so wong, it's right (finally, m21 talks about the yellow wallpaper)

after asking for advice on how to clean lucite (one of the top ways our blog is found via the google), the next most common question maison21 gets asked is, where did he get the fabulous yellow chinoiserie wallpaper he used in the bachelorette's living room? and to everyone who searched in vain through every single post, maison21 offers his sincere apologies- though he promised often, he has never revealed his source- until today.
maison21 knew he wanted to use a fabulous de gournay or gracie chinoiserie hand painted silk wall covering somewhere in the home, and the bachelorette was wild for the idea. since gracie and de gournay are exquisite, but rather pricey, maison21's original concept was to use 2 panels on one side of the living room as a focal point, and frame them as "art". they also started out orange, btw!after spending some time in the house, as maison21 likes to do at the beginning of a project, we realized that the room was dark and gloomy even in the brightest hours of the morning, so orange was out, and a liberal dose of white and yellow was the cheerful cure diagnosed by dr. m21, ID (yellow is probably our favorite color, but lots of clients are scared to use it- not our bachelorette!) he also decided that 2 panels were never going to cut it, as he needed the whole room to be circled in a cheerful yellow garden to banish the gloomy malaise and bring in the happy. the new happy concept unfortunately also posed a bit of a sad problem- our budget would never allow the number of panels of de gournay or gracie we needed to bring life to what was until our intervention, a rather dark and oppressive room.so on to the internets we went, hoping to find a budget alternative, and the gods of home decorating smiled upon our search- we struck gold in finding the wallcoverings of griffin and wong.the griffin and wong panels are about a half to a third of the cost of the other sources we were considering, and even better, no upcharge for matching a custom color, or resizing the panels! m21 was leery of ordering over the internets sight unseen, so he contacted douglas bray, g & w's north american rep and douglas sent us a finished sample in a stock yellow background- fast! painted and fed-exed to us from china within two weeks!the quality of the sample was excellent, but the background color wasn't quite right (too timid, we wanted knock-your-socks-off yellow). we then asked for a background strike-off to match benjamin moore banana yellow #2022-40, and since this didn't have to have the florals painted, we had the strike off in 3 days! pretty amazing. we selected the "shen de tang" pattern from the many styles g & w offers, and once the pattern is selected, you can then specify which panels you want to use off a line drawing. since our panels were to be framed, we didn't necessarily need continuity, so maison21 selected some panels in sequence, and some not. that way we were able to get all the juicy bits- a little lotus leaf, some cherry blossoms, cranes and songbirds, trees in pots, hanging lanterns, etc. fun...we were then further able to customize how we wanted the florals painted, full color or white and pastels. we originally intended to go white and blue, to keep things light 'n bright, but as our sunny garden room concept took hold, full color seemed to be the option that "sang" to us...during the painting process, douglas was excellent about supplying us with jpegs of the panels in process, and we were even able to add in a few more birds and butterflies where things looked a little bare, just before they shipped. how's that for custom?from start to finish, the process was amazingly quick- once we gave our deposit, we had the finished panels in about a month! and as we've said the customer service provided was excellent- the whole customization process was a breeze. even non-decorators will be comfortable working with douglas.we are really pleased with the results- truly gorgeous, especially for the price. we honestly couldn't say whether the panels are entirely hand-painted, or whether they are a combination of printed material and hand-painted finishing, but we really don't care, either- the results look good. we did have 2 panels delivered with a few branches unfinished in spots (still needed some flowers and leaves), and while g & w offered to replace them, we didn't feel the need to wait for new ones since we were cropping some of our panels & just worked around the missing bits. no big deal. even if we used them as painted, we doubt anyone would have ever noticed the missing bits. the verdict? if our budget were unlimited, would we use griffin & wong rather than de gournay? probably not- de gournay (and gracie) manufacture true works of art, and while g & w comes close, it's the difference between a couture gown and ready-to-wear. more importantly, will we use griffin and wong again in the future? heck, yeah! for the price of two or three panels of de gournay, we were able to do a whole room, so off the rack prices really helped make the project sing. added bonus, g & w's lead time is about a hundred times faster ,and the customer service couldn't have been more personal. all in all, we couldn't be happier with g & w, and we think the results speak for themselves. two thumbs up- way up!ps- if you do decide to order from griffin & wong, please do us a favor and tell 'em maison21 sent you. we don't get paid for our endorsements, but we sure wouldn't mind if they gave us a really good deal on our next order- every little bit helps in our new economy! ;-)

