Today's blog comes from Candace Weir, Central Library staff:

I love to look at books with pretty photos of interesting things: homey things that become treasures that are a joy to use. Things Chinese, a new addition to the CPL collection, is one of those books. It covers objects as diverse as cricket cages and dragons.

Chinese furnishings are some of the most delectable eye candy imaginable. There are door pulls shaped like carp and pottery stools incised with plum blossoms. Pottery abounds; pillows are actually made of it.

If I ever win the lottery, I plan to acquire a collection of Chinese beds: canopy or couch bed – doesn’t matter. I’m thinking a Chinese screen as well – and there will need to be a calligraphy painting to accent them, like one of these by local artist Simon Wong.

How many of us bought our dishes in Chinatown when we were students? My favourite was and remains the rice pattern chinaware with its translucent patterns and blue brushwork. Who hasn’t marveled at the intricate paper cuts, or wondered about the Scholars’ Rocks and wished that we could wear the sleek silk dresses with their clever knotted closures?

My personal collection includes a wedding basket, chopsticks, lots of calligraphy brushes and tea with a purple clay teapot to make it in. I once found a Chairman Mao cigarette case, much to the glee of a chain-smoking relative.

This book details it all.

Candace

One of my favourite sections of our interior decoration books is the area that shows interiors from around the world. It’s a happy mix of design, culture and exotic locales.

Chinese Style: Interiors, Furniture, Details is a new addition to this collection. Author Zhu Wen goes beyond the clichés of Chinese decorating to explore the philosophical traditions that are embedded in the design and way of living.

She examines the influence of art on interior design: the colours borrowed from paintings, how calligraphy affects the structure of space as well as the influences of literature and carving.

She explores regional design within China and the incorporation of outside influences, such as Art Deco, and other foreign elements.

China Living (2007) by Sharon Leece reveals exciting new directions in contemporary design across China, both in rural retreats and homes in the big cities.

Two of my favourites are artist’s studios in Beijing. One is the minimalist home of a Chinese-Japanese photographer couple designed around a serene courtyard (p.140). The other is a loft that was formerly a cluster of state-owned military factory buildings (p.158).

In Chinese Style: Living in Beauty and Prosperity (2006), author Sunamita Lim explores Chinese cultural heritage in an American context. For example, Chinese red lacquer wedding cabinet highlights a cozy room with a moon window in an adobe home in the American Southwest (p.95).

So many places to explore in the comfort of your favourite chair.