Imagine What You Can Do With a Chest

Some things make a room ring with personality... things that are accumulated and things which are painted in your color scheme or wallpapered to match the room decor. When entering these rooms, one knows instantly that the decorator has put in extra effort and that this particular piece is perfect for its environment.

There are many mediums with which one can improve and personalize any chest. The ones I will mention today are grasscloth, wallpaper and paint. This first chest is a new offering by Thibaut and it has been papered in a grasscloth and then lacquered for durability. One should cover all papered chests for protection, but grasscloth in particular can catch dust, splinter and rip at the  corners.

I love this for a masculine room - this color. Very snappy.  Compare this look with the following to test the limits - masculine versus feminine and airy.

Tom Scheerer

Tom Scheerer

 The chest above is papered to match the wallpaper in the room - very fresh and feminine. A British firm, Fleur de Bois has wallpapered the following three chests using older discontinued papers and sometimes giving the paper a light sanding here and there.

There is a vintage feel to these - a good use for the odd rolls of paper one might discover here and there. They all make me think of a young girls bedroom in a shore cottage somewhere warm with the windows open and a light breeze blowing in and, I suppose, that is the point.

All of this brings us to my favorite - paint. A painted chest can be old or new ... just a pleasing form and  function and off you go. Here are some ideas:

A detail of the whimsical bamboo painted on this last chest ... marvelous - no?