Well, we thought the Spring rush would be peaking by now, but its not the case. We've had a "flock" of wingback chairs decend upon us and they all need slipcovers!
We've had up to 3 wingback chairs at a time, but never 5...and there's one more on the way! These are from a historic Greek Revival home and they need to remain in their original condition - so reupholstering is out of the question. In fact, that is one of my favorite uses of slipcovers; when you need or want to perserve the original upholstery yet change the look for current use. At present, these "elderly gentleman" are sporting an interesting array of old fabrics on them and when you poke around on the upholstery, you can hear the crunch of horsehair and straw.
To start this project we will be using purchased mattlesse coverlets as slipcover fabric and the scalloped edging will be employed as skirt hems. This customer is very inventive and has decided to use a second richly-colored fabric for an underskirt that will peek out about 6 inches. She's great fun to work with and really has a fresh eye.
This run on wingback chairs reminds me of the run we had recently on Chippendale sofas! We turned about 5 dusty & stuffy old sofas into soft, friendly and beautifully inviting showpieces. I see amazing before & after comparison photos coming up! Check back in a couple of weeks and I'll have some pictures of our "wing-men" wearing their new suits!
Monday, May 28, 2007
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Silk Drapery
We had a great installation this morning at the home on Lookout Mountain. It went off without a hitch. No matter how many jobs you have under your belt...the installation can be nerve blistering! You want everything to go just right for the homeowner. The client excused herself for a day of shopping so she could come home to a completely magical transformation of her bedroom.
I'm including a picture of the window treatments (creme colored embroidered silk), rods & finials (pearl white with raised gold carving), the Chippendale settee (Belgian Linen) and the rectangular bolster pillow (red/gold/green stripe heavy silk.) Let me know what you think!
Monday, February 26, 2007
The latest goings on in the shop....well, the main thing is that we are getting ready to launch our web site! We have assembled a few pictures, a few facts...and we're ready to go! We will have a link to this blog so we can update everyone with the lastest pictures of our work.
Along with many smaller projects, we've just completed a couple of fun (and somewhat large) jobs. Here's a bit of the details from those:
#1: Bedroom pieces for a large home on nearby Lookout Mountain. Working for a local designer, we have created boxed silk pillows, silk tab top (lined & interlined) curtain panels, and a canopy insert for a testor bed. The fabrics are crazy beautiful. There were also some upholstered items done in a putty colored heavy Belgian linen. (We do a small amount of reupholstery like French chairs and such.) There is a wonderful Chippendale love seat that we created a long boxed bolster cushion for with a down/feather insert. The fabric was a knock-dead gorgeous silk stripe...looked perfect on the putty-colored linen.
#2: Another job involved items for a new home in Columbus, Georgia. They were extra long curtain panels (126" long!) They are pinch pleated and very full. They, along with the matching gathered dust ruffle, are in a large scale blue & green plaid silk. One set of 4 window panels for the guest room were interlined with English Bump...that is extra heavy felt-like interlining that goes between the face fabric and the lining...it makes it heavy and luxuriously thick. We also did a couple of bedside table drapes with contrasting fabric in the corner pleats for that room. We hope to wrangle a visit to that home soon...we hear it has an authentic cobblestone driveway!
I feel like we're about to work ourselves crazy, but we love it. The details involved in working on so many jobs at once can be overwhelming at times...if one detail is missed, it can spell disaster! The little shop is buzzing with machines sewing, scissors cutting, designs being hashed out, and people visiting & chatting while drinking steeming cups of hot tea. We always find time to work in a little conversation...that's what makes it all worth while!
Along with many smaller projects, we've just completed a couple of fun (and somewhat large) jobs. Here's a bit of the details from those:
#1: Bedroom pieces for a large home on nearby Lookout Mountain. Working for a local designer, we have created boxed silk pillows, silk tab top (lined & interlined) curtain panels, and a canopy insert for a testor bed. The fabrics are crazy beautiful. There were also some upholstered items done in a putty colored heavy Belgian linen. (We do a small amount of reupholstery like French chairs and such.) There is a wonderful Chippendale love seat that we created a long boxed bolster cushion for with a down/feather insert. The fabric was a knock-dead gorgeous silk stripe...looked perfect on the putty-colored linen.
