PILLOWS IN PARADISE

Last year at this time, I was spending 10 days in the Bahamas on Cat Island at Fernandez Bay Village. While there, Pam Armbrister, one of owners of the resort, ask me to make pillows for all of the cottages, once I got back to California, that is.  To make it more cost effective for her, I had her order already-made pillows from IKEA, remove the inserts and ship me the covers so that I could get them printed.  There were total of 30 pillows, 10 each of three different sayings.

My parents are there right now and sent me a picture of the pillow on the bed in their room.

Our plane from Nassau to Cat Island

Sunset

The beautiful water, and yes, it really is that color!

Relaxing in the hammock

The beach

The cottage we stayed in is called The Beach House

Shoes are definitely optional and bare feet are welcome everywhere

Sunrise

Stand up paddling

The whole crew- in the front, me, my mother, my nephew and back row, my stepfather and my brother

ANOTHER BOAT JOB

This boat is being renovated, so the pictures aren't so great.  You can get the idea, though, of what I did.  Perhaps when it is all done, I can go back and take better shots.

All of the striped curtains are in the master stateroom.

They are on three sides of the room, but I can't get far enough back to show this.

On this wall, there are 8 separate inverted pleat panels.  Luckily, they range in length from 18" to 20", so they were a little easier to work with than 90" panels.  They are lined in blackout and when all are shut, the room is definitely dark.

Yes, there are portholes behind the curtains.

I could have cropped me (to the right in the mirror) and Pat (to the left, owner of Cotier, which is the shop this job was done through), but I figured you need the perspective.

This is in the salon.  I'm not sure why these turned out so dark, but they did.  

In this area, there are windows on both sides.  The inverted pleat panels are strictly decorative and do not function. 

I also made the small pillow in the same fabric as the bedroom curtains.  It has a contrast welting from the tie-back fabric.  The larger pillow is available at Cotier, and comes in many different colors.

THE EVER-POPULAR WHITE DENIM

Originally, my client wanted black slipcovers.  I told her with her dark wood floors, I thought it might not look good.  With a sofa, a chair and a half and an ottoman, it seemed to me like it would be too dark in the room.  Even with the high ceilings and French doors on three sides.  But, ultimately, it would be her decision.  In the end, she changed her mind and went with white.

The sofa has a bed inside, so I put a zipper around the deck so you can get it out without removing the slipcover.  

The chair isn't photographing that way, but it is considered a chair and a half, and it is pretty big.

Buttons down the back for easy on and off.  The sofa has them, too.

The family room - looking so much better.  I forgot to take pictures of the before slipcovers, but just know that they were way past their 'expiration date.'  They no longer fit properly because fabric does continue to shrink, and after repeated washings, they were a mess.  Not to mention the skirts were coming off and had to be pinned back in place.

My client no longer has to be embarrassed when someone comes to visit.  She's happy, which makes me happy!

SLIPCOVERING LEATHER

It has been years, like almost 20, since I did slipcovers for leather furniture.  The first time I did it, the pieces had no loose back or loose seat cushions, and this made for a true slip cover -- in that it slipped because there was nothing to grab onto.  I swore then that I would never do it again.  And I didn't, until now.

My clients wanted to have this sofa and loveseat slipcovered.  I explained to them why it might not be such a good idea, but they really liked these pieces and wanted to do it anyway.  Since they were in the process of moving away from Coronado, and to make it a little easier for me, I went ahead and cut a pattern using a fabric I had, while the furniture was still close by.  All they needed to do was find a fabric they liked and I would then make the slipcovers.

Jump ahead three years, and they still had not decided on a fabric.  And by this time, they had moved back to Coronado.  Finally, they found a heavy linen that they loved and ordered it.

Because they like a 'cleaner,' non-wrinkled look, they decided against having me wash the fabric, and will have the covers dry-cleaned.

Both pieces got the buttons down the back, more for the look than out of necessity in getting the slipcover on and off.  And the wrinkles here will fall out in time.  It is very difficult, oh yeah, impossible, to fold a slipcover, so wrinkles do occur.  The overall look and feel, though, is not that of linen, but of a heavier fabric.

The 'new' sofa and 'new' loveseat with their existing throw pillows.

Although these turned out nicely, and having loose seat and back cushions definitely helps, I still would discourage slipcovering leather.  The important thing, though, as always, is my clients were happy with the finished product and can still enjoy the furniture they love.