2015 CORONADO HISTORIC HOME TOUR

The City of Coronado was incorporated in 1890, and is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.  This Sunday, Mother's Day, is the Coronado Historic Home Tour.  The homes on the tour represent six of the styles of architecture that built Coronado.  Those on the tour include Mid-Century Modern, Palmer, Spanish Eclectic, Tudor, Craftsman and Spanish Revival.  

In addition to these six, there are five other (addresses provided in your ticket booklet for 'drive-by' touring) typical styles constructed here over the last 12 decades, and those are: Victorian, Mission Revival, Colonial Revival, Arts and Crafts and Pueblo Revival.

I have the great fortune of having done work in 3 of the 6 houses this year!  And in the picture above, the Tudor, I did the sofa slipcover to the left and the chair and ottoman in the center of the picture.  

Also, as seen above in the picture to the bottom left, in the living room, I made the pillows, and the bottom right shows the outside patio in the back of the house, where I did the cushions.  There are also various other window treatments, bedding, etc. that I have done over the last 10 or more years.

The other two homes I have work in are the Craftsman and the Spanish Eclectic.

If you live locally in San Diego, I highly recommend you come to Coronado on Sunday and enjoy the  exquisite homes on the tour.  The hours are 11 am to 4 pm, and tickets are available at the Visitor Center at 1100 Orange Avenue.  Check out the web site for more information:  www.coronadohistory.org.

SUNBRELLA SLIPCOVERS - SAVE FURNITURE FROM LITTLE BOYS!

My client has two little boys.  Both when I went to cut the slipcovers and to install the finished product, I had to wade through legos, lots and lots of legos.  And all kinds of other toys that little boys love.

Both of these chairs are upholstered in a lovely damask, a cream colored damask.  Not the best color for little boys.  So a dark gray Sunbrella was chosen for slipcovers.

The good thing is the slipcovers can be removed for cleaning or simply to change the look of the room.

I did a short skirt on both chairs for a lighter look.

Buttons down the back of this chair.  The other one did not need to have an opening for ease of getting it on and off.  Since they are different frames, I decided to go without buttons on the one.

The chair below is the above chair in its 'natural' state.

AN OVER-SIZED CHAIR AND DESIGNERS GUILD FABRIC

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but this chair is HUGE!  I mean, it was so big that I wasn't sure it would make it through my front door.  It did, by about a half an inch.  And if that weren't enough, the repeat on this lovely Designers Guide fabric was also quite large, something like 36".  A normal chair usually takes around 10 yards of fabric, even when matching is involved.  A larger than normal one might take 11.  This took 14 yards, and because I had to center all the cuts, there was a lot of wasted fabric.

I did a pretty good job of getting it all matched.

Buttons down the back are really more decorative than anything else.

Because the chair was so big, larger buttons were called for, as well.

This is the chair in its new home.

It looks so much better here than in my workroom/living room.

SEASIDE COTTAGE STYLE

Seaside Cottage Style is my friend, Laura Petersen's, business.  You can see all the fabulous things she does on her site.  

I did these faux-wing chairs for her living room.

Buttons, of course, down the back.

The cool looking burlap lamp shade that is visible in all these pictures is one of Laura's creations.

This view is from the kitchen, looking towards the front of the house.

And the sofa is wearing a slipcover I did for her about 7 years ago!

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!

SLIPCOVERS AND PILLOWS FOR THE BEACH HOUSE

Two posts in a week!  What has come over me?  Well, I can't promise I will be posting twice a week on a regular basis.  I do, however, wish to be more consistent in posting.  That, I will promise to do.

On a trip to Laguna Beach, oh, 3 or 4 years ago, we came across this fabric.  It was very expensive and, though, lovely, not in the budget.  After returning to San Diego, I was in a local fabric store and they had it.  For $6 a yard!  The exact fabric.  I excitedly called my cousin and told her what I had stumbled upon and asked how much she wanted.  At this point there were 3 bolts of it.  She eventually decided on 25 yards.  She wasn't sure what she wanted to do with it, but wanted to make sure there was enough to do a couple chairs or a love seat.  I purchased the fabric and then a couple days later, she decided she wanted more.  I went back and there was nothing left. 

