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Charlotte Interior Designs Ideas For Creating Custom Furniture

When I am flipping through the pages of a high end home decor magazine I will always be lured in by a beautifully upholstered piece of furniture. A chair or couch covered in a gorgeous piece of fabric gives the room the desired custom feel, elevating the look of the room. You know that it was probably designed just for that homeowner.

For most homes, why do custom upholstery when it is often less expensive to buy a piece of furniture from the home furnishings store? That is a valid question until you start shopping for a piece that will pull the look of your room together. In order to appeal to the widest group of people with their offerings, furniture makers have to manufacture pieces in neutrals or the most popular colors. A visit to your favorite home furnishing store will verify this. Tan, gray, cream, black and brown dominate the sales floor. Sage green and muted blue bring a little color to the offerings. What if you want to add personality to your room with a plum and green paisley print? What if your sun room cries out for a botanical print? You are going to spend hours shopping in stores and online and not find anything close to your vision. This is when your upholster is going to become your best friend.

If you are working with a decorator, they will help you choose a fabric that will bring personality to the room. If you are doing it yourself you can search local fabric resources or ask your upholster to help you. They will have sample books that you can shop from. Often they will let you borrow them to take home and see how the fabric looks in your room before you commit to it.

All home decor fabric will not be suited for covering your chair. Some fabrics are made for window treatments and throw pillows. Make sure what you choose is upholstery weight to insure it will hold up under the use it will get over the years. It should also have a stain resistant finish.

There are ways to bring further personality to your piece. Customize it with contrasting piping on the cushions and on the appropriate seams. Nailheads can give a chair a masculine finish. Covered buttons and fabric tucks add personality to your furniture. A designer trick is to combine several fabrics on one piece. This works well in a informal room or a child’s space. Because purchasing yardage for your furniture can be costly, a mixed fabric chair can be done less expensively with reduced price remnants. Check with your upholster to make sure you have the right amount of each fabric for this creative project.

Outdoor fabric has made great advances in the last few years. The choices in designs and colors are vast. The feel of the fabric is so close to regular home decor fabric that you can easily use it indoors. Outdoor fabrics are woven from special fibers that resist stains, mildew and fading from strong sunlight. Using this fabric will let you create beautiful pieces for your porch or sun room. You are no longer limited to what your local big box store is selling.

Custom upholstery will allow you to cover a worn out but much loved piece of furniture you own or rescue an ugly duckling at the thrift store and turn it into a swan. It is a fun way to make your home uniquely yours.

How To Capture And Review Your Interior Design Ideas And Selections By Creating A Professional Looking Sample Board

Interior designers often create sample boards to give the client an idea of the design proposal they have developed. They place the colour samples, images of the furniture selected, examples of the materials to be used and accessories selected for the project on a board. The number of sample boards created depends on the size of the project. Small one room projects usually only need one board. Larger projects many need a number of different sample boards.

Some examples of different types of sample boards

Colour  (often used by colour consultants)
Furniture
Drawings (perspective)
Plans (floor plans)
Materials (carpets, laminates…)

There are a number of reasons why designers use sample boards. Firstly they can be used as a way of communicating design ideas. It can also be used to act as a reference tool during the life of a project. The tools need to make a board include the board, tape, adhesive, Stanley knife and labels.

Tools needed to create a sample board

Board (paper, foam, illustration, museum boards, or Gator board for heavy materials)
Tape (masking, double sided, Velcro for heavy items)
Cutting tool (Stanley knife, pinking shears, sharp scissors)
Rulers (metal for cutting, scale rule for measuring)
Pens and pencils (felt tip, soft pencil, coloured pencils, coloured pens)
Adhesive (Clear all purpose, spray adhesive)
Cutting mat
Labels (usually white)

The size of the board selected to create the sample boards usually depends on the size of the project. In these eco friendly times the smallest board size possible should be used for the project. The most common sizes used by designers A2 or A1.

Creating the board

Most designers leave a border of at least 1cm from the top and the 2 sides of the board
A larger space is left at the bottom of the board
The border can be coloured to coordinate with the colour scheme

Tip:  A sample paint pot of the colour to be used in the room could be used for the border or the space inside the border

Work out the size for each item (for example the carpet sample would be bigger than a lamp)
Trim the items to be placed on the board
Fabrics can be cut with pinking shears to stop fraying
If more than one room is involved in the project then each board should be labeled (living, bedroom……)
Create labels for each item (labels can be created on your computer or by hand)

Tip: Have all the tools and items ready before you begin

Position each item on the board according to where they would be placed in the room (for example carpet at the bottom of the board, ceiling paint sample at the top of the board)
When you are happy with the arrangement you can use adhesive to place each item in place
Remember Velcro can be used for heavy items (tiles, timber….)

Tip: A hairdryer can be used to remove some glued items if they have been position incorrectly

The eco friendly way to create sample boards

Many designers are now creating sample boards electronically. Last year I wrote a tutorial on how to create a sample board using Word Publisher. This was before I discovered the website http://www.sampleboardonline.com Sample Board Online is a brilliant free, easy to use, eco friendly tool designed by designers for designers.

The same principles can be applied when creating a sample board electronically as those mentioned above. However there are different schools of thought on the subject.The most important thing is the board is clear, easy to follow and is self explanatory.