Creating The Ultimate Chinoiserie Bedroom

Chinoiserie wall panels in the Knightsbridge townhouse

A few years ago, I was commissioned by London-based clients, Tom Carey Design and Elemental Studio, to paint a beautiful chinoiserie bedroom mural for them in a stunning Knightsbridge townhouse.

What better way is there to relax at the end of a busy day than in your personal haven? On a mission to bring feelings of calm and serenity, I set out to create the perfect bedroom sanctuary.

As I was going to be painting the mural directly onto wardrobe doors and wall panels, we used Japanese screens and antique paintings of cranes and willow trees as our inspiration.

Japanese art has always been one of my favourite artistic styles! The composition of the birds, the negative space, and the fluidity of the brush strokes used in the painting can really call in a sense of balance and ease; which is exactly what we wanted to bring into the space.

I took the inspiration and sketched an initial design featuring cranes, peacocks, hanging flowers, butterflies, and blossoms that perfectly complement the room's space and the panels' dimensions, before starting work on the panels themselves!

The client wanted a watercolour painterly effect, however, I was unable to use watercolour or gouache paints as I was painting directly onto wood. I needed to use something a little more robust such as acrylics!

The wardrobe doors and panels were shipped to me to paint in my studio, where I could lay them flat and paint onto them using highly diluted acrylics in a watercolour style to keep that painterly effect intact!

I painted with calm blues and pastel colours, with brighter pops for the details, to promote a sense of tranquility and peace. 

These colour combinations are frequently used in chinoiserie painting. They help to draw the eye to the focal point of the artwork, in this case, the birds and flowers, while also adding depth and dimension to the room.

Birds are a common feature in chinoiserie artwork, and they were one of the main inspiration points for this mural! I painted them at various heights and used a variety of brighter complementing colours to promote harmony and balance.

I filled the open spaces with intertwining branches, white hanging flowers, and flying butterflies, to help bring in a feeling of wonder and serenity. Each element is completely unique, but together they build a beautiful chinoiserie scene.

Related blog post: Learn To Paint Chinoiserie Art 

I loved the cranes, delicate blossoms, and soothing colour combinations that I featured in this design. It inspired me to create a chinoiserie art print, 'Elina', that exudes that same sense of tranquility and softness.

I had a helping hand on this project from fellow artist, Nicky Pasterfield. She was able to take my hand-drawn designs, and recreate my painting style perfectly to finish the bed wall panels. I'm so happy she was able to help me on this!

As my client was also an artist, it made complete sense for her to be literally surrounded by a painting and feel that she is living inside an artwork!

This is what makes hand painted murals so incredible! They can make the room decor completely unique, and can really help to express your personality through your interior styling. 

Related blog post: Top 5 Chinoiserie Home Decor Ideas

This project was one of my favourites to date, and I felt so proud when I found out that it had made the cover of The London Magazine! 

I can't thank photographer Matt Clayton enough for all of these beautiful images! He was truly able to capture the serenity of the chinoiserie scenes that I created for these wall panel and wardrobe murals.

I loved it so much in fact, that it even inspired my exclusive ‘Japanese Crane And Wisteria Mountain Scene Original Painting’, and my ‘Elina’ art print and phone case, which I also named after the fabulous lady who commissioned me for this amazing project.

Creating a mural is an amazing way to bring the chinoiserie style into your home, give it a go yourself with my single stroke technique!

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