Decorating with a Global Flair

As my blog name indicates, I am a traveler. My travels influence the way I decorate my home. In every place that I visit, I could always spot something that I want to incorporate into my décor. For this reason, you will see different spots in our home with global flair.

 

If you are like me and are also influenced by accessories and furniture from all over the world, you should check out One Kings Lane's Passport To Style Guide. They made it easy for us by putting together various decorative accents and pieces and we can pick up a lot of ideas from them. I am in no way compensated by One King's Lane but I was contacted by them to do a post to incorporate that department. I checked it out and really liked it so here I am, writing about it.

 

I just recovered from being under the weather but when I woke up this morning, I was full of energy. I decided to switch my frames in the family room. The first 2 pictures below will show you the "Before"

 

You will see the 2 brown frames on either side of the TV. I took those down and I am still deciding where to put them.

 

I have 4 frames of birds with green matting. Do you see the carved wood above the painting? (BTW, for those new to my blog, I painted that oil painting.) I asked our handyman, Mitch to put it up for me. He just found an existing nail and hang it there. It was too high and not centered at all. I have 2 of them and they used to hang on either side of the painting, where the bird frames are in this picture. I took them down when John bought the 4 frames (did I tell you, he likes birds?) before Christmas. I did not have a place to put them so I just placed them there. But I haven't been happy with the way they look. You will see in the next pictures what I did.

I took down 2 of the bird frames and moved them here to replace the brown ones. We have so much brown wood so I like the color that the greens brought.

 

John likes postal frames too. Notice the postage on this frame?

 

I moved this chair from the fireplace area. You will see later what I replaced it with. Do you see the bamboo arms of the chair? That makes it Asian. Just like I said, my décor is global.

The trunk next to the chair has the Eiffel Tower on it plus postage of course! You will notice a lot of Asian and French, some Italian and German accessories in our home. And doesn't the pillow and the upholstery scream"Africa" to you?

The trunks are covered in faux alligator skin, another African theme, in my opinion. They hold my Lenox Winter Greetings Christmas dinnerware set and it is indeed a very big set, complete settings for 16 including all the serving dishes, so it fills all 3 of them.

I left the 2 green bird frames here but moved them towards the center of the oil painting and lowered and centered the carved wood panel.

 

Now, I would like your opinion, please. Do you think I should leave the wood panel up there or should I just take it out? Sometimes, I feel like it is taking away the focus on the painting. I also added a green vase that was just sitting in the garage, on the coffee table.

Here is a view showing the beamed ceiling.

The coffee table has 8 drawers on each side. I store different sets of flatware there. And you would think that is enough storage but no, I have some more in the drawers of the TV cabinet and in the garage.

Do you like the frames where I placed them? I do! I am still not sure about the wood panel. I could put the other one on top of the TV for balance. Remember I mentioned earlier that I have 2 of them.

When I was sick, I would sit on my recliner across the TV, the one on the left and I could see the 4 frames on the same wall. In my head, I was already planning to change them, just as soon as I got well, lol. This is the TV side of the family room.

Now, let's go to the fireplace end of the family room. I switched it all around too but I did it while I was sick.

I moved these 2 antique Chinese wedding chairs from the Qing Dynasty from our home office. We found them in a antique shop downtown, that was moving to New Orleans. The owner was also John's patient so we got a pretty good discount.

I love the patina on the chairs and they are in excellent condition, nothing wobbling at all, so solid.

 

Since the chairs are Asian, I took some Oriental wooden accessories and an orchid from other parts of the house and recreated my table vignette. I also moved this narrow Asian chest and placed it in between the 2 chairs. Inside the chest, I store napkin rings, linen napkins and crocheted doilies.

Notice the wood carved screen behind the lion chair? I think it is from India. I placed it there to hide John's treadmill and it is doing its job very well.

 Now, I hope you don't mind me taking you to the other parts of the house, just to show some of my other favorite furniture. Below is a French provincial cabinet in the formal dining room. It holds a lot of my china sets, at least maybe 16 sets. Did I tell you I have over 100 sets of china? Well, I do, LOL!

Across the wall in the center of the same dining room sits a Louis VI (I think) buffet chest.

You can tell, I store stemware sets behind the glass doors. The middle cabinet contains placemats, plate chargers and oversized oval china trays and servers. The top drawer holds my Siam set of mahogany and brass flatware, another big set for 24 settings.

Across the room from the dining room is the formal living room. I just want to show you another French server.

I am storing a French egg compote under the table. It is a Sevres and it is big and I have no other place to put it.

 

We will go to the farthest room in the house next, one of the guest bedrooms. I love this computer armoire. It is so unusual and it came all the way from China. I found it on Ebay and they even held it in customs for a while. It still smells so good when you open it. I just love the smell of wood, don't you?

Open it and the desk is revealed.

It even has a built in chair that you pull out when needed.

 

Last but not least, I want to share my chest from the Philippines below. This was a wedding gift to my mom and dad when they got married in 1937, from a politician I think, so it is older than me. I had it shipped from the Philippines and it got messed up somewhat but I had it repaired. Believe it or not, it still smells so good. I store beddings in it, which was also used the same way when I was still in the Philippines. I leave it on the foot of this bed, My mom stays in this room when she is here with me.

 

 

This post is already getting long that is why I hardly showed you some accessories. Maybe some other time, or from time to time. I hope you enjoyed browsing through my favorite furniture. As you can see, they are all styled with global influence. Thank you so much for stopping by, I always appreciate you being around.

 

Thanks to the hostesses too. I am linking with

 

Before and After Wednesday

http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/

Centerpiece Wed

http://thestylesisters.blogspot.com/
What's It Wed
http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/
Home Sweet Home
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/

Kathy's Home and Garden Thursday

http://www.adelightsomelife.com/

Alison's Fridays Unfolded

http://www.nancherrow.com/

Sarah's Homemaking Weekend Link Up party

http://bloggingwhilewaiting.blogspot.com/

Flaunt it Friday

http://www.chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com

Kathryn's Make it Pretty Monday

http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/

Cindy's Amaze me Monday

http://www.dwellings-theheartofyourhome.com/

Susan's Metamorphosis Monday

http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Mary's Masterpieces Monday

http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
Maria Elena's Tuesdays at Our Home http://mariaelenasdecor.blogspot.com/
Marty at Inspire Me Tuesday
http://www.astrollthrulife.net/
Tuesday's Treasures
http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/