamps, and lanterns. Their pagoda lantern would be add just the right touch to that Zuber papered foyer!




And for a bit of casual Chinoiserie, Williams Sonoma Home has a great bamboo style chair that would be perfect in the oxblood finish.

Silver Screen

Fire screens can add a touch of dash to a room, but it seems that a good fire screen is hard to find. I have seen many striking ones in magazines and would love to have a screen of my own. Here are a few of my favorites:

This mirrored and chrome screen, designed by Jan Showers, exudes glamour and deco chic. How great would it look in a coolly elegant living room?



Another screen that caught my eye is this bamboo one. You could create a similar look by applying metallic teapaper to hinged wooden panels and adding bamboo trim.

Glamorous Imbibing

To me, no home is complete without a fully stocked bar (perhaps this is a result of my days attending a university known for its partying!). For those of you who do not have the space for a built-in bar, why not try a bar cart? The ultimate cart for me would be of the antique chrome and glass variety. Until I have found "it", I'm thinking of purchasing one from Restoration Hardware. The Hanover Bar Cart is rather glamorous and looks quite similar to those I've seen in the auction catalogues. I might even consider replacing the clear glass with smoked glass.

For one's bar accoutrements, decanters are a must. While cut-crystal decanters are great, I am partial to rather plain ones; plain does not, however, mean boring. Moss, one of my favorite design stores in New York, has a beautiful crystal one made by Lobmeyr of Austria. Part of the Ambassador series, it was designed in 1925. It is very simple and very chic.

And for sterling silver bar tools, Tiffany & Co. is really the ultimate. The Century ice strainer and muddler would add just the right Deco touch to the whole setup.