Introducing Plum Blossom Vintage: Chinoiserie, The Orient, Midcentury

Hello Friends! Well it's been almost one year since the corona virus struck the United States and our lives fell into a tail spin. But now that there is a vaccine and a new president in the White House, I'm feeling hopeful about the future. I hope you are as well.

I'm excited to share some news with you! I'm starting a new shop! Plum Blossom Vintage will offer inspiring vintage chinoiserie, oriental and midcentury homewares for anyone looking to add some asian or midcentury (or both!) inspired flair to their home decor.

I'm still selling vintage tea ware in my Etsy shop Vintage Tea Treasures. This new endeavor will be on Instagram. I'll be utilizing my Vintage Tea Treasures Instagram account where the name has been changed to Plum Blossom Vintage. Shown above is a sneak peek of the first collection for Plum Blossom Vintage. It is almost ready for a flash sale which will be happening very soon and I will announce it here. 

So wish me luck and I hope you will join me for the sale!

Flattening the Curve, Day 10

Hello everyone. First off, I have a question for you. Now that most of us here in the United States are becoming fully ensconced in the coronavirus (COVID-19) Stay Home, Stay Safe 'lifestyle', have you brushed your teeth, washed your face, gotten dressed, and eaten breakfast today? I hope you are able to eat something. I only ask because I have to remind myself to do those things.

Getting lost in all the confusion of this COVID-19 problem can take your spirit away, rob you of your senses, and make you forget to brush your teeth. Everything feels like a ball of confusion. And yet, we have to sit with it, don't we?

So today on the blog I'm taking a break from all the news, data and anxiety and sharing what I would normally call in the title 'Vintage Finds'.

Since I started my Etsy shop Vintage Tea Treasures I have become enamored with vintage English pottery and bone china. And through that activity I discovered the chinoiseries, or Chinese style midcentury home decor items. The quality of the items I find varies but the decorative theme is always a take on a classic idealized form.

For example this 9-1/2 inch Wedgwood plate, in the 'Eastern Flowers' pattern features three chrysanthemum floral bouquets around the perimeter of the plate and an open fenced area with another chrysanthemum in the center of the plate. The center flower has moss entwined around it, as does the smaller blue flower to the left of it.

Another of my favorite items to collect are the asian or Chinese style figurines. Traditionally they came in pairs but most of the ones I've found have long since lost their mate, like this one shown.

What I enjoy most about this figurine (and I find it to be true in all of the ones I've found thus far) is the dynamic pose and the interesting gestures.

The shape of the base indicates that perhaps this figurine is meant to be a bookend, however it is very lightweight so maybe this one and its' mate could have held up a few books (maybe three?) as pure decoration.

And who can resist the makeup? A 1930s 'Betty Boop' heart-shaped lip treatment and an oh so dramatic eye liner! Love that!

Well, I hope this peek into my obsession with chinoiserie style collectables diverted your mind, if only for a moment...

Stay well family and friends!

York Wall Coverings Project: Mandarin Prose by Waverly Classics

Friends, have you ever dreamt about a home decor project that you felt a strong desire to undertake but weren't sure if you could actually figure it out and make it happen? Me too!

Back two years ago when I thrifted the c. 1950 James Mont Chinoiserie Limed Oak Hutch shown here in my dining area, I imagined how nice it would be to have some kind of wallpaper on the wall behind it to liven up the room and to serve as an interesting backdrop.

And white walls. I really wanted white walls.

I know there has been a lot of discussion in the interiors world about seeing an overabundance of white walls on the blogs and in the magazines but over time I realized how much of an effect the prior turquoise-painted accent wall had on my photography. And, more recently, the sliding door to the right needed to be replaced and I was disappointed when I discovered that the glass in the new door has a blue tint. Furthermore, we live in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and cloudy, rainy days are the norm many days of the year. So for these reasons, white walls it is!

Speaking of white walls - while shopping for wallpaper I knew I wanted whatever pattern I chose to be vibrant and have a white or near-white background. Also, it had to be colorful, whimsical and fun because this is the busiest room in the house and it can afford a playful atmosphere. And, most importantly, it had to be in the classic chinoiserie style. Of course I looked at dozens and dozens of wallpaper samples, thinking very carefully about all the choices. When I discovered this Waverly Classics by York Wallcoverings wallpaper in the Mandarin Prose pattern at Mahone's Wallpaper Shop, I knew the fantastical scenery was just what I was looking for.

