Nursery Wallpaper

How cute is this wallpaper?  It is some of the nicest wallpaper I have seen for children's rooms.  It is from a British company called Fromental. Established in 2005,  Fromental produces a beautiful line of hand painted wallpapers.  The Company is headed by Tim Butcher, former seven years Creative Director of world-renowned hand-painted Chinoiserie house de Gournay.  Their latest line is called "Brainchild" (I love that name), and is a mini collection of 3 fun layouts for children's rooms.  The pictures show the colorways available in each series.  The schematic shows how the panels go together to create a mural on the wall.

 

 

 

 

 

Fornasetti Carpets

Fornasetti wallpapers are beautiful, well-made and bang on trend. My favorite ‘Tema e Variazioni’ inspired by the enigmatic face of a beautiful woman he came across in an old French magazine.

Piero Fornasetti was born in Milan (1913-1988) and became an eclectic painter, sculptor, interior designer, craftsman, engraver of art books and organizer of international exhibitions and events. Believing strongly in disegno – the practice of sketching and copying – as the legacy of the Italian artistic tradition, his unique style shows a strong sense of irony. He worked independently of the avant-garde and his production of exquisitely made objects, textiles and furniture, some of which are in the V&A Museum, is one of the largest of the 20th century.

Fornasetti's latest collection transfers the work this Milanese artist and interior designer into bold carpets. I love the bold whimsical nature of them.

Bacio

How great would this area carpet be in an entry foyer

Buona Notte / Viso

These area carpets feature the enigmatic face of a his beautiful French woman - one with eyes open and one with eyes closed

Serratura / Mano

How great would these carpets be in a hallway

Cortile / Pavimento

These carpets are so enigmatic and remind me of a beautiful silk scarf in the manner of Hermes or Gucci.

Ortensia / Serpente

For a little more spice or drama a beautiful leaf in the botanical style or the symbolic serpentine.

Which one is your favorite pick?

The Color Orange & Gracie Studio Wallpaper

I just received the email below from Jennifer Gracie and she sent along with it this image of the most beautiful and luscious wallpaper that her office is papered in! Lucky you Jennifer....thanks for the image. BTW I am a big fan of Gracie wallpaper and you can see why. Click here to read the interview I did with her brother Mike.

Dear Patricia,

I think your blog is fantastic, and I do look forward to it's updates. I believe you interviewed my brother, Mike, for it in the past. I was reading your most recent on orange color while sitting in my office with it's handpainted scenic with an Hermes-y orange background!

I've sent you a photo, which I thought you might like, given that orange is your subject of the week.

Best regards,
Jennifer

Jennifer Gracie
Gracie, Inc.
419 Lafayette Street
New York, NY 10003
www.graciestudio.com

{ Vintage Children's Wallpaper }

This is a sample of a vingate wallpaper for a nursery I am doing for baby Inigo. It is printed by Design Your Wall. The first picture is a sample of the actual paper which is printed on a heavy canvas. The second picture
is the a picture of the full repeat from their web-site. It is always a good idea to request an actual sample before you order to make sure the colors are what you want and so you can match any paint before the paper is actually hung and to see the actual size of the pattern. As you can see the actual sample has a more yellow background, which I actually like better than the photo from their web-site.

Click the image to enlarge and see the texture of the canvas. This company prints on a shiny paper unless you request otherwise. For this "vintage" design I thought that the canvas showed it off better.

Gracie Studio Wallpaper - Style Statement Profile

Gracie Studio
Interview with Mike Gracie, President

I understand that Gracie was established in New York in 1898 by Charles R. Gracie, and is still a family run business. Could you tell us a little about the legacy of your family business and how you came to be the current President?

Charles R. Gracie was my great-grandfather. His atelier performed custom carving and gilding for New York’s carriage trade. To build his staff, he traveled to Italy, recruiting highly skilled workers. His clients included Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Astors, and Diamond Jim Brady. My great-grandfather was a true salesman and energetic entrepreneur. His particular interest was Asian art, and he became a noteworthy collector of antique Chinese blue and white porcelain miniatures, an interest he shared and discussed with Herbert Hoover.

His sons, James and Douglas (my grandfather) joined the company after serving in World War II. They diversified and expanded the company, opening a full-fledged art studio in Manhattan. My father, Brian, succeeded them in the 1970’s and brought the company into yet another successful area by focusing on fine Asian antiques.

I have been with the company for about 12 years and my dad promoted me to President last year. He remains with the company full time as Chairman and we work together and travel together regularly.

"Old Pop Gracie", Charles Gracie is in the middle with the hat

You are known for your exquisite hand painted wallpapers. Are they still manufactured in Mainland China?

