PACIFIC BEACH CUSHIONS AND PILLOWS

This vintage rattan chair and ottoman got new covers!

I forgot to look at the selvage to see the mill and pattern name of this fabric.  Sorry about that.  I do know it is an outdoor fabric (but not Sunbrella) and so is pretty indestructible.

The pattern was fairly large, so to take advantage of all the different scenes, I did not match the seat, back and ottoman pieces.  Also, if you turn them over, they still do not match.  Fronts and backs are all different.  It was the only way to not completely waste fabric.

From the side

I also made a couple of covers for the throw pillows my client already had.

There are also two 19" x 16" pillows in a tweed-y fabric for the newly reupholstered vintage rattan sofa.  I did not take a close-up, so they are only visible to the far sides of the pictures.  Again, sorry about that.

My client wanted me to slipcover this piece, but what you cannot see is how impossible this would have been.  It actually folds out flat, kind of like a futon.  A slipcover would not have worked.

This is the fabric that was on it before and the temporary solution that we came up with 4 or 5 years ago to put off having the sofa recovered at that point.  I made a sort of 'slip' that tied on the sides.  We were not trying to hide the fact that it was a slip, just extending the life of the sofa.

It worked very well, but the time came to do it properly.  And my client's husband had always wanted a green sofa, which it finally is.

This home in Pacific Beach is my clients' winter home; that is, they are here in winter to get out of the cold and snow of Rhode Island.  

ITTY BITTY THINGS

I love small things: tiny seashells and sea urchins, sand dollars the size of erasers, minuscule buttons, small bottles, really anything lilliputian.  Not sure why or when this started, but for as long as I can remember this has been the case.  Maybe because I am tall, and growing up I hated it and wanted to be short, which really wasn't a possibility.  

When I saw this 2 1/4" tall object in a shop here on Coronado, I had to open it to see what was inside.  I was not disappointed!

Teeny, tiny colored pencils!  Twelve of them!

They are from Japan.

I, of course, would never actually use them because they wouldn't be so pretty.

I have them sitting on my desk and any time I notice them, I smile.  That's as good a reason as any to have them around, don't you think?

Thanks to my angel trumpet for lending its leaf for the first picture and to my chippy, weather-worn table for the others.

SLIPCOVERED CHAIR IN BLUE DENIM THAT REALLY ISN'T

I did this chair a while back, but never got around to posting it.  This fabric was one of the oddest I've ever worked with.  It looks like denim, but it is mostly, if not all, polyester and the reverse side is a black fleece; a faux-denim, if you will.  Very strange.  It is very soft, though, not even a little rough like real denim can be until it has been washed many times.  

My clients had just moved into the house, and I slipcovered it before the rest of the new furniture had arrived, so I was taking pictures of just the chair, trying not to show how much empty space there still was.

Side view

And the back, with the ever-popular covered buttons.  You can not tell from the photo, but the buttons are actually a stripe that is the sofa fabric (the sofa that had yet to be delivered at the time of the slipcover delivery.)

With a throw pillow, to add a bit of color.

Then, today, I was at my client's house measuring for something else and was able to get a shot of it, moved to its new 'home' on the other side of the room so that the buttons would actually show.

Along side the other chair that came with the (not pictured) new sofa.

A TRAILER NAMED DELPHINE

My friend, Laura Petersen from Seaside Cottage Style, bought an old trailer and has spent the last year fixing her up.  Before the renovation, she had thought to name her Pearl.  After deciding on a decorating theme, kind of a mix of Marie Antoinette and beach, and a color for the outside, she changed her name to Delphine.  Delphine is French for dolphin, and Marie Antoinette's crest is a dolphin.

A view of the dining area, which is to the right just inside the door.

The sleeping area, which is to the left.

I made the coverlet, and so that it is reversible, used a very soft 'fur' on the back side.

Close up of the furry lining.

Standing in the sleeping area, looking towards the front of the trailer.  

I made the cushions for the dining area.  The fabric is a tweed in blue and khaki, with a solid khaki welting.  And if the cushion are flipped over, the other other is the solid khaki linen.

Throw pillow in a blue cherry blossom print with a pleated ruffle.

On the reverse side of the pillow, I used a creamy moire satin, which I washed to remove the water marks.  It actually came out very nicely, and makes a great back for pillows and welting.

Mademoiselle Delphine from the outside.