Peacock Blue Leather

I got to thinking about the new Widdicomb chairs and what I want to use to cover the seats. I like the gray bonded leather I got at Home Fabrics - the color was nice and neutral and the material would wear really well. But I think the gray is probably too close to the floor color and I don't want the space to get too neutral (most everything else in our kitchen will probably be a neutral color other than the red lanterns and the accessories). I was looking through inspiration images and I came across this oldie-but-goodie from David Jimenez.

Such a great space. And the blue leather was calling out to me as a great option for the louis chairs. I thought ideally I would want something a little more on the green-blue side to work better with the lanterns and the gray floors. A quick eBay search later and I found this beautiful peacock leather.

Whenever I'm trying to imagine the way a fabric or leather will look on a piece of furniture I just search online for images of chairs or sofas or whatever in that general type of fabric. "Peacock Blue Leather Chairs" brought up a couple of chairs in the exact shade of teal that I'm considering. I think the color is really nice!

I like that it is definitely not a neutral, but it isn't too in-your-face either. And I think it will pair beautifully with the red lanterns I'm planning on in the dining area.

I ordered a sample and used it to conduct a little testing with a bit of ketchup, some soda and a dripping-with-condensation cup. I left everything to sit for a couple hours and I was surprised that it all wiped off without so much as a shadow of a stain.

If I order the hide or two that I'll need for the six chairs, I might be tempted to change the finish a bit on the chair frames. I'm committed to living with the chairs as-is for another week or two while I get the leather ordered, just to really give it a chance. But the last two days we've been using the chairs at the table and I'm sad to report that the finish is not sitting so well with me in here.

(but doesn't the whole set fit the space perfectly?! I love it)

The finish is just a little to bespeckled and glazed. And upon close examination, there are some chips in the caning that would help justify my cause a little too.

If these were antique chairs, I definitely wouldn't touch the finish, but these are mid-century chairs and the finish just screams "bad vintage paint job!" to me right now, but I know I'm being overly critical.

If I do paint them, I'll lightly go over the green with a pale gray paint and then dry brush the whole chair white, just to brighten up the glaze. I still want an antique look to the frames though - and I think the combo would be so pretty with the new leather color.

New John Widdicomb Louis-Style Chairs

I've been having the best luck with thrift stores and vintage furniture shop finds since we moved here! I won't lie, it feels like a super-sweet consolation prize for leaving New York's great vintage shopping scene (which I had been really sad about). It might take a little more work to find the great pieces here - but they do exist and they are cheap. It feels a lot like Delaware did, where people either don't know what they have or they know and don't like it so are willing to part with things for a song. Which is still weird to me because, you know, the internet exists! Why not sell the stuff online? Not that I'm complaining about getting deals!

I've lived in lots of different cities at this point and I think the best way to find new sources is to be willing to stop your car everywhere you go. Whenever you're driving, be watching for signs for thrift stores, used furniture and junk shops and even consignment stores. Don't ever judge a book (shop) by its cover (window displays/signage) either. Often times the weird new stuff will be  prominently displayed in the front and the great vintage finds will be tucked in the way back. This exact scenario played out for me a couple of days ago when I was driving around Scottsdale, waiting for my cracked iPhone screen to get repaired (why I don't have any real-time photos of the experience). I saw a consignment store had banners and balloons out front saying they were closing down, so I decided to pop in even though the place looked like it was going to be a major flop in the finds department.

I nearly turned right around about three steps into the store. It was almost completely empty except for a handful of oversized Tuscan stuff that is (was??) so popular here. But I kept walking around and found a back room area that had a pretty good selection of vintage things. The owners were moving things out of the room. Apparently they had officially closed down the day before. I did a quick once over and the only thing that really caught my eye was a dining set in the very back corner of the store. Six chairs and a table.

I asked how much for the set even though I thought I wouldn't take it. Only $50. It was a steal. I went over to take a closer look at the set. The more I looked at the chairs, the more I wanted them. The proportions were perfect and I loved the elongated oval shape of the backs. The tight caning was in perfect condition and I really liked the style of the weave. So simple.

Then I flipped one of the chairs over and saw a flash of a gold name plate. That was a good sign.

WHAT THE JOHN WIDDICOMB.

No wonder the shape was just perfect and they weighed about a million pounds each. So solid.

I told the sellers I would love to buy the set and asked if they were sure that $50 was enough. While I was asking that, my mind was racing with Do I or Don't I ethical questions about needing to tell them about what I figured was the real value of the set. And then the owner completely put me to ease by saying "Oh, aren't they great? Did you see they're by Widdicomb? I wish more people cared about great mid-century design here. I'd be happy to give them to you for $50 just so I don't have another set to load up on the truck."

I still felt a little guilty, but I was also so excited. Find of the century for me! I've been wanting Louis chairs for a long time, but I've been too picky up until now to spend a ton of cash on brand new chairs. I'm so glad I waited. I gave Ali, my sister, the table already since I think we're going to use the old Drexel table like I mentioned before. I think the two styles will pair really nicely together!

The same day I found this cute pair of swivel arm chairs for $30! I love the shape of the arms. They need to get reupholstered, but I think they're going to look amazing in a new fabric. I'm thinking maybe the library?