my summer stay-cation (where in the world is m21?)

thanks to everyone for their comments and emails wondering "where in the heck is maison21?"- it's been quite touching that people whom we've never met were concerned about m21's well-being, and in answer to your queries, we've been taking a bit of a summer stay-cation here at the maison21 atelier.

a forced stay-cation, that is- about 4 weeks ago, we noticed some stiffness in to our back and neck, which rapidly proceeded into extreme pain. sadly, the pain is at it's worst when sitting at the computer or driving the m21 mobile, so beginning three weeks ago, we limited our driving to doctor's appointments, and gave up the internets cold turkey, hence the lack of recent posts (and the lack of responses to your well-wishing emails- our sincere apologies for that).

now, thanks to our acupuncturist, eileen, and the chiropractor she recommended, and not much thanks to the DMV-like care offered by m21's healthcare provider, kaiser permanente (first available specialist appointment isn't until mid-september, and an MRI should follow sometime before 2012), we're finally feeling a little better and hope to be back blogging soon (still limiting our internets for the immediate future, however- still too painful to resume frequent computer use).

on a brighter note, at the onset of of the pain, m21 installed the living room over at the bachelorette's place. and from what he remembers through the haze of over-medication, it turned out rather terrific ("put the schofa over zhere, pleesh"). so until we get back up to speed and back to blogging on a regular basis, here's a sneak peek of the room:

maison21 puts out! (a little bit more)

just finished another installation of furniture over at the bachelorette's, and not to toot my own horn, but it looks fabulous...

BUT, today's installation notwithstanding, the living and dining rooms are not quite ready for their blog debut just yet (90% completed on both, but that remaining 10% is enough to keep m21 from reaching for his instamatic).

so we thought we'd show you a little more of the completed entry- this much you've already seen:


and we thought it might be interesting to show you the rest of the room via before and after.

before m21


after m21

to goal was to take the unused space at the end of the room and give the bachelorette a place to open her mail and file her bills- the numerous compartments and cubbies in the client's existing chinoiserie desk offer plenty of storage and m21 converted the 1970's brass storage chests to hold hanging file folders, so the space is actually useful, not just decorative. (vintage brass chests purchased at the 111 antique mall in palm springs- one of our favorite sources!).

we particularly love the floor treatment- what looks like wall to wall sisal is actually a roll out vinyl flooring! it can withstand mud being tracked in, or pets having an accident on it- simply mop or even take a scrub brush to it- can't do that with a real sisal carpet! m21 thinks it's perfect for high traffic areas, like this entry, or it would also work well in bathrooms or covered outdoor rooms. a couple different suppliers manufacture the flooring- ours is by design materials, purchased from linoleum city (one of l.a.'s best flooring resources, btw- you'll see every set decorator and designer in town there).

here's a view of the flooring right after it was put down. the only difficulty in using this material is that it is only 6'6" wide, so outside of halls, it will almost always need to be seamed. since our room was long and narrow, we incorporated the seams as a decorative element by adding a contrast border of the same material in a darker colorway, and quite loved the results...

more from the bachelorette's as we get the rooms finished!

maison21 puts out!

always teasin', never pleasin'? not m21!

just finished our first room installation over at the bachelorette's- hope this first look at her new entry hall meets your needs until we are finally ready to go all the way!