And then came the hard part. The "I'm not sure I know what I'm doing" part. The "I don't know anything about wallpapering" part. And the biggest doubt of all was the "I've never power-sanded a wall in my life" part.

The uncertainty about taking on a large project with an unknown outcome kept me from taking the plunge for about two years. In the spring of this year I thought a good way to distract myself from my fears about the task was to just purchase my chosen wallpaper pattern and give myself some time to ease into it as this was going to be my big summer undertaking. It was a bit of a mind trick I played on myself as well. I figured I'd feel quite rotten if I spent my hard earned money on wallpaper and never made it happen.

And that is how I got here:

This is what I call "testing your family ties" and "how badly do I want that wallpaper anyway?"

What a mess! Our small power sander has a containment canister on it, but as you can see, there is powder everywhere. And not just in this immediate area. Although I placed painter's drop cloth over furniture and doorways, it still managed to seep past these barriers and, well, it seemed to find its way into every nook and cranny throughout the house. Pardon me, wallpaper project, while I vacuum for a week!

Two other frustrations I had were figuring out the mechanics of operating a power tool and the summer heat. James showed me how to use the sander and gave me a demonstration, but it took awhile until I got it. I started on the smaller wall to the left. It has a lot of scuff marks from applying too much pressure or from staying in one place too long. But by the time I started on the second wall I had it figured out pretty good. Despite the heat.

The outdoor temperature on this summer day was 91° Fahrenheit. While it does stay noticeably cooler inside, wearing all the required safety gear (gloves, face mask, goggles and knee pads), coupled with having to exert a fair amount of pressure on the sander made it quite uncomfortable. I took frequent breaks, drank plenty of water, and laid in the cool grass in the backyard until I felt I could stand it again.

Just so you can get an idea of the task at hand, here is the wall texture before and after:

As I was researching how to hang wallpaper here on the web, I learned that it adheres best to a smooth freshly painted wall. It became quite clear to me that if I didn't make the effort to knock down the 1970s textured wall surface that the project could fail - so why take a chance?

So once the massive clean up and vacuum cleaning was finished I painted the walls to be papered with two coats of white paint. I also painted the door and wall to the left and the wall to the right because my intention was, ultimately, to paint the entire dining area and kitchen white. 

Here's what the dining area looked like with all the painting done:

And finally, the paper hanging commences!

You're probably not surprised when I tell you that the wallpapering was a lot easier than the sanding. In fact, it was so easy that in hindsight it nows seems silly that I fussed over it at all. In fact, I highly recommend that if you are considering trying your hand at wallpapering that you purchase the Waverly brand. It's quality is exceptional - there are no overshadowed lines or inconsistencies in the colors and the smooth texture is easy to work with. Also, the rolls come with a full set of instructions that I felt were well written and easy to follow.

And the best part of all is that it is pre-pasted!

I would also recommend purchasing your wallpaper from Mahone's Wallpaper Shop - a family owned business. My order was shipped promptly in a sturdy box and the packing material was a wallpaper scrap which I thought was an ingenious way of repurposing their product.

Have you been thinking about trying your hand at wallpapering? Don't let your fears get in the way. With planning and a bit of internet research, it's a very doable project.

Have any questions? Ask me here in the comments below or on Instagram.

As always, thanks for reading!

Styling A Vintage Hutch: Antique Chinoiserie Revival Dish ware

Hi Friends! As I was browsing through my favorite charity shop two summers ago a box of antique dishes caught my eye. I thought they looked very interesting but I had no idea what they were so I didn't purchase them.

Well, as it turns out, that box of dishes started my obsession with antique Chinoiserie Revival (c. late 1800s - early 1900s) dish ware. Not only did I go back to the shop and buy them, but I have been on the hunt for more Chinoiserie-themed antique dishes ever since. I finally have enough pieces of this incredible English-made tableware to 'sort of' style my midcentury James Mont limed oak hutch and I'm excited to share the result thus far, with you dear reader, here today.

As mentioned above, the box of dishes that started this new passion of mine consisted of several pieces of late 1880s Brownfield & Son antique pottery with an unknown pattern name. Two of the dinner plates, two teacups and a saucer are on the top shelf of the hutch. The remainder of the dishes are on the bottom shelf to the right. And here is a photo of all of the items together:



If you are fond of the distinctive look of Chinoiserie, you might appreciate the whimsically styled decorative urns, the vibrant chrysanthemum outer borders and the highly detailed inner borders that make up this pattern. If so, more details about this Brownfield pottery can be found in the popular blog post Vintage Finds: Antique Brownfield & Son Chinoiserie Revival Pottery.