Since my luck was running so high that day, I also swung into Home Fabrics to look for a vinyl for the Louis chairs. BINGO.

Dark gray. Buttery soft. So much like leather in look and feel. Not thin, squeaky or sweaty like most vinyls. And is was only $6.99 a yard!

Most anything would be an improvement on the current fabric though. Looks like these chairs got a little face lift in the 80s. Time for some new clothes, ladies!

Now to figure out what color I should paint the frames. My mom and I were talking about it and she suggested considering leaving them mostly as-is, just a good cleaning and brightening. I like the idea a lot and it might look good to have something a little more antique-y looking in the room, but I don't want them looking too vintage in the bad way. You know? If I go bright white though, they might look too new and cheap-looking. Black would be a similar result I think, unless I did a chalky, matte paint. But then, fingerprints! I could do a bright color, but I want to paint the lanterns red, so that would be overkill. I was also thinking about stripping the frames and doing sort of a limewash look... Lots to figure out!

JEM Fabrics Update

Just a little PSA today for my fellow New Yorkers: JEM Fabrics, one of my very favorite sources for super affordable velvets and trim (where I bought this trim), is closing its doors this month. :( I'm so, so bummed for the very nice people that run the store (and also for myself).

For the next two weeks they are selling everything at a deep discount, including furniture they had downstairs in the upholstery section. I stopped by yesterday and bought five yards of this laminated black linen (above) for a dining chair project and I also ended up buying this vintage tufted sofa for $100.

I don't need it, but it's comfy, and I've never been known to turn down a good piece of tufted furniture. I'm thinking it'd be pretty amazing reupholstered in a distressed black leather (I spied something perfect at my new leather source). In the end, it might look a little something like this Dwell Studio Chester sofa.

via SFgirlbybay

I passed on this gorgeous down-filled Baker camelback, which I'm regretting a bit. One of you should snag it though (also $100).

I think it could look a bit like the Anthropologie Ditte with a new upholstery job and a set of pretty brass caster cups.

I did end up buying 15 yards of this gorgeous deep blue-green-gray mohair to reupholster my LEE roll-arm sofa. So, so excited for that to happen. 

And now that my beloved JEM is going away, I'm feeling sadly short on affordable, interesting velvet sources. New Yorkers, am I missing out on any great places? Mood sometimes hooks me up, but all the other fabric stores in the garment district have left me empty-handed in the past when it comes to velvets. Trade fabrics are great, but sometimes there's just nothing like the hunt for something really one-of-a-kind feeling, you know?

RIP, JEM. I'll miss you and your cool, worn painted plywood floors.

HGTV Home Fabrics at Joanns

It seems rare to find on-trend and exciting fabric patterns at regular fabric stores like Joanns. Trellis patterns don't really do it for me any more, but I do like sort of more unique geometric patterns a lot. This one from the HGTV Home fabric line at Joann's stopped me in my tracks. The colors are so great and the pattern looks so high-end. Almost like something David Hicks would have designed.

The pattern also came in a blue/charcoal combo:

The whole line from HGTV Home was pretty great. And happily, most of the patterns were heavy enough to use for upholstery.

I liked the pattern within a pattern here on the chevron. It helps class it up I think.

I loved this gray and cream fabric below. I would totally put this on a pair of chairs or even a sofa. 

Double-Width Cotton Duck

I need to put up curtains in our living room in the worst way. That wall just feels so unfinished. I'm planning on doing a silk roman shade (color TBD - probably a couple of shades deeper than the wall color?), layered under a pair of curtain panels that are wide enough to be fully functioning.

I don't mind sewing my own curtains at all (here, here, here, here, here), but I'm not the hugest fan of piecing together the widths of fabric. Not because my machine can't handle it (because the beast can handle almost any job I put in front of it!), it's just all that fabric gets awkward and cumbersome, especially when dealing with panels long enough for twelve foot ceilings. And while I like using painter's drop cloths for some jobs, but I've been noticing with my last purchase or two that the canvas used in the drop cloths is not usually one continuous width. And usually the widths are pieced together sloppily, and so are the hems often.

So, when I stumbled across these HUGE bolts of canvas, linen and cotton duck at Blicks, I was in heaven.

84 continuous inches of thick, uniform, heavy weight cotton duck means no piecing together widths of fabric here. And I love the natural ivory color. Not too oatmealy like the drop cloths can sometimes be.

The price for the the cotton duck was only about $10.50 a yard (and that's in NYC, so it's probably cheaper in other areas).

I would only need about 8 yards total of this extra wide fabric to do my double-width panels. Less than $100 for all that fabric is a really great price. I've been dreaming of all the different things I could do with the cotton duck (since it's literally a blank canvas). I could dye it, but I was thinking of leaving the background the ivory color and then using bleach to make a more subtle pattern. Either like a splatter pattern, like Angela from the Painted House did with the fabric from this great chair:

Or maybe something with a little more pattern and structure like what Angela painted on this chair's fabric:

Christine from Bijou and Boheme had these silk panels painted with a black abstract pattern (love this!)

And of course there are so many great abstract patterned fabrics and wallpapers in the market right now to be inspired by (like this one from Amanda Nesbit):

via

Kelly Wearstler's latest for Lee Jofa:

And this one from Pierre Frey:

via

What would you do with the ivory cotton duck fabric?