vintage baker furniture asian modern credenza, and vintage c. jeré brass, chrome and lucite lamps via ebay; faux clamshell, z gallerie; vintage gilt sunburst mirror, client's own; wall paint, benjamin moore #2008-10 "ravishing red" in gloss; trim in benjamin moore "super white" in semi-gloss.

more to come...

the decorator and the bachelorette (project preview backstory)

oh god- not m21's sofa again! doesn't he have anything better to do than take pictures of the pillows on his g-- d---- sofa?well, in this case, the pillows aren't even m21's own- he took them out of their wrappings just for the photo- they are actually part of our project tchotchkefication process (you might recognize them from our post on the trina turk residential store way back in may. m21 fell in love with them, and so did his client).

close-up of the print- how cheery and colorful is this?

which brings us to the actual subject of today's post- m21 has been posting quite a bit on this particular client & project as it is one of those fantastic, fun, and easy-breezy projects- the kind of project that makes m21 love his job even more than he already does! so here's a bit of the project backstory:

the pillows will sit on this custom updated chesterfield white sofa

maison21 met his client a while back when she bought some great vintage furniture pieces from him- she loves a good vintage score, almost as much as m21 (btw, from now on we''l refer to our client as "the bachelorette", in reference to habitually chic's current "bachelor pad" project). the bachelorette purchased the pieces as she was in the process of redecorating her home, turning it into something more in line with her status as a major figure in the l.a. fashion industry- i.e. a home as stylish and chic as she is!

the updated chesterfield sofa under construction in the workroom.

the bachelorette soon realized that her redecorating project was taking too much time away from her family (she is the mother of two great kids), as well as her business, and being the savvy business women that she is, decided that her bottom line would be better served by calling in a professional, so re-enter maison21.

m21 initially suggested he just do one room to see how they got on together, but by the end of their first meeting it was clear that the two of us just clicked, both in personality and in decor sensibility. as the project has proceeded, in addition to creating a beautiful home for the bachelorette and her boys, we've also become good friends- all working relationships should be so fun!

rear view of the chesterfield frame- maison21 specifically choose this style of sofa because of the tufted roll arm/back detail. the sofa's actual placement in the room is such that unless you are sitting on it, it will mostly be viewed from the back or side, so we had to keep those views visually interesting. a plain box of a sofa never would have served.

the bachelorette's decor requirements were simple: she wanted a family and pet friendly home, somewhere where the kids could have friends over, and the dog could jump up on sofa, without worrying that a gazillion dollars worth of velvet mohair would be ruined by spilled fruit juice (or claws). life is too short for that kind of worry! so things needed to kept practical, comfortable, and multi-functional, but without sacrificing an ounce of style or chic.

other than that, m21 had just two dictates to constrain him- one, that we reuse the bachelorette's favorite sunburst mirror, and two, we use some insanely great wallpaper. done and done. see why this is a dream project?

one of the insanely great wallcoverings we've used- a gorgeous sapphire blue grasscloth in the bachelorette's dining room (and a sneak peek of things to come).

together, the bachelorette and the decorator have rocked her house out, and maison21 is awfully excited about our first room installation, happening next week. soon, we'll have some finished product to show you, and you can see how all the bits and pieces fit together!

tchotchkefication (project preview)

yes, it's a word. a completely made up word, but a word nonetheless...

it also describes the state of one of maison21's current design projects- almost all the major elements are in place: wallpaper is up in the dining and living rooms, new flooring laid in the entry, and the rest of the existing hardwood floors buffed and polished. fresh paint is everywhere (our glossy chinese orange/red in the entry ROCKS), and crisp white wainscoting added to dining room and stairwell. the custom furniture we commissioned is due to be completed and delivered any day, and our super fantabulous 8 foot white marble saarinen dining table is already in place, surrounded by 8 black lacquer chippendale chairs (covered in white patent alligator, similar to m21's own). save for one pesky sideboard (of two) for the dining room- which is proving to be maddeningly elusive- we are good to go with all the furniture needed.

so now, on the the little stuff, i.e., tchotchkefication.