Also on the top shelf of my hutch, between the two Brownfield plates is this Royal Doulton 9-3/4" plate (c. 1902-22, 1927-36) featuring a formidable bird of prey in a pattern called Pekin:

Note how similar the style and colors of the chrysanthemum flowers and the inside border on this plate are to the Brownfield pottery and the repetition of a stylized image in the center.

Directly below the Pekin plate, on the middle shelf of my hutch, are two pieces by Wood & Sons from their Woods Ware collection - a 9" plate in the Wincanton pattern, and a teacup in the Canton pattern, both produced around 1917:

Perhaps there has never been any chinaware more timeless or classic than those decorated in various traditional blue and white patterns. The pattern known as Blue Willow is probably the most popular and well known of all. And there are likely hundreds if not thousands of variations on the theme. For instance, while the Canton teacup explicitly bears a version of the quintessential Blue Willow pattern, the Wincanton plate is quieter in its approach to Blue Willow with its abstract representation of it.

Another c. 1917 Wood & Sons Woods Ware piece in my hutch is a small oval platter on the bottom shelf:



Here we have another strong bird character at the center of attention. At 9 inches wide and 5 inches tall the platter has a different look and feel compared to the Wincanton plate and the Canton teacup. The pattern is called Mayfair and although blue and white is still the predominate color scheme, there is a bit of dark red, yellow and green added to the peonies and to the bird (peacock?). Overall, the glaze is laid on thicker and the top rim, where the dark red pigment has been added, has a bumpy texture.

Oh, and just in case anyone is interested, the figurines you see in my hutch are all 'midcentury' pieces that I feel support the Chinoiserie style and theme. Of course there was yet another asian or oriental themed trend in the 1950s, but that's another story for another time! The figurine shown with my Mayfair platter is a Kleine ©49.

Going back up to the middle shelf of my hutch to the left is a circa 1913 Johnson Bros Pareekware 8" plate and a Cleveland China sugar bowl from about 1920:

Have you found the bird in the tree on the plate yet? I'm thinking it's a woodpecker. What do you think? Again we have a similar theme and style to the Brownfield & Son dishes and the Royal Doulton plate, with the colorful floral border, interesting patterned inner border and of course the stylized image in the center.

The Cleveland China sugar bowl is actually an Art Deco piece. I'm very fond of the shape of the bowl and I especially like the handles. Although its design influences are the Neo-Byzantine Revival and Greco-Roman movements from approximately 1890 through the 1920s I feel it also fits the aesthetic of the Chinoiserie style.

Also on the middle shelf of my hutch, on the far right, is a c. 1905 Foley Art China Peacock Pottery 8" plate in another quintessentially classic pattern called Indian Tree:

Like Blue Willow, Indian Tree has stood the test of time and you'll see many different manufacturers having made a variation of the pattern.

Are you starting to see why I am so jazzed about Chinoiserie Revival design? In just the few pieces I've managed to collect thus far, the repetition of style, like strings on a guitar or keys on a piano, is endless. The formality of the border treatments, coupled with the free-form, energetic center designs are like a piece of music that starts in a major key then suddenly changes to a minor key, surprising the listener, yet not sounding out of place. Amidst the rhythmic and ordered events of everyday life and the chaos of unexpected occurrences we are transported to another world of the designer's own making - a dynamic use of yin and yang principles in which harmony is the end result. 

The midcentury figurine of the girl holding a fan next to the Foley Art China plate is one half of a bookend set, made in Japan. And yes, I searched the charity shop shelves high and low for the other half - presumably a boy, but did not find it. And it wasn't until I got it home that I realized the head had been glued back on. But that didn't matter - it's midcentury, of asian or oriental design, and a classic 1950s color - chartreuse!

So now let's look at the four Alaska H & R 7-1/2" plates on the bottom shelf of my hutch:

Ok, I'm stumped on the identification here! I have found one reference stating the manufacturer could have been either Hall & Read or Hughes & Robinson. Both companies manufactured earthenware in the late 1880s, and apparently 'Alaska' is the pattern name.

This same reference implied that the Alaska Gold Rush had something to do with the manufacture of this dish ware. Indeed, there were two gold rushes in the state of Alaska between 1897 and 1904, but what the connection is between those events and earthenware plates named Alaska is a mystery. Perhaps more investigation is needed...  

The figurine of an asian woman dressed in white and playing a small musical instrument (on the bottom shelf of my hutch with the Alaska plates) was made by the Ardalt Lenwile China company in Japan in about the 1950s. Again, she is one half of a pair and the only one I have. It doesn't bother me that the figurines I've collected thus far are not pairs and exact matches - I enjoy having an eclectic mix of styles and colors within a theme.

