outside in: chinoiserie garden furniture indoors

No one does the preppy/bad-girl/anglo/chinoiserie mix better than Kelly Wearstler... this image is from her gorgeous Viceroy hotel in Santa Monica, which I have had the pleasure of visiting a couple of times.

In that vein, so it seems, is this potting desk from Mecox Gardens-- the chinoiserie feel, the celadon green color. I think the piece might be fairly simple to reproduce on one's own... certainly the color could be experimented with on various items- headboards, closet doors, and such.


It also got me thinking about bringing outdoors design inside; when I lived in England for several years, I really saw that the distinction we make in the States between indoors and out isn't made as much there, because gardening is so much a part of life, even for the ordinary home-owner in a suburban area. The conservatory peeking out of brick houses is a very common sight...

But as for me, a gal in the city, I would be happy with just a potting desk as a console, or even a ceramic garden stool or two around the living room, as functional little sculptures, shots of color, or accents of white.