maison21 loves his tchotchkes, in case you didn't know, and as with everything, he likes to mix the high with the low, and the old with the new.
for the living room we have some great vintage blanc de chine-esque pieces (like the above quails) that we've mixed with some newer white ceramics, and of course, lots of maison21's beloved vintage animal statuary- like this vintage elephant figurine:
we might pull the large brass horse statues we currently have on ebay and have them gallop across the top of a console or credenza...
brass rams head bookends similar to below are on their way as well...
to keep things modern and mixed up, we paid a visit to our local z gallerie yesterday, to see what other inexpensive little splendors we could find.

"z gallerie?", you say, in a horrified tone- "aren't they a little down-market for a high-end interior?"

not when we're done with the room, they won't be! the trick to shopping somewhere like z gallerie is be selective (verrrrry selective) and make sure you mix up the pieces with some vintage and antique, so it doesn't look all modern and retail-ish. this goes for any mass-market retailer, like pottery barn or west elm- just use sparingly, and it's a great way to extend a design budget so you can afford to do things like have a custom 8 foot brass and glass parson's console table constructed, as we did for the project we're speaking of.

at z gallerie, we saw and liked:
this bargain of a 20 inch faux clam shell, which we purchased (we might lacquer it a bright white to customize it a bit). we'll probably fill it with a colorful collection of vintage japanese fishing floats, similar to the collection we inherited from our father, which always graces the m21 dining room table.

(oh and a side note to mean anon before you leave your comment: we already know that everything mentioned in this post- blanc de chine, animal statues, clam shells etc., as well everything NOT mentioned in this post, like zebra skin, kelly wearstler, table lamps, and all things decorating in general- are all COMPLETELY tired. so no need for you to type it out, ok?)
how can we resist these book shaped boxes, covered in a white patent faux alligator similar to that on our dining chairs? (in all honesty, we'll probably wait for these to go on sale, but you can NEVER have too many boxes used as accessories. they are just too perfect to hide all of the detritus of modern life we seem to collect- you know, like 25 remote controls, your old "emergency" cellphone, that ancient baggie of pot you've saved from your college dorm days, etc...).

we don't have anywhere for these smart horn tables in any of our current projects, or our own home, but we loved them nonetheless. trés chic for the price.

last, we went crazy for these large faux bois wall candle sconces- like the clam shell, we'd probably customize them a bit so they didn't look so mass market-y. given a coat of matte white spray paint, we think they would look very serge roche/diego giacometti, or or alternatively, gold leaf them, and have a little faux felix agostini...

stay tuned for more project preview posts to see all the elements we've been posting about finally come together... (including our long promised post on our lovely yellow chinoiserie wallpaper, below).

project preview (in process)

our responsibilities as a decorator include not only conceptualizing a room, but also troubleshooting the process along the way. today we visited one of our workrooms to review some pieces in progress, in order to ensure that the end results are just as pretty as originally planned.

the overall concept of this project is sort of "trad meets rad"- combining both traditional and modern elements in adventurous and colorful ways for our hip and modern client, and her family.

for a long blank wall in the client's living room, we've opted for panelized handpainted chinoiserie wall covering (yes, you've seen them in a prior "project preview" post, and will see them again once the panels go up- any day!). in front of the panels, we are pairing a sleek and modern 8 foot polished brass parson's table (in process at a metal fabricator) with a pair of more traditional cerule base benches:
here's the elevation of the living room wall, incorporating the benches, initially presented to the client:
pretty, no? we think it strikes the right balance between modern and traditional. we also wanted to dial back the femininity of the wall panels by pairing them with more masculine surface textures, like the polished brass table, zebra skin (cow hide) chosen for the seat cushions and ebonized wood with antique bronze nailheads on the bases of the benches, (not upholstered as the workroom's sample).

