Furniture Install

Friday was a fun day because we were doing a furniture delivery at a client's home in Huntington Beach. I had gone to the upholstery shop earlier in the week to check on the different pieces, so I knew everything turned out beautifully, but I was excited to see it all in my client's home and see if she loved everything as much as I did.

I posted about the preliminary design for her dining room here, but as almost all projects go, for a variety of reasons, the design has changed a bit from the initial presentation. Due to budget, time restraints, and overall function, we forewent the built-in banquet when my client fell in love with this Restoration Hardware table...


She purchased the table, and to keep things interesting and eclectic, we decided we would do a settee on one side of the table and keep her dining chairs on the other side. When finding the perfect style, size, and color of the settee proved impossible, and having full confidence in my upholstery guy, we decided to go custom and build one from scratch.

We took the arm style, height, and nailheads from this Restoration Hardware chair...


And the tufting, wood turned legs, and scalloped base from this Ballard Designs settee...

And came up with the perfect red settee to fit my client's new table and new dining room...

It's always a little nerve racking to build such a large piece of furniture from scratch, but we couldn't be more happy with how it turned out!

Next up we have a really fun before and after. My client had 2 of these antique chairs and was about to put a 'for sale' sign on them in the front yard when I told her that they would be beautiful if we refurbished them.


The wood finisher refinished the wood in a silver leaf, and then the chair was reupholstered in a cream and chocolate silk damask. I loved how this chair turned out so much that I was tempted to pay my client and keep it for myself. This chair is going to sit in a corner of the dining room that is a little separated from the rest of the space. The chocolate and silver tones of the antique chair will help tie that corner in to the rest of the room.


Last but not least, we had an ottoman custom made for the sofa in the adjacent living room. Her living room is pretty much complete, but after going back and forth with a few coffee table options, my client finally decided she wanted a dainty oval ottoman. All of the other pieces of furniture in the room are solid, so I thought it would be fun to add in some pattern. I'm hoping to have the whole room photographed soon, but for now, here's our cute custom ottoman complete with tufts and pleated skirt...

Christmas Pillows

My sister, who got married this past summer, moved into her first little abode with her husband and his navy blue sofa. She's not in love with the sofa or the color, but it's comfy and not something that they need to replace right now. I'm a firm believer that most sofas look better with accent pillows, so for her Christmas present I did a little fabric shopping and decided I was going to sew 2 custom pillows for her.

The thought crossed my mind several times to just have my upholstery guy sew them for me (much quicker and much more precise), but I decided I wanted to work on my sewing skills a little more, so I did it myself. Originally they were going to have a zipper, but due to time constraints and my lack of a "zipper foot" for the sewing machine, I just sewed in my feather inserts on all sides. The pillows are far from perfect...crooked seams, uneven trim, etc., but luckily you can't see any of that in the photos! I was reminded once again that I am much more of a designer than a seamstress, but all in all, I think they turned out pretty cute.

MetroSofa

The other day I was searching "wing chairs" online and came across a website that I fell in love with. MetroSofa (by the makers of MetroShed) is a Los Angeles based green company that recycles old frames of sofas and chairs and makes them "new again" with new hip finishes and fabric. They also work with designers and customers to create custom designs if you want to supply your own fabric and specify a specific finish. Metro Sofa is very similar to the furniture line that I am currently working on, and maybe that is why I was so drawn to it. I've posted up some of my favorite pieces, but visit the MetroSofa website here to read more and see all of the funky furnishings that they have to offer.

Custom Benches

Today I was finally able to deliver 2 custom benches that I had made for my clients' entry in Newport Beach. We had to have the iron base fabricated, then custom painted with a silvery/taupe/slightly antiqued finish, then we had my upholsterer biscuit tuft the top leather. I threw some throw pillows on top and a rug beneath and created a little photo shoot. I love the color of leather that we finally decided on. You can't really tell from the photos, but it has a slight metallic look to it.






















Another recent addition to the same house was a couple of picture shelves on the piano wall in the living room. My clients had a bunch of cool photographs from San Francisco, so I framed them and had our wood worker build two thin picture shelves to set them on. Here was my inspiration photograph:



The room still isn't quite finished, but here are the finished shelves with artwork. (Please excuse the horrible lighting, clearly I don't have this photography thing down quite yet.)



Their house is really coming along, I can't wait to finish up with lighting and accessories and then share the finished project.

Holiday Decorating

Three years ago I started holiday decorating for a client in Dana Point. She has an amazing home overlooking the ocean, so it's basically like I have an office with a view for the three days that I spend decorating her home for Christmas. Who can argue with that?

Her house has a really earthy, rustic feel and her main request is that the decorations mesh well with her existing decor and furnishings. I could spend days and weeks shopping for wreaths and garland with all of the perfect elements to coordinate with our desired look and feel, so instead, I buy plain greenery and then make custom wreaths and garland. I start from scratch every year, so I use the same color scheme, but each year the decor turns out a little different! She loves ribbon and bows mixed with sparkly poinsettias and ornaments. I keep everything in rusts, browns, and golds to blend well with her furnishings and wall color. This year I integrated wood and bark type elements with feathers nestled in the garland to add to the woodland, rustic feel.

Here are some photos of the festive decor...

Wreaths on the front gate.

I was really happy with how this family room mantle turned out. This past year we had these cushions and pillows custom made to fit around her fireplace so this is the first time that I got to see the finished space decked out for Christmas. Having the cushions and pillows around the fireplace adds to the cozy Christmas vibe and the colors in the garland fit right in.

This is the living room mantle. We both decided we really liked the loose hanging look instead of propping the greenery up on the mantle.

There was actually a lot more greenery throughout her home but it was dark by the time it was completed and my camera flash + shiny reflective ribbon and ornaments = not so great photos. If I go back over before Christmas, I'll have to snag some more photos.

If you or anyone you know wants to get decked out for the holidays but doesn't have a lot of time, give me a call and I'll have you feeling festive in no time. Or, if you only want one strand of garland or a wreath, check out my holiday etsy shop here for custom options. Happy decorating!

Florence Knoll Lounge Chairs

I'm working on a complete living room design for a client in Newport Beach. They moved from a craftsman style home to their current home which is really modern. This meant we got to start from scratch...my favorite!

We needed a pair of chairs so I showed my clients a photo of this Florence Knoll Lounge chair. They really liked the style and the classic modern design, so we had a few options; go vintage and reupholster in a fabric of our choice, order the chairs from Knoll and wait 10-16 weeks, or do our own take on this classic design, wait just 4 weeks, and go custom. After I lost the eBay auction on the vintage option, we decided to go custom.

We changed the design slightly by making the arms a little chunkier and using a white wood base instead of stainless steel legs. I really love how they turned out, take a look...

Black & White Stripes

I don't know what it is, but there is just something about black and white stripes...fabric, wallpaper, clothing...obsessed might be an appropriate word choice. Schumacher's "Tilda Stripe" immediately caught my eye a while back. The proportions, texture, and creaminess of the white (creamy keeps it from looking too mod), makes this stripe practically perfect in every way. When I called to check price and stock I found out that it was discontinued. Sad day. Luckily, they had about 6 yards left in stock, I promptly ordered 3 of those yards to reupholster my shabby little antique side chair. I honestly couldn't have been happier with how it turned out. Soon to be for sale on The Furbish Theory home boutique site.

F. Schumacher's Tilda Stripe

Recovered in Tilda Stripe.

I love love love this outfit. Image borrowed from Sea of Shoes, one of my favorite fashion bloggers.

Room by one of my favorite designers, Miles Redd. Love it.