#2: Another job involved items for a new home in Columbus, Georgia. They were extra long curtain panels (126" long!) They are pinch pleated and very full. They, along with the matching gathered dust ruffle, are in a large scale blue & green plaid silk. One set of 4 window panels for the guest room were interlined with English Bump...that is extra heavy felt-like interlining that goes between the face fabric and the lining...it makes it heavy and luxuriously thick. We also did a couple of bedside table drapes with contrasting fabric in the corner pleats for that room. We hope to wrangle a visit to that home soon...we hear it has an authentic cobblestone driveway!
I feel like we're about to work ourselves crazy, but we love it. The details involved in working on so many jobs at once can be overwhelming at times...if one detail is missed, it can spell disaster! The little shop is buzzing with machines sewing, scissors cutting, designs being hashed out, and people visiting & chatting while drinking steeming cups of hot tea. We always find time to work in a little conversation...that's what makes it all worth while!
Thursday, January 11, 2007
On owning a Soft Home Décor Business
You might say I like to make things! All my life I've struggled to define what it is I like to do...never could quite pin it down. One day it hit me: I like to make things. Simple as that.
In my current business, which I started from scratch in 2000, we do just that. The business has grown from just myself, to a group of 5 talented people creating and working in a fantastic environment. With an array of specialty machines, tools, tables, and supplies, we create custom soft home decor. The Brick Path Studio repertoire includes window treatments, slipcovers (dresses for chairs), bedding, decorator pillows, table drapes/cloths, and just about anything made from fabric for home decor and comfort. We dream up beautiful and outlandish things ourselves as well as bring into reality the brainchildren of our clients.
Ever notice the incredible things in a shelter magazine's photo shoot? ...and say to yourself, "Look at that! Where in the world would they get those drapes, those sublime pillows, that duvet cover, those perfectly fitted and detailed slipcovers? Where would they get a gorgeous, lined, opulent canopy treatment for that bed?? " (NO! You don't see them ready-made in the department stores!) Well, THAT'S the kind of things we create...every day...and it's truly exciting!
To beat all, we are able to do this from upstairs in an old circa 1910 warehouse building in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. From our city block of art and specialty boutiques, we look out our atelier windows to see the sign of the historic Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel, Restaurant and train station. Weather permitting, we open these huge warehouse windows and smell the mouth-watering gourmet restaurant next door and maybe wave hello to the local sculptor from two buildings down. A couple of times per day he or his friends walk his giant poodle in and out of the street lamps and the specimen trees. (The streetlights down Williams Street are as perfectly planted as the trees.) The clop-clop of the horses pulling sightseers in carriages towards the waterfront area begins ringing in the late afternoons. We can take a break if our shoulders ache and head down our long narrow staircase to chat with the ladies in the antiques store below and see what’s “new” in their adorable shop that’s filled with American and English furniture. It is a plethora of exciting sights and sounds! All this is ours while doing what we love and know. How great is that?
In my current business, which I started from scratch in 2000, we do just that. The business has grown from just myself, to a group of 5 talented people creating and working in a fantastic environment. With an array of specialty machines, tools, tables, and supplies, we create custom soft home decor. The Brick Path Studio repertoire includes window treatments, slipcovers (dresses for chairs), bedding, decorator pillows, table drapes/cloths, and just about anything made from fabric for home decor and comfort. We dream up beautiful and outlandish things ourselves as well as bring into reality the brainchildren of our clients.
Ever notice the incredible things in a shelter magazine's photo shoot? ...and say to yourself, "Look at that! Where in the world would they get those drapes, those sublime pillows, that duvet cover, those perfectly fitted and detailed slipcovers? Where would they get a gorgeous, lined, opulent canopy treatment for that bed?? " (NO! You don't see them ready-made in the department stores!) Well, THAT'S the kind of things we create...every day...and it's truly exciting!
To beat all, we are able to do this from upstairs in an old circa 1910 warehouse building in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. From our city block of art and specialty boutiques, we look out our atelier windows to see the sign of the historic Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel, Restaurant and train station. Weather permitting, we open these huge warehouse windows and smell the mouth-watering gourmet restaurant next door and maybe wave hello to the local sculptor from two buildings down. A couple of times per day he or his friends walk his giant poodle in and out of the street lamps and the specimen trees. (The streetlights down Williams Street are as perfectly planted as the trees.) The clop-clop of the horses pulling sightseers in carriages towards the waterfront area begins ringing in the late afternoons. We can take a break if our shoulders ache and head down our long narrow staircase to chat with the ladies in the antiques store below and see what’s “new” in their adorable shop that’s filled with American and English furniture. It is a plethora of exciting sights and sounds! All this is ours while doing what we love and know. How great is that?
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