And last but not least, sitting on the very top of my hutch, is a large Burgess & Leigh Indian Tree serving platter, measuring 15-1/2" wide and 13" high.

This second example (c. 1862 - 1907) shows us another variation of the Indian Tree pattern which has a completely different color palette. Again we have the thematic repetition of an outer floral border, inner detailed border and a stylized image in the center. Shortly after I wrote the blog post about the box of Brownfield & Son dish ware, I wrote another, also quite popular, blog post about this Burgess & Leigh platter entitled Vintage Finds: Antique Burgess & Leigh Chinoiserie Revival Indian Tree Platter.

Well, if you've made it this far, (even if you've only scrolled through and looked at the photographs) I can't thank you enough! I enjoy both collecting and digging into the history of this dish ware and sharing it here with you, dear reader.

If you are interested in styling your own hutch and are wondering where to start, the best place to begin is with something you love. As you can see here, I stuck with one type of antique dish ware and built a collection around that one theme. You might have a piece handed down from a relative or something you just purchased. It could even be the dishes you use everyday. Gather together items that resonate with you and play around and see what you come up with. And most of all, have fun with it.

Oh, and if you would like to know more about the history of my hutch, you can read about it in the post Vintage Finds: c. 1950 James Mont Chinoiserie Limed Oak Hutch.

Thank you!

Little Yellow Couch Style Manifesto

Hi Friends! Do you listen to podcasts? I listen to several, and one of my favorites is Style Matters, hosted by Karen June Grant and Zandra Zuraw of the interiors blog Little Yellow Couch. When I first heard Zandra say "we believe that your style comes from knowing who you are" and that their mission on the podcast is to "get to the substance behind the style" I was immediately hooked.

On the weekly podcast Karen and Zandra interview designers and stylists to find out why style matters to them. And each week I am continually amazed by how much I learn about style as I listen to stories from people who are passionate about not just decorating their homes, but how their homes are a reflection of their personality, interests and lifestyle.

My own journey of home decorating and styling is a fairly recent one but my passion for collecting vintage home wares has been going strong for years. The truth is that my home has been more 'junk store chic' than purposefully collected and aesthetically decorated or styled. Life has been so busy with work and the raising of children that I just never had the energy, brain space or 'know-how' for anything more.

But life is different now, changing. My children are grown and I strongly feel that it's time to get serious about style and why it matters to me. I found a great place to start is Karen and Zandra's Style Manifesto, a discovery tool designed to identify how your personal values align with how your home looks and functions. It's rather scary to realize that the clutter in your home can be considered a reflection of the clutter in your head! But face it, I must...

Through a series of five essay questions, Karen and Zandra take you through an inspection tour, so to speak, of your home. I have always felt that being self analytical is one of the harder tasks in life, but what I have also discovered is that journaling is the key to working out issues. The first part of the writing exercises take you through identifying your values and where your personality shows up in your home. Then you will be asked to pinpoint the elements of your personality that are missing in your home and encouraged to brainstorm ideas that will bring those characteristics you would like to make visible into the foreground.

Once you have finished answering the questions the fun part is creating your own manifesto - an actionable plan for how you will achieve your newly found style goals! And since a manifesto is a public declaration, I'm sharing mine here with you:

And of course, I'm always in for a fun art project and the blank space at the top and bottom of the manifesto were just begging for a little bit of collage.

I hope you will consider listening to the Style Matters podcast and signing up to get your own Style Manifesto. I'm sure Karen and Zandra will be delighted if you did!

Thank you for letting me share.

Styling And Photographing For Instagram

Hi friends! If you are an Instagram user, you may already be aware of the fact that there are a few analytics applications that will calculate the top nine images liked by your followers, friends and other Instagram users in 2017. I used the app called instrack.app and the image shown here is the result of the algorithm doing its magic.

It's interesting to take a walk down memory lane - both figuratively as in the act of looking back at images which hold symbolic meaning and literally taking a walk along an old familiar route, retracing steps from another time.

Both of these activities have occupied my mind lately.

Recently I had reason to walk about a mile to catch a bus. The route was familiar as I used to walk it most weekdays, including during the time I got my first iPhone. Back then I was already versed in photography and having a camera phone opened up my curiosity for learning a new way of taking pictures. I would look around as I strolled along the city streets, seeking out interesting subjects to capture with my new camera. As I retraced that route last week, memories of those days came flooding back and I was thinking about my journey through still life photography and Instagram.