Yes, our wallpapers are still handpainted in mainland China. This goes all the way back to my great-grandfather’s era. He sourced a lot of antiques, fabrics and accessories through agents in Beijing, and around 1927 he was contacted by a Beijing handpainted wallpaper studio. He established a relationship with that studio, and continued working with them until the communist revolution in 1949. After that, the studio relocated to Taiwan, and then Hong Kong. Finally in the mid-80’s the studio returned to mainland China. At a time when the quality of Chinese goods is in question, I’m proud that Gracie’s China studio provides a great example of luxurious, handmade products created by artists who have handed down the craft for generations. You have quite an impressive list of Interior Designers that have used your products over the decades and some are what I would call “Interior Design Icons” - Rose Cummings, Dorothy Draper, Elsie de Wolfe, Billy Baldwin, William Haines, and Michael Taylor. Are there any stories about these Icons that you could share with us? Yes, we actually still work with Dorothy Draper’s firm which is still in existence. McMillen, which was established in 1923, is another long-standing firm which Gracie still works with.

Elsie de Wolfe invoice (left) from 1938, McMillen invoice (right) from 1939 Click on image to enlarge

William Haines had a Gracie paper which he ordered regularly for his Hollywood clients, and we have recently re-introduced it. It’s a stunning handpainted design with ivory-colored flowers and birds on a handmade silver leaf background [SY-234]

You shared with me that you restored an antique wallpaper for a design project for Michael S. Smith. What is involved in the restoration process of your antique wallpapers?

It depends on the level of work required. Some areas may require touch-up or adhering sections of design which have lifted off the backing. However, in the case of many antique papers, a complete remounting is required. This involves meticulously soaking the wallpaper and removing just the top layer of design before re-applying it to a modern acid-free backing paper.

We usually also produce additions to antique wallpapers so that they can fit into the client’s space. Our artists are very talented at reproducing the style, coloration and level of antiquing to match the originals.

What is your most popular wallpaper design?

Generally speaking, our wallpapers on antiqued silver backgrounds are currently the best sellers. These papers provide a real impact with the silver ground, but the design tones are subtle and antiqued so that they appeal to a modern sense of color.

Interior Design by Greg Jordan

Are there any new wallpaper designs in the planning process?

We are actually re-designing much of our line of handpainted papers. This is a work in progress so I can’t be too specific. However, over the years, the quality of the work done by our studio has steadily improved. At the same time, we have kept many designs in existence for decades without alteration. Our intention is to take many of those designs and enhance them by applying the current high level of artistic talent and detail.

Another exciting development is our new line of metallic and silk papers. The metallics are made of hand-applied metal leaf, and I don’t know of any product like it. We are also producing the silk papers in our studio. We were having trouble sourcing good quality silk papers, and we also wanted to be able to offer them in custom colors. We worked closely with our China studio for a year or so and came up with a product that I’m really happy with.

Do you see a renewed popularity in the use of your papers by Interior Designers?

Although the taste for wallpaper in general seems to ebb and flow a bit, I think there’s always been a good market for our exclusive, handpainted products. Although particular designs may fall out of favor, Gracie has done a good job of keeping up with trends in color and style.

I have recently done a post on the linking of your wallpaper with the Fashion Industry. What
are your views on this?

Yes, we were all excited to see that! We have been actively interested in working with the fashion industry for several years and the fashion industry has reciprocated. As you know, our papers have been used as backgrounds on several fashion shoots. We have also produced handpainted wallpaper and custom furniture for the homes of a number of fashion designers and models. Also, for a current project we are handpainting fabrics to be used as the material for women’s couture.

Beige is Magic - Albert Hadley

Beige is atmosphere. It's bisque, it's ivory, it's cream, it's stone, it's toast, it's cappuccino. It's, well, it's magic. Albert Hadley

It's Iconic - David Hicks

It's Trendy - Allegra Hicks

It's Magic - Hotel Luxe Marrakesh

It's Atmosphere - Michael Taylor

It's Inspirational - Michael S. Smith

It's Gracie Wallpaper
Interior Design by Greg Jordan

It's Tranquil - Antonia Hutt

It's Masterful - John Saladino

It's Elegant - Alberto Pinto

It's Refined - Barbara Barry

It's Memorable - Something's Gotta Give

It's Chic - Vicente Wolf

It's Comfortable - Cote de Texas

It's a skinny steamed milk with a shot of vanilla - Andree Putman via Studio Annetta This picture is for you Liberty Post

Beige is atmosphere. It's bisque, it's ivory, it's cream, it's stone, it's toast, it's cappuccino. It's, well, it's magic. Albert Hadley
Click here to see other posts on Color

Gracie Studio Wallpaper - News Flash

I had a call from Mike Gracie from New York yesterday. Mike is the president of Gracie Studio Wallpaper. He was kind enough to let me know the following about the wallpaper in this photo:

"The antique paper was purchased by Michael Smith in England, and Gracie restored and added to it. It had a lot of poor old restoration which we had to redo, and it was also not large enough to fit the room so we handpainted additional sections. Gracie's artists are expert at meticulously reproducing antique originals so that the design, coloration, and even level of antiquing are virtually indistinguishable from the original."

Mike Gracie
Gracie, Inc.

419 Lafayette Street

New York, NY 10003

Mike Gracie has also consented to an interview with me. So stay tuned for his interview. Thank-you Mike for clarifying the details of this wallpaper.