When we first moved into our new home, some three months ago, we were completely without furniture. Having sold everything during our move from Chicago, we took to purchasing some new choice pieces (bedroom set, dining set) and taking in bits and pieces from those who threw things our direction. A futon, in particular, we were grateful to receive for the small fee of moving it out of it’s old home. It seated two (maybe three), but the fabric was not at all our taste. Striped pink and college-dormy, something had to be done. I searched and debated for months how I was going to update the old thing. Here is its story:

A cell phone shot taken one early morning for reference during shopping trips.

The offending futon, close up.

Fabric my Mom loved. I liked it quