A MOUNTAIN CABIN

In the new mountain home...

My client's in La Jolla bought a house in the mountains and had me make new cushions for the Stickley chairs, one of which was real and one a reproduction.  The challenge (do I ever have a job that does NOT present some kind of a challenge?) was they were two different sizes and one was actually upholstered in leather (the reproduction) and the original had a seat cushion with springs in it.  To make them seem to go together better, we decided to simply replace the old cushions with new ones.

I had to reupholster the ottoman.  Luckily, I was able to leave the old leather in place.  Although I am so not an upholsterer, something like this is relatively easy, which means I am able to do it without tearing my hair out.

The fabric is a really soft, wide-wale corduroy with a black and white check contrast welting.  To really make them fit into the mountain house decor, I appliquéd the leather pine trees to the back cushions.  There are also two throw pillows with the appliqués for the leather sofa.  And if they ever get tired of the tree, the cushions can simply be turned around.

All the pictures, except the first, were taken in my client's garage before the chairs were moved up to the mountains.

The reproduction Stickley chair and ottoman.

CUSTOM CUSHIONS - PLAIN AND NOT-SO-PLAIN

This cushion would qualify as plain, but only because it disappears into its surroundings.  In the kitchen of my client's house this window seat adds the perfect spot to relax.  The white Sunbrella makes for an indestructible cover.

Because the window seat is so low, we opted to do a thicker-than-normal cushion.  Plus, the window frame stuck out enough that it helps keep the cushion in place.  Even though we used white, since it is Sunbrella, stains will not be a problem.

On to the fancy...this chair, one of two, is in the sitting room of the downstairs guest room.  The black and white embroidered fabric dresses up the vintage wicker chairs.  The contrast welting is the white Sunbrella.

The guest room can be seen in the background.  The room is predominately white with a black iron bed.   A black and white duvet is folded at the foot of the bed, and ties in nicely with the cushions in the sitting room.

A RELAXED BALLOON SHADE

Okay, so the photos today are not so interesting in that I took the shot from one side and then the other.  In my defense, I was unable to take it straight on because of the sun.

This is a sort of relaxed balloon shade.  Or maybe a flat cloud shade.  Whatever you call it, it turned out pretty cute.  I made it from Laura Ashley panels that my client purchased at Home Goods.  In the picture above, to the left, notice the painting of an Old English Sheepdog...my clients dog, Daisy.  At the bottom of this post I included a picture of Daisy last week on her 3rd birthday.

This is one of three houses here in Coronado that will be on the Home Tour this Mother's Day.  Unfortunately, this room is upstairs, so will not be seen by visitors.  Bummer!  But on the plus side, I also made cushions on the first floor that will be seen.

Miss Daisy!

HOW TO SLIPCOVER A LEATHER OTTOMAN

Let me say right up front that leather is NOT my favorite thing to slipcover.  It's because it is a true SLIP COVER.  In other words, it slips because it doesn't have anything to grab onto.

The fabric we used is Sunbrella.  Also, to the right in the above picture and the one below, you can see striped towels (from the Hotel Del Coronado, found abandoned on the beach) which are covering the seat cushions on the chairs I made new covers for.  I'll do those in a different post.  They are covered to protect the cushions from the kitty cats!

In an attempt to keep the slipcover in place, my client had an under-the-rug mesh pad that we put directly on the ottoman before putting the slipcover on.  (I ran into my client today and didn't think to ask how this is working.)

The other thing I did was sew cording, which just happened to be the exact color of the fabric, on the seam line and tie the skirt to the ottoman for extra security in keeping it in place.

And unless you get on the floor and look under the skirt, the ties are not visible.