Friday Crush

As we ride the purple popularity wave, let's take a moment to contemplate this specimen of perfection I spotted over at Chinoiserie Chic. I know I talk about my dining room colors of green + plum incessantly, but this wallpaper is truly perfect for my space. If I had all of the dollars in the world, I would totally paper my dining room in purple de Gournay. Wow, wow, wow.

Have a wonderful weekend! See you Monday.

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Bamboo Blinds

One item I keep coming back to again and again when decorating a room is a bamboo roman shade or bamboo blinds. They are the perfect layering piece behind curtains. Or hang them all alone like this amazing bedroom below:

Image via bhg.com

(You want that bedroom, don't you?)

I have those exact bamboo blinds in my dining room (or if not exact, pretty close). Mine are the Petite Rustique Bamboo Roman Shade from Overstock.

Here is why they are awesome - they are pretty inexpensive as blinds go and if you do an outside mount, you don't have to get the exact dimensions of your window. Custom blinds are priiiicey, so these guys offer you a great look for a fraction of the price. If you pair them with curtains, the uneven overhang on the outside of your window is covered by the curtains so no one is wise to your optical illusion.

I've used these blinds in our dining room, our bedroom (a darker shade) and I plan to do it in one of our guest bedrooms. Mason's nursery is also getting one.

Have you used these blinds at your place?

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Crush it out.

Today marks two years for Aesthetic Oiseau!!

Two years of daily posts, Friday Crushes, random thoughts on design and all manner of loot for your house. To celebrate, I naturally designed a t-shirt for all of us to wear.

 Front

 Back

And did you notice my header got a little facelift? I redesigned my pagoda, and I think it's worthy of being shown on your back. And who doesn't need an orange tshirt? Pair it with jeans, boots and a cute scarf and you're in business.

T-shirts are $12

Shipping is $3

Sizes are Small, Medium & Large

Email me to place order - Click Here

I did a very small run of these t-shirts. Like, basically enough for my friends and family if y'all don't order any (Merry Christmas guys!). Email me your size and I will email you back a Paypal invoice.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for the love and support of my little blog over these two years. It's my baby and it brings me so much joy to pen some thoughts on my passion each day. I never, ever tire of your comments and emails. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You guys are the bomb dot com.

Now order a t-shirt!

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Catalog Pick: Kilim Chairs

The latest thing to catch my eye in a catalog are these kilim chairs from Grandinroad:

Each chair is made with an authentic vintage kilim, so no two chairs are exactly the same. And the brass nailhead trim adds a very nice touch in my opinion.

Would love to see these with a glass dining table to show off the chair patterns. Or one by itself is perfect for a living room or bedroom to bring in an ethnic touch.

What do you guys think? Anybody own one?

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The Pink Pagoda

I have another web design project to share with you - this time from a client that many of you probably love! I had the pleasure of recently working with Jennifer of Etsy shop The Pink Pagoda to create a logo, website, web ads, and a blog. With Jennifer's love of Chinoiserie, color and whimsical graphics, this was a dream project.

It started with the logo, which was a nice collaboration between the two of us:

And then it moved on to a jazzy website design that steps outside the box a bit as far as traditional web layouts, but still maintains a simple, entertaining experience for the user. Jennifer wanted a little spot on the web where people could learn about her and her products, while also directing users to her shop and her blog.

Jennifer also wanted to write a blog as a companion to her shop to showcase her love of interiors, graphics, Chinoiserie, etc. And it's a great read!

And finally, as part of her new look, Jennifer wanted to expand her advertising on other blogs, so she asked me to create a couple of web ads she could use across blogland to market her business.

I wish I could take credit for the look of The Pink Pagoda's branding, but the amazing Chinoiserie illustrations are all Jennifer's doing. And with such cool graphics, anything looks great!

Jennifer's shop specializes in whimsical glicees:

Make sure you visit The Pink Pagoda's website, blog and shop!

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Yard Sale!!!

Please come to my yard sale on Sunday!

Sunday, September 25th

8AM - 11AM 

6224 Berlee Drive 

Alexandria, VA

I have all sorts of loot to sell - mostly because Carter is going nuts with the excess items that I keep swearing we'll use, but we haven't. And I'm really eager to start our basement reno, so help a girl out.

Here is some of the stuff I'll be selling (excuse the crappy photos and non-glamorous backgrounds)...

