Bespoke Upholstery Archives - Page 2 of 2

5 Things That You Can Have Custom-Made

From bathrooms to bedrooms to kitchens, you can have something custom-made for any room in your house. There are many items that can be custom-made for the home, such as curtains, furniture, built-ins, and cabinetry. I enjoy adding custom-made pieces to my designs because of the complexity they add to a room. My recent projects including custom-made items are a master bathroom with custom vanity, custom bookshelves for bedrooms and home offices, and something a little out of the ordinary, custom desk skirts.

Custom-Made Bathroom Vanity

This master bathroom custom vanity is made from a wood called Sapele or African mahogany. It is naturally golden to dark reddish-brown, but we stained it to a darker brown to contrast beautifully against the marble floors with gray veining. Sapele is a more cost-effective option to Genuine Mahogany and is a very close match in visual appeal, wood processing, and durability. The irregularities in both grain patterns give them an exotic look leading to their popularity around the world. A great addition to the vanity was a pull-out drawer cut out under the sink so no space was wasted. It is great for storing hairbrushes, combs, razors, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. Bonuses such as this are just one of the reasons why I love custom-made cabinetry!

Custom-Made Kitchen Island

For this kitchen, I designed a custom island. As you’ll notice, it is not a perfect rectangle, giving it more character. My favorite enhancements are the prep sink, having multiple sinks in a kitchen is a game-changer, and the microwave drawer is way more appealing to the aesthetic than a countertop microwave or one that hangs above the stove. Also, there is plenty of storage space! The drawer under the microwave can be great for organizing your Tupperware and we installed shelves on one side for a collection of ironstone pots and cookbooks. Lastly, the faux paint finish on the island was carefully colored to match the exquisite marble slab on top.

Custom-Made Cabinets

This is one of my favorite custom cabinet projects! All of the cabinets are stunning cherry and stretch from floor to ceiling for maximum storage. We placed glass mosaic tile as the backsplash and a warm granite countertop to compliment the cabinets. Furthermore, the wine cooler had a perfect home in the kitchen because of all the cabinets being custom made.

Custom-Made Built-In Bookcase

I designed a built-in bookshelf with a desk for a young man’s bedroom to blanket the wall across from the foot of his bed. Joinery crown molding was placed at the top and baseboard molding at the bottom, both continue onto every wall in the room. The integration of an upholstered memo board behind the desk can hold photos and important notes or reminders.

The below picture is from my home office, where you’ll see custom-made built-in units. I created this layout to house my fabric books in the upper cabinets and added doors to the lower shelves to keep clutter out of sight.

Custom-Made Desk Skirts

On the other side of my office are my two desks. I had desk skirts, also called table coverings, made to disguise wires and computer modems and create extra storage space. The gathered skirts are made out of 100% linen fabric by Pindler.

Bespoke Upholstery for 2021: Living Room Remodel

Your living room is one of the most important rooms in your house. It’s where you unwind, spend valuable time with your family, and welcome guests to relax. The way your living room looks can make or break an entire house design. When working with clients on living room remodels, we always recommend they use bespoke upholstery. Bespoke Upholstery comes with many benefits, from sustainability, creative control, and individuality. Today we’ll be taking you through a living room remodel that used bespoke upholstery to bring the design together.

The Remodel

We started with a pretty blank room. It had a beautiful piano and a wall hanging sitting on the floor. The room had beautiful large windows and the walls were painted in a neutral color with bare wooden floors. The client wanted to continue with a neutral palette, and have gray be the main color. The first step was to install beige-toned carpeting to separate the space from the rest of the floor plan, and to create a more welcoming, cozy, and comfortable living room.

We agreed that bespoke upholstery was the best way to go: it gave us the most control over the design and ensured that the furniture and drapery would be of the highest and longest-lasting quality. Rather than going with a sofa set, we decided to use four armchairs to create a sitting area around a small round table. Armchairs are often cozier than sofas, and using four of them to create a sitting area helped to section the room off. We upholstered the armchairs in a textured gray fabric from Kravet. We made sure to use a textured fabric and add a decorative stud trimming to the armchairs to add dimension and details for the eye.

To match the armchairs, we used heavy gray linen from Kravet for the custom drapery. This room was on the smaller side and didn’t have exceptionally high ceilings, so we made sure to hang the drapes as high as possible and to have them reach all the way down to the floor to create an illusion of taller ceilings and a larger room. The piano stayed in the same general location by one of the windows, so we added black cabinetry on the opposite side to balance out the black of the piano. Two lamps with white shades and gray bases were added on top of the cabinets to provide soft lighting in the evenings. We then added in a small round table that had a grey top with black legs to tie the gray and black together.

The client wanted an ottoman, so we upholstered one in a textured orange fabric from Romo. The final step was to tie the entire design together with details and decor. Every armchair needs a cushion, so we had four throw cushions custom made using a gray and orange patterned fabric from Romo. These cushions were crucial in tying the design together. They had a few tones of gray, dark, and light, which tied the black piano/cabinets together with the gray armchairs and drapes. They also have just a few strips of white and orange running through them that matched perfectly with the ottoman and lamps. We hung some matching wall art of nature and used orange flowers and leaves to decorate the piano and cabinets, completing the nature theme. Lastly, we added a few smaller details such as coasters, a house plant for the coffee table, and a few books.

Overall this was a super successful design, and I’m delighted knowing that my client gets to enjoy this living room with their family for many years to come. Design is making a composition of items that are different but still match and complement each other. Going with bespoke upholstery and custom-made cushions and drapes allowed us to have full creative control. If you are looking to remodel, we highly suggest choosing bespoke upholstery for 2021.

Looking to remodel?

Among interior designers in Northern Virginia, we are nearly unique because virtually all of our cabinets, upholstery, and window treatments are completely custom-designed by Kelley and produced to her precise specifications by craftsmen here in the area. You can be assured that our designs will be expertly tailored for your living environment, and you will not find these elements of your design appearing anywhere but in your home. Head to our services page to get started today!