so today, we were very pleased when we visited the workroom for a progress check. we were also able to make any last minute adjustments needed, and after laying out the zbra print cow hides, we eliminated the top row of nail heads on the seats- seemed too busy- but other than that we couldn't be happier with the in-progress results:
we are looking forward to the finished product, and we'll share that, as well as some more in progress items, as we go!

fabulously faux (and feline friendly, we pray)

maison21 had a set of dining chairs covered in shiny white faux alligator vinyl with a black cord trim for a client, and we thought they turned out so well, we had to pop off one of the seats to take back to the maison21 atelier and try it out on our own 1980's black lacquer queen anne dining chairs (cushion is a little too big for our chairs, but you get the idea).

kinda fabulous, no? and please agree- we've already bought more mock croc vinyl and dropped the seats off at the upholsterer.

m21 has actually been dithering about what to cover his dining chairs in for like, ever- we really would have liked a black horsehair with a black leather welt, but it's just too darn expensive for richard to destroy. then we had our hearts set on a natural woven raffia (with a black contrast welt), but decided the texture of raffia would be just too tempting (might as well sprinkle catnip on them, too). after seeing how luxe the chic vinyl we recommended as an inexpensive, low maintenance option for a client with kids and pets turned out, we realized that it was also the perfect option for the pet-centric household here at the m21 atelier.

can't wait!

project preview (pretty über alles)

things are starting to look rather fabulous at one of m21's current design projects- we've just turned the corner from dust and mayhem, to "hey, it's starting to look kinda pretty around here"!

after a long search, viewing seemingly every single wall sconce ever made (and finding none of them quite right), we just scored four of these chic and unusual vintage brass and crystal bird-form sconces at auction (and if you've ever sourced vintage wall sconces, you know finding a chic set of 4 is no small task):
we think they are going to be STUNNING (as in couldn't be more perfect), mounted on the below chinoiserie wall panels. no, the panels AREN'T the delicious de gournay, rather a new source for hand-painted silk wall coverings we've recently discovered (which of course maison21 promises to share with you in a future post- just want to get them in hand first, for some prettier pictures). below is a jpeg of one the actual panels we commissioned- sent to us for pattern approval from the workroom. the color isn't exactly true, but we already signed off on a background color strike-off a few weeks back, so we aren't worried. the actual color is a true banana yellow- a brighter, clearer, and even more cheery color than below jpeg- m21 loves hisself some bold color, and thankfully, so do his clients! we don't do beige here at maison21! nope- not us! (but if we were to make an exception to our no beige rule, we promise to make it really pretty- after all, the m21 motto is "pretty über alles").
have a pretty weekend- don't know if we'll get to any posts or not- things are a little busy 'round the m21 atelier!

ps- we'll be announcing the winner of the "free pretty" sweepstakes the beginning of the week, so if you haven't entered, get on it! you only have until midnight tonight!

remember (as if m21 hasn't overused the word "pretty" enough in this post)- pretty über alles!

p.s. i love you (more pretty finds)

here's a few more of maison21's scores from his recent trip to palm springs:thanks to recent posts by 3 of his must-read fellow bloggers: habitually chic, mrs. blandings and patricia gray, maison21 has rediscovered his love of yellow, so he's doing the living room of one of his current projects with framed hand-painted yellow silk chinoiserie wall panel accents (on dove-gray walls) and lots of yellow and white furniture and accessories (the electric yellow chairs from his last post are for the same room). the project is still taking shape and far from finished, but we will definitely post pictures when we're done (early summer 08, we hope- if the design gods are with us).

the above chic items above were found at m21's most favoritist vintage furniture resource ever in palm springs, the 111 antique mall (to find out all about it, read maison21's post here). we also scored some killer lucite lamps and a murano chandelier while at the 111, but they aren't ready for their blog debut just yet...

and though maison21 feels like a cheating spouse (or one of those texas polygamists), he's found another store in ps that he loves as much as the 111 (though it couldn't be more different), so stay tuned for a post on his new palm springs retail crush soon!