At that point, my cousins were living in Rancho Santa Fe.  They have since moved to Carlsbad and now have a house on the beach.  Finally, it was time to use the fabric with the khaki sea stars.  It turned out there was 26 yards with which to 'play.'  She decided on two chairs, both with ottomans.  That was going to barely be enough fabric for all 4 pieces.   The solution was to do a contrast welt and to make the skirts a little shorter than to the floor.  The chair above is in the master bedroom and, as you can see, the ocean is right outside the sliding glass doors!  Beautiful!

This is the back of the chair that is in the downstairs family room.

Front of chair with matching ottoman.

After the slipcovers were in place, and her giant white slipcovered sofas were delivered, it became apparent that throw pillows were needed.  The fabric was all gone, though.  So I started googling 'sea star fabric' and finally found it.  Further investigation revealed a navy blue one as well.  In the end, I made 15 pillows in the white/khaki and 11 in the navy.  I did a navy welt because there was half as much of that fabric and my cousin wanted the maximum number of pillows it was possible to get from the available yardage.  My car was literally full of pillows on Easter Sunday when I delivered them.

Closer up picture of the family room chair.

WHITE DUCK CLOTH SLIPCOVERS

Duck cloth is not quite as heavy as denim, but it is just as durable. This is the home of a local La Jolla artist and she liked the look of all the furniture being neutral so that her art work took center stage.

A Victorian sofa gets a new life.

Back view with buttons. Is there any other way for me to do it?

An unexpected pop of color on the back of this wing chair.

By slipcovering all pieces in a room in the same fabric, it unifies the room.

WHITE MATELASSE

It is very hard (okay, you really cannot tell) to see the different patterns of matelasse in this slipcover. I did this from old bedspreads and table skirts my client had laying around, not being used. I think I used about 5 different patterns, but because it was all white, it worked beautifully.

And, most importantly, her cat really seemed to like 'her' new chair!

KHAKI DENIM W/BLACK & WHITE WELTING

For these slipcovers (there were two sofas, facing each other in the family room) I used a light khaki denim, a black and white stripe for the welting and pillows and a box-pleated skirt.

The box-pleated skirt gives it a totally different look than a tailored or gathered skirt. It is also a much bigger pain to make.

Neither back shows since both are pushed against a wall, but it still looks cool with the buttons in the black and white fabric.

I also learned a HUGE lesson when I did these slipcovers. When I went to cut, I did not realize that the two sofas were different sizes. They looked the same. Luckily, I cut the sofa and measured the cushions on the one that was slightly larger. When I went to install the finished slipcovers, one fit perfectly and the other was too big. Well, I couldn't figure out what I had done wrong when my client happen to mention that the sofas were not, in fact, the same size. They just looked like they were. (A fine time to point this out, I thought.) I was not happy, but like I said, at least I had a finished cover to cut down, not to try to make larger. It was the same with the cushion covers. It is never easy to fix mistakes, but it is far easier to fix ones I've made than to try to fix someone else's. Now, if there are two seemingly identical pieces of furniture, you better believe I make sure they are instead of just assuming they are. Lesson learned!

A CHAIR FOR A PRINCESS OR WHITE DENIM TO THE RESCUE

This not-so-lovely chair was picked up by my client at a garage sale. Nice lines, but far from nice fabric. Her youngest daughter's birthday is coming up and she thought it would make a good 'throne' for the birthday girl. The only dilemma was which color of denim to use: pink, green or white?

In the end, she chose white.

Every princess slipcover needs buttons up the back, don't you think?

WHITE LINEN SLIPCOVERS

I finished last night and just got home from delivering these white linen slipcovers. The good thing is, they are washable; so if the unthinkable (cranberry sauce or red white, eek!) happens, my client can wash it right out. I don't think the grandkids will be allowed on the furniture tomorrow, though, just to be safe!

Over all view of the sofa, 2 wing chairs and the ottoman.

The sofa with its extra large pillows.

I did a 2" pleated ruffle on the 3 throw pillows.

The skirts on the sofa and ottoman are gathered just at the corners.

The ottoman also got a short skirt.

The wing chairs are a slightly different size, though to look at them, you can't tell. Luckily, my client pointed it out when I was there cutting because I, for sure, would have just cut one, made two the same size and just now when I was putting everything on, I would have found out I screwed up. I've done it before and it isn't fun.

All the pieces, except of course the ottoman, got buttons up the back, though none of them had to be undone to get the slipcovers on. They just look cuter that way.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and yummy Thanksgiving!