As I mentioned in my last “discoveries” post (next one is also late; coming today), Julie has been finding extraordinary in the ordinary. And yesterday, so did I. What’s more, I was totally inspired by it.
For ages I’d been planning to cover my nana’s Danish-style* chairs (above & top) in white fabric. But I’ve noticed Zak and Layla have taken a shining to these chairs and sit, climb and eat in them constantly. So white might soon become “food-coloured” and I don’t know about that look… And so I was going to ask those of you who live with white couches and children: is it REALLY not a problem if you scotchguard etc? You know, like every single person who has a pristine white home will tell you in a magazine? I wonder, surely you LIE? Surely there are accidents and strategically-placed cushions to hide stains and possibly a throw to catch food? Surely it’s not happily ever after?
Anyway, I was going to ask this and then I had a brainwave: what if I used outdoor fabric? Outdoor fabric that didn’t look or feel like outdoor fabric but that resisted nasties and lasted longer? So I went window shopping last night at Fab Outdoor Fabrics. I wrote about them for theReal Living website a while back and was impressed with their funky range of designs. While scrolling through them again last night I remembered why when I found this pattern:
Which I LOVE and want to use on everything. In fact, I had plans to stencil something like it on Layla’s dresser. But what’s more… it is very similar to the pattern on the base of my nana’s chair (below) which I noticed properly last week. I’ve seen this base everyday for the last month since Layla has found it fun to remove the cushion every single day but never really “noticed” it before. But there I was sanding back the chair thinking “oh that’s a great pattern. I think I need some in my life.” An extraordinary ordinary.
And so, my plans to go white suddenly and unexpectedly changed in a nanosecond. I’m going to order a sample and am hoping and praying it feels as nice as it looks and is the same colour as it appears here. I’m slightly worried about it being brown – AGAIN – but I think it’ll work. I hope it’ll work. But more importantly, what do YOU think? How helpful having a blog to help me make decisions**
Back on the fabric place - they really have some great designs. I’ve selected a few samples above: stripes to rival Ici et la, Matisse-inspired prints (the black and white one above), designer fabrics like Ralph Lauren, Sunbrella and Schumacher, and are really affordable. The Moorish one I want is $40 a metre. Great for your outdoor furniture and if all goes according to plan, hopefully great for infoor furniture too!
* Don’t you love how any chairs that remotely resemble those famous Danish armchairs are automatically tagged “Danish” or Danish-style”. So guilty of it myself – gives them instant cred even if they’re old, mouldy pieces of crap (which some might say these are. Not me, though. They are the comfiest things ever and I’ve loved their shape and the memories of my late granddad – who loved one so much he had it converted to a rocker - that come with them)
**Oh, um, I also need to run this by Steve. He still thinks I’m going white. But I also think he’d be happy with lime green because he hates them so much as they at the moment…
btw, love your blog!