p.s. i love you (briefly)

maison21 just returned from a whirlwind visit to palm springs- in less then 30 hours he managed to squeeze in a hell of a lot of power shopping for few of his clients (as well as himself), punctuated by several delightful meals with good friends. below is a photo of mona and her buddy sam (being fed), sharing one of those delightful meals with their new best friend, lil lucy. mona has been terrified of toddlers and small children most of her life, but has recently discovered that they ain't so bad, especially at meal times!amongst m21's purchases was this fab pair of vintage modern lounge chairs, scored for one of his client's homes. loving the original bright yellow fabric, and the chic 1950's italian feel of the styling...maison21 needs to go to bed now, as he is wiped out, but he'll be updating you with more of his palm springs finds later in the week.

'night!

online design resource: ebay (love it or hate it)

maison21 would like to take a moment to remind everyone of one of his favorite online design resources: the venerable ebay. while not a huge fan of ebay, the corporation, maison21 does love the variety of vintage goods available on ebay, the website, and yes, while he may not like many of their corporate policies, maison21 does enjoy indulging his passion for vintage furniture by selling on ebay, as well. biting the hand that feeds him? you betcha, but paying lots of money for the privilege, too.

recently, mason21 spotted this fabulous vintage baker furniture asian modern credenza and scored it for one of his design clients- for a small fraction of what it would have cost from a resale store. even once shipped, it will be a third the price of similar purchased locally.


now maison21 and his client can take the money they saved by purchasing the credenza on ebay, and spend it elsewhere- like on a glamorous, long and low, white leather m21 custom-designed chesterfield sofa!
now a hint or two for purchasing vintage furniture on ebay:

1. check the reputation of the seller- if they have feedback that seems suspicious, steer clear. nobody's perfect, so a negative or two is natural (m21 has a couple himself, due to his slower-than-molasses shipping times), but several negatives with the same complaint such as "not as described", "packed poorly" or "never received", are red flags that you'll want to avoid.
   
2. read the seller's description of condition carefully- if seller says "refer to photo" and doesn't list any flaws, tread cautiously. worse, if they state that it is the buyer's responsibility to ask condition questions, just stay away.
3. on the flip side, don't obsess about minor condition issues- a small chip or stain shouldn't be a deal breaker if you love the piece. once it's in a room full of other furniture, you'll never notice minor flaws, anyway. big condition issues, especially those that are structural, are best to be avoided though.
   
4. realize that you will have to deal with arranging freight shipping yourself- it can be a little daunting for the first timer, but most companies make it easy with online quotation forms. maison21 has had good luck with plycon- they also do blanket wrap, which is sufficient for most sturdy furniture items (not recommended for fine antiques or delicate items).
5. don't ship your item via greyhound- it's cheap, but you'll regret not spending the money on a real shipper when your fabulous find arrives damaged.
   
6. last, and most important- make sure you have the ability to visualize the size of the piece you are interested in. this is the most common mistake people make when buying online, and it can be a error both costly and heartbreaking. maison21 has made this mistake himself- a glam french 1940's mirror purchased locally for m21's tiny, tiny powder room turned into a 6 foot tall monster, suitable for a 1740's french chateau. luckily, m21 owns a pick-up so he was able to get his monster home, but if he was stuck shipping it, he wouldn't have been a happy camper.
   
7. if you can't visualize the size of the piece in your room, draw it out to scale on a floor plan, or find a similar sized piece locally to help judge the scale. you can also literally "draw" out the dimensions of the piece in the exact spot you plan to use it by laying out the dimensions on the floor and/or wall with painter's tape- no surprises when the real thing arrives! while pieces can "read" larger or smaller than their actual size in person and that often can't be predicted from a photo, at least you will know whether or not the size will actually physically fit in your space.
   

so go take a spin around the antique furniture category on ebay- you'll be amazed at all the pretty things to be found! and if you've already bought a piece of furniture on ebay that you love, share a photo with us, and maison21 will devote a future post to his readers' ebay scores!