Maureen Howard's Chinoiserie Bar

A little room in your home may be the best place for the ... aahhh ... costly Chinoiserie wallpaper you want to make use of, but that would cost an arm and a leg in a larger space - for example, the above photo is a minute bar (a converted closet, really) off Maureen Footer's dining room. Look at how she sets off the custom de Gournay paper (inspired by a lacquer screen from Jean Lanvin's dining room) with black trim, making it look like a mural, and how it pops against the marble bar top, brass hardware, and mirrored insets. Also pay attention to how the adjoining front hall has the same accents of black and gold so that the rooms, while they have different overall color schemes, visually flow together.