Couture For Your Chairs

I am currently at work on a whole-house project for a client who lives a literal stone's throw from the gorgeous coastline here in the Monterey Bay Area and the brief was to infuse the sense of the coastline, the ocean, and the beach into the home without resorting to "beach" or "surf" clichés.

And one of the ways we are doing that is with a limited color palette of blue, white, and gold. Of course blue and white could be considered cliché when thinking of a beach house, but my client's taste leans toward modern minimalism. When done with interesting geometric fabrics and a muted color palette, the beach factor is dialed down and the design resides in a decidedly more sophisticated area.

For her dining room, we are having a pair of custom host chairs made that will be covered in two wonderful fabrics. This is one of the advantages of working with an interior designer: we can customize and design unique pieces of furniture that you simply can't get anywhere else. I have had clients tell me that the frustrating part about ordering furniture from the big, standard vendors like Pottery Barn and Crate and Barell is that the chair or sofa they may have chosen only comes in four or six colors and perhaps four patterns. But with me, you can get chairs, ottomans, sofas, sectionals in whatever fabric we find that captivates us.

With an elegant, scoop-armed chair chosen...

...my client and I were captivated by a lovely geometric pattern that, while it doesn't explicitly reference the ocean, recalls waves or even tangles of kelp or seaweed. To further customize this chair and make is something truly unique and beautiful, we are putting this fabric only on the outside back...

...while the inside back and the seat will be upholstered in this rich aquatic colored velvet which has been specially treated to resist stains.

The fabric is on its way to the manufacturer in North Carolina and we should have our custom chairs in another several weeks!

I love creating customized furniture for clients. We can customize case goods like buffets by choosing our color or wood stain and whether there are fabric, leather, raffia, or mirrored panels. And of course we can dress furniture in nearly any fabric we wish, often with welting and nailhead options as well. There is nothing "off-the-rack" about it. It really is like having couture clothing designed for your chairs!

If you'd like to furnish your house with unique pieces of furniture created to your own taste and style, give me a call.

Happy designing!