Furry Furniture for our Furry Friends

This chair was specially made for man's best friend.

A dog.

Not a small dog either.

It's for a border collie that is fond of the clients desk and her glasses. Reading glasses. Hopefuly the pooch likes her new chair and will stay off the desk.

 Can't you just see a happy little doggie face resting on this chair?

It makes me smile just thinking about it.

Before the welt was added, for the finishing touch!

Apparently, I took these photos before the chair was actually done. The welt had not been added. waaaah! I didn't get a final shot. Oh well.

Don't worry, it's faux fur!

White Slipcovered Sofa

I love it! My sofa looks better than the one featured in this month's Architectural Digest. You are going to get so much business when everyone sees it. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Jan 2012 Issue

We love calls like this.


And she's right. Our slipcover looks pretty darn good. I wish I had a picture of it in her home. Hopefully I'll be able to get one soon. We've got a few other projects in the works for her. 

 BEFORE

AFTER

All wrapped up in the shop so it stays nice and white.

Matching chairs

ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST - Issue

Designed by Stephen Sills and Assoc., Manhattan, NY

There's something about white furniture that is so simple and gorgeous.

But these people clearly don't have a 10 year old that likes to eat on the couch, or dogs that think they're humans.

Inspiration from Architectural Digest

We recently had a client walk in with a picture from Architectural Digest, and a photo of her channel back chairs on her phone. She wanted her two chairs to look exactly like the chairs in the magazine. Or so she thought.

We started looking at cut velvets, just like the picture.

 
"It's beautiful, but it's boring. I think I want something more fun!" she said. "I know I'm old. But I don't want them to look like old lady chairs!" she said laughing.

It just wasn't doing it for her.

So we changed gears.

That happens a lot around here.

She went crazy when she found this Ikat fabric by Vervain. Okay, when I say crazy, I mean her eyes lit up and she was grinning ear-to-ear.

She loved the beautiful shades of blue and the bold pattern. "That's the one! I can't wait to see what the ladies in the retirement community think of these." she snickered. Really, she did. She had quite an evil snicker.

I liked this gal.

BEFORE

And the verdict? She LOVES them!
 
Fabric: Vervain
Pattern: Tondonia
Color: Indigo

Splurging on pillows

You know when you see something and you just have to have it? You get that pang in your gut. Your heart races. You love it. You want it.

That's what happened when our client saw this fabric. It was a little more expensive than she had budgeted. But she knew she would have regrets if she didn't pick it.

She wanted something bright and cheery to match the white window seat cushion for her favorite spot in the house. It's where she drinks her coffee every morning, and gets cozy with good books each night. It had to be just right.

I'm so glad she went for it. They are going to look amazing in her newly remodeled home.

We have some old friends whose motto is "no regrets." I know that's not always possible to live by, but it sure is nice when you can.

Face Fabric: Larsen Infinity/Red
Back Fabric: Pindler Spinnaker White
Welt: Pindler Princeton Crimson

The sofa. Better than new.

And here it is. The final product. The sofa was finished and delivered weeks ago.

We've been so busy I forgot to post it.

You can see all the before pictures here.

Picking fabric for your sofa

Don't be afraid of color. Or large prints. Be daring, be bold! It will make your heart happy. You didn't know that did you. Well now you do. An ugly and uncomfortable sofa that stresses you out and makes you sad is bad for your heart.

I haven't lost it. It is possible I've had too much coffee though.

Check out this sofa we're reupholstering. We're halfway done. The team is taking great care to match the patterns. Cushions are getting sewn. The skirt fabric has been cut so it lines up perfectly with the pattern in the fabric.

It's going to be awesome and so much better than it's old plaid self.

I can't wait to see it. And it's not even my sofa.

Renee is the master.

Fabric: Pindler & Pindler
Pattern: Honfleur
Color: Palm

I promise to post "after" pictures when it's all done.

Polka Dot Chairs

It's so nice when a client knows what they want.

The new client belonging to this polka dot fabric walked into our showroom for the first time this summer. There were several people looking at fabrics and the table was a mess. Fortunately, she knew exactly what she wanted. Her plan was to completely change the look of her living room with a bold fabric in black, white and gray.

I knew exactly what to show her so I immediately pulled the Clarke & Clarke book and showed her some big bold prints. Her face lit up when she saw the polka dots.

"This is perfect. I want to paint the walls black. No more country chic." she said with a great big smile. "I'll email you pictures of my chairs so you can give me an estimate."

I couldn't believe it when I saw the chairs. This was going to be quite a change. Goodbye country blue.

We talked about the style of the chair once she was ready to go. I I thought the chairs would look great without a skirt and with the legs painted to match the tone of the fabric. She agreed.

Looking at the chairs now I know we made the right choice.

BEFORE

Clarke & Clarke fabric arrived. I couldn't wait for them to rip off the blue.

Lining up the dots

All done. It looks amazing.

The client absolutely loves her new chairs. She has promised to send me pictures of the living room once it's all decorated.

Her couch is next. I can't wait to see what she picks. Here is a picture to give her some inspiration.

Bolero Collection by Clarke & Clarke

Restoration Hardware Bench

One of our favorite clients picked up these Restoration Hardware benches recently. They were just the size she wanted, but the fabric was more neutral than she had in mind.

A quick change of the fabric and these stools went from nice to fabulous!

BEFORE

AFTER

 

The moral of the story is never settle for nice or okay. If you find something on sale that you like but it's not quite right don't fret. Go for fabulous!

Changing the shape of furniture.

All done and ready for the client.

Sometimes clients bring us furniture that is just screaming to be remodeled. Not just recovered. But remodeled.

Let's face it, styles change. Some pieces are classics and look good all the time. But that's not always the case. Sometimes we buy pieces that are trendy. Maybe they'll be a classic one day. But maybe they won't.

You might be able to change the material or pattern to make it more current. But often it needs more than that.

Furniture that is made well with good quality wood is worth saving and reworking. And that's exactly what we did with these pieces.

The entire shape of the sofa and chairs were streamlined.

The big rolled arms screamed 1990 so the client and their Dallas designer emailed us drawings outlining their ideas and details on how to make it more contemporary. We loved the plan. And we really love the results.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Here's the whole transformation.....

It was a big sofa.

The fabric was stripped and the curve cut off.

It's looking good.

The sofa fabric has arrived from the designer.

Now on to the chairs.....

Bye-bye curved arms.

I was so excited watching the transformation of these pieces.

And you should have seen the clients happy face when he came to pick everything up. He was grinning ear to ear.

Do you have a piece of furniture that you'd like some design advice on? Send us a picture at info@pollinsofnapa.com and we'll give you our best advice.