We’ve been collaborating for many years with Amy Estrin at the Whole 9 Yards fabric store to create multi-fabric chairs both for her clients and ours. The results can be striking, dramatic, or playful but always eye-catching. Here are a few photos of some completed projects, with some reasons the designs were so successful.
This slipcovered chair was built around the antique map fabric the client loved, with the accompanied fabrics referencing the secondary colors within the main fabric. Amy and her staff assisted the client with finding the additional four fabrics to compliment her initial choice.
Amy’s design for last years’ Chair Affair event showcased a whimsical fabric with birds for the large back expanse of the wing chair, but used solid textured fabrics, and both small and medium scaled patterns to create a cohesive look with blue, yellow and pale green.
Sometimes a designer or artist will inspire a client to create pieces that are nothing less than art. This client loved the black and white geometric patterns of MacKenzie Childs and the oversized chair for the project had plenty of surfaces for this dramatic look.
This client’s sofa belonged to her grandmother, who had an eye for color and very good taste in furniture, so she used her grandmother’s style as the inspiration for this vintage tuxedo sofa.
For this year’s Chair Affair, Amy was inspired by the work of artist Roy Lichtenstein and used a small curved chair as a canvas for a bold pop-art fabric and high contrast patterns.
We’ve found that the pieces that really finished beautifully had a mix of soft pile fabrics such as velvets or chenilles, and flat or tightly woven fabrics such as Sunbrella, canvas, or printed linen. Each of the patterned fabrics has a noticeably different repeat size and pattern type, such as a small stripe, a medium floral and a large geometric. Equal amounts of contrast and variety lead to the most successful projects with the most beautiful results.