I discovered Instagram soon after I started taking photos with my phone. Like so many others, I began sharing my images there. I was inspired not only by the gorgeous and interesting portrayals of everyday life, but also by the snippets of conversation. People were talking to each other from all over the world! Before long I found a great community of women who were sharing their styled photos of flowers, tea, coffee and other bits of everyday life. They call it 'faffing' which is an English term meaning to spend time doing something that is not important instead of the thing one should be doing. It has gained greater significance though as a calming meditative process that helps to cultivate a relaxing mind.

Intrigued by this artistic community, I decided that I was going to learn still life 'flat lay' iPhone photography. There's something about this style of photography that taps into the ancestral memory. To create an image that is both in the present but yet evokes symbolic and emotional memories of the past piques the curiosity of the viewer. You can't help but want to stop and peer into this moment in time and engage with the objects - search out the familiar, see what resonates and find your own memory locked within. No wonder prop stylists are always on the hunt for new and interesting items to add to their collections!

At the same time, it truly is the art of placing objects. Those everyday things that are familiar to us and have meaning and context in our lives suddenly transform into objects of art. You find yourself considering size, shape, and quantity, and thinking critically about color, style, composition, unity, proximity. There are so many elements to consider, ponder and get frustrated over. But this is an invaluable exercise for developing the artistic eye. It's not easy for most of us and does not happen overnight. Similar to any creative endeavor, one must dive in, keep going, resist the urge to compare yourself to others, and take breaks along the way.

Thank you for letting me share my styling and photography journey thus far. If you would like to share yours, leave a comment or visit me on Instagram.   

Styling and Photographing For Instagram

Hi everyone! Here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, the flowers are in full bloom almost everywhere you look. And that means an endless supply of ideas for photographing them starts tugging at my brain.

Today I'm sharing three recent iPhone images, all involving styling flowers together with tea. Styling is a challenging skill to acquire, but it can be an enjoyable and mindful activity, especially when the subject matter is one you enjoy. And I happen to enjoy both flowers, and tea!

Still life photography can be a photographers best friend - it's just you, your camera, and a few objects. You are free to arrange and rearrange your subject matter, trying a variety of layouts, without interruption or worry about being judged. And if you are using a phone camera, which has no manually variable adjustments, your main concentration is on lighting and composition.

For me, photographing tea and flowers came about rather serendipitously. Discovering the supportive community on Instagram, learning the art of flatlay composition, acquiring a new obsession with collecting vintage teacups, and opening an Etsy teacup shop, has all been a fun, challenging, and fortuitous journey of discovery!

Thanks for looking friends!

Styling A Vintage Hutch: The Christmas Season

Hi Friends! Ever since I purchased a limed oak James Mont chinoiserie-style hutch last spring, I've been wanting to style it on a regular basis and share it here with you on this blog.

As it happened, 'Life got in the way', as it often does, and for the most part this hutch became a repository for various tea ware items offered in my Etsy shop. While that's still true to some extent, this is my first attempt at purposefully arranging the collectibles in my hutch in a manner that more characteristically reflects who I am. After giving it some thought, I decided that a good approach would be styling through the use of pieces that vary in type, shape, and size, yet are still consistent in color and style. Luckily, I collect a huge variety of 'stuff', and I thought that picking items with my styling decisions in mind would be a fun challenge for myself!

Choosing a color scheme of white, green and red, and a Christmas or seasonal theme, using all vintage items provided a consistent look. And having a variety of items - plates and teacups and saucers that vary in shape, size, and manufacturer - helped to tie together a miscellaneous collection of fun Christmas kitsch, such as the Santa mugs, elves and guest card holders (like the small 'Mrs. Claus' figurine), into a harmonious whole. Adding a touch of the modern world is a great way to bridge the past with the present; the paper fans (purchased at a Target department store) and the poinsettia plant displayed alongside a vintage teapot on the very top of the hutch help to accomplish that.

Here are a few close up shots, one from each shelf:

I enjoy recording family memories, and took these photographs on Christmas Eve as part of a holiday story for a pocket photo album project. And now that I have taken down all of the Christmas decorations, and also begun putting away most of the items pictured, I realized that the photos I had taken were the beginnings of a new blog post series on styling a vintage hutch! And now, I can begin the process of figuring out what will go on these shelves next. What fun!

Thanks for reading. Soon, I hope to be able to once again share another post featuring the styling of my vintage James Mont hutch.