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Laugh if you must, but at age 50 I’ve discovered Chinoiserie, Asian, or oriental design and I love it! I’ve also discovered that if you place one of those three words in front of an item the price doubles, if not triples.

I love the garden stools, a pagoda “anything”, the gorgeous porcelain lamps, faux bamboo mirrors and the COLOR!

I did find the online company “O’verlays” that offers overlays so one can produce items with a oriental fretwork look. https://www.myoverlays.com. I also received this months “Traditional Home” magazine today and noticed that Target is now carrying a line called “Threshold” that has a couple of pieces that one could use.

I’m going to guess that most of the items mentioned above are imported and heavily marked up when selling to the public. Does anyone know of a shop or online shop that offers imports at a wholesale price? Thanks.

Already know about:
Gump's of San Francisco
The Well Appointed House
AsianImportStore.com
orientalfurniture.com
chinafurnitureandarts.com
The major online lighting and wallpaper sites
Etsy
Ebay

I've always loved touches of the Orient in my decor and have collected several pieces throughout the years. Generally, I've found most of my items in local stores so I can't help you with online sources, but I would encourage you to check out your local antique and consignment stores.

We have lots of Asian influences at Linderhof. Bought mostly there when DH traveled. Lots of real antique pieces and even some furniture.

TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Home Goods often has some good buys in Asian merchandise.

Martha

Oh Martha, what a beautiful home you have. Your dining room est magnifique!!

Saw something today that I never thought of. On a Chinoiserie blog page, a woman stated she liked the beautiful and colorful oriental ceramic planters, but that they are rather costly. She purchased a large planter for $15, painted it gold, then added oriental themed decals.

Another project used the same size $15 larger planter, but this time she covered the planter with a Asian themed fabric that had a metallic gold thread woven into it. Her last task was spraying the fabric with a crystal clear acrylic that gave the fabric a glossily finished, as if the planter was hand painted them fired in a kiln. It looked great.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: NothingCoulBeFiner,

If you also looking for dinnerware, (don't laugh!) Kroger carries a "blue willow" type design and it's not overly pricey.

I don't know how true it is to the original design, but you might find it pleasing enough.

Pier 1 has Asian style furniture and accents altho I do not know the quality.

I also love Asian styled accents - mine are from Grandparents and yard sales. I recommend searching in 2nd hand venues such as yard sales, thrift stores, & antique shops as that type of decorative accessories can often be found there.

A couple of years ago Costco had Asian garden stools at a really low price and Oriental style rugs can be found at every price range.

Enjoy the search!

NCBF -- thank you for the kind comments. We've been buying Asian things for over 40 years. Some are really good pieces while others are Hobby Lobby cheap stuff. It's fun to collect!

Martha

Not laughing! I, too, came to appreciate the Asian influence but it took me a while. I like the clean lines and simplicity of the design. I also did some reading on feng shui (very interesting)and try to incorporate some of the principles in my decor. As far as buying things, try World Market, Pier 1, Hobby Lobby, brylanehome.com has some Asian-influenced bedding. And have you just tried googling "asian-influenced home decor?" You'd probably get like a million hits.

I also love Asian influences. Don't forget to look at thrift shops. You never know what you might find, which is half the fun.

About a year ago I had the best experience. I took a day for myself and decided to go to a museum and then thrifting.

I went to see an exhibit of Japanese wood block prints. The show was just fantastic and I actually spent 3 or 4 hours standing in front of the works of art and looking closely at them. The texture of the paper used, the inks, and the colors took ahold of me, and I could hardly tear myself away.

Then I went on to dig around at Goodwill, and yep, I found two original old Japanese woodblock prints for 6.00 each. I recognized what they were because I had just been to the museum, and had spent so much time looking closely at the real thing. I found out that they are worth a minimum of 100.00 each. Not a fortune, but still a great find.

Just saying, there are many places to find the things you love for a good price.