Home Improvements

East Meets West: Bringing the Orient into Your Living Space

By: Janey Davies on April 21, 2013 @ 9:15 pm

Some interior design styles come and go, others, if they are executed correctly, can stay with us forever and remain timeless and classic. A living space that takes on an oriental design can very easily look cheap and tacky, but with the right ornaments, good quality furniture and attention to the proper details, this is one style that can look absolutely stunning. But where do you do for authentic furniture if you live in the UK? You’ll need to source a reputable person who has ideally spent time in the East and who knows top quality merchandise from shoddy factory goods, intended for a mass market. Luckily for us, there is a company just like that called Qing Dao, created in 1995 by Frances Roper. Roper actually worked and lived in Hong Kong for over 8 years and has many years sourcing and merchandising experience in China, along with a keen appreciation of ‘Oriental style’.

Qing Dao source original Chinese Antiques, all unique, interesting and beautiful, and now they can count many high profile, lifestyle Retailers, Interior Designers and well known celebrities amongst their client base. For instance, the actress Antonia Campbell-Hughes of Lead Balloon fame, bought one of the Tall Yin Yang Cabinets, and one was simply not enough so she she bought two more! Antonia initially bought a tall Yin Yang cabinet in Ivory and was so pleased with the quality and style of the product – backed up by QD’s excellent customer service – she added additional cabinets in Graphite and Oyster to furnish her new home. Some more of Qing Dao’s products hit the news back in April as BBC1′s DIYSOS and 60 Minute Makeover presenter and resident interior designer Julia Kendall featured them in the 30 April edition of Hello! Magazine.

And if you thought Chinese furniture was dull and boring, think again as Qing Dao have just launched a number of new collections which all have bright colour pop hues at the forefront of the design brief. Colour Revival is a unique concept developed by Qing Dao. Here old Cabinets are bought stunningly up to date with a very glamorous make over both inside and out. They have also introduced Funkiental, Yin Yang, Colour Blast and Mantra collections, all inspired by the East and designed in the West. These are high quality, contemporary Oriental pieces which are suitable for residential, hotel, serviced apartments and show house projects. Qing Dao restore antique cabinets with an innovative use of colour and complementary design, this does mean however, that sometimes, a certain piece may not be available, but if an item is not in stock, they can often source, restore and supply a very similar piece.

Here are some of their best selling pieces:

Small Fujian Cabinet – £790.00

Origin: China – Fujian

Circa: Early 20th Century

Wood Type: Cypress

Colour: Blue & HandpaintedSize (cm):0.88 x 0.73 x 0.77 (HWD)

Medium Tibetan Cabinet – £1,450.00

Origin: China – Tibet

Circa: Early 20th Century

Wood Type: Fir

Colour: Handpainted

Size (cm): 0.93 x 0.93 x 0.38 (HWD)

Tall Tibetan Cabinet – £1,525.00

Origin: China – Tibet

Circa: Early 20th Century

Wood Type: Fir

Colour: Handpainted

Size (cm): 1.63 x 0.7 x 0.44 (HWD)

 

Medium Mongolian Cabinet – £1,195.00

Origin: China – Mongolia

Circa: Early 20th Century

Wood Type: Fir

Colour: Handpainted

Size (cm): 0.88 x 1.17 x 0.38 (HWD)

Qing Dao are on Facebook.

 

 

Further Reading

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