Furniture:

This chair is SO SO cute. I never found a good spot for it in my house, but it's adorable and the seat is covered in one of my favorite fabrics - Le Cirque.

This is not my picture, but I'm selling this exact same cabinet. Would be SO cute with a paint job.

Wee nightstand.

Hard to tell, but this is a little iron table with a pineapple embellishment. My thoughts were to spraypaint it glossy and use as a nightstand.

Footstool upholstered in lilac moire with greek key.

This is a really cool modern desk. I have it in a traditional bedroom, but found that it's a bit too small for what I need. But it's the perfect little small table to give a room a modern edge. 

Vanity, and it has a matching stool that isn't pictured.

Fabric:

I of course have a good bit of fabric to sell! This is just some of it!

Accoutrements:

I made these pillows for our first house :)

 This is an octagonal tray just dying for a paint job.

HUGE memory board that is perfect for a little girl's room. I made it for my first apartment and still love the color combo.

I went through a memory board phase. 

Prints!

Really beautiful yellow quilted toile pillow shams.

 Large green glass bowl.

A pagoda. Though I'm nervous to part with it. I told myself that if I can't find a permanent home for it (on display) in my house, I have to let it go Sunday.

That's some of the loot. Of course I also have all manner of knick-knacks and other things like handbags and books. And, I'm just one of four sellers, so there will be other items to peruse as well.

Would love to meet some of you, so come on by!

Botanical Rug

Do you love the look of black-background botanical prints? I love 'em, ergo, I love this rug.

Colors really pop when put against a black background. I think the key to using this rug is to make it a focal point and juxtapose it with simple, modern elements.  Example: a dining room with a modern parsons table, lucite chairs, and a huge glittery gold chandelier. The gold chandy is neither simple nor modern, but it helps balance heaven and earth in your room so the ground doesn't feel so heavy and ornate. Go.

 

Captain Obvious

Remember when I said that all shades of lavumchid (lavender/plum/orchid) are having a moment?

I just wanted to be real obvious about it and show you the October covers of House Beautiful, Elle Decor and Veranda.

I died at the cover of HB when it hit my mailbox last week - a green and plum Chinoiserie dining room! And I noted the hip use of lavender on the cover, which prompted me to write that post last week. And then Elle D came. And then Veranda. And then I realized that all is right with the world.

I have not always been a lavumchid lover...until I realized it was the perfect color to use against the green in my dining room. That began my love affair two years ago. I tend to adore it as an accent color more than the main event. But damn it's chic.

I haven't dived into these issues yet, but I'm so looking forward to it.

 

Success! Mason's Dresser

The Craigslist gods finally smiled down upon me, and brought this little gem of a dresser into my life:

It's wicked cute and the perfect dimensions for Mason's nursery. Julianne and I may have driven into the middle of nowhere (which, shockingly, was only 20 minutes from where we live) to meet an interesting gentleman who we liked and feared simultaneously - but hey, it was $40! Definitely in the budget.

Now, what to do with it. It has a cute little indented squiggle across the top, and each drawer has a decorative indentation. So I could Dorothy it.

source

Or otherwise paint it decoratively.

source

But I also like the classic look of a solid color.

source

Really excited to contemplate this project!

And y'all, mark your calendar for this Sunday (the 25th) morning if you're local to the DC area. I'm having a yard sale!!! Actually, Julianne (aka Mason's mom) is hosting it at her place, but I'm going to push a lot of loot off on anyone that comes by. I'll try to do a post this week with some pictures. If you're interested, shoot me an email - daniela@aestheticoiseau.com - and I'll give you the details.

Mason's Nursery Fabrics

Let me tell you, Julianne and I are having the best time working on Mason's nursery (her little boy, due in January). She is a dream client because I fire ideas/thoughts/links at her constantly and she likes to pull triggers as much as I do.

Case in point, we have pulled the trigger on some bomb fabric. I am so in love with this combination:

Waverly's Aquatic Tango in Bark will be used for the curtains and crib bumper.

This gorgeous stripe from Richloom will be used for the crib skirt.

And Swavelle's Baxley Fresco Green will upholster that awesome vintage rocker that we purchased.

Mason's room is painted spring green, so the blues and browns will ground it a bit and give it some earthy tones that Julianne loves. And the cheery green on the walls will mix so well with the deeper greens in the curtain fabric.

We've been pulling other triggers as well, so I'll be sure to fill you in.