Often clients call and ask me if it would be more economical to buy a new sofa or reupholster one. Off the bat, I can tell you the cost is roughly the same. It’s not a decision regarding economics. It’s a purely emotional decision. In all my experience, the most common reasons have been:
I have been working in the design industry for over twenty years now. Most of those years have been fabric filled. It’s really an obsession of sorts. My reps come to visit my office, they bring armfulls of new books. The books are filled with swatches of new and exciting fabrics, textures, colours and patterns. The smell of the fabric fills the room. The colours bounce around and the patterns dance like butterflies around my head. Okay that’s super hokey. But seriously. One the the best parts of my job is finding the perfect fabrics for a space.
Any designer will tell you, they have a secret obsession with the accent chair. Accent chairs offer us easy and fun ways to fill little empty spaces, create punch in an otherwise boring room, use our favourite fabrics, indulge in a sculptural piece, or repurpose the cutest, sweetest, possibly not even usable, old chair that we can live without. But the insistence that every chair in your house must serve as seating holds us back. As does the misconception that your chairs must “match” your sofa, or your entire dining set. Think of it this way. An accent chair can be purposeful or just visual, funky or vintage, cheap and cheerful or expensive and luxurious. Here are some of my top picks for this season!
Chairs! They are often so expensive, and are an often overlooked opportunity for true design fun. Pairing modern, fun chairs, with traditional dining tables is a great way to turn something old and dated (like your grandmother’s dining table), into something contemporary and chic. Who made that rule that everything has to be all matchy matchy and boring? Designers know that when you spice things up with some daring buys, your home can go from blah to fantastic!