My parents recently returned from a monthlong trip to Asia and brought back with them this lovely lacquered cabinet.  It was spashy red, functional, and perfect for their new “Asian room.”  So naturally, I was tempted to explore this idea a little further.

Lacquered anything in a room space is highly glamorous. It makes a space look clean, fresh, and vibrant.  This idea originated in Eastern Asia and was brought to the states by a few interior decorators who knew of this tradition of using resin tinted with cinnabar or charcoal to coat furniture.  This was sort of a trendy thing initially, but has surfaced and resurfaced decades later and has continued to inspire.

As lacquered anything exudes perfection and pristine surfaces,  I would keep some weathered textures nearby to keep a counterbalance.  I believe age and embracing texture is important, so keep these on hand, but do embrace lacquer. It is a wondeful concept that has continued to inspire us in the west for decades.

“Modernity is the transient, the fleeting, the contingent; it is one half of art, the other being the eternal and the immovable.”
–Charles Baudelaire

Courtesy of Painted Furniture, A Touche of Luxe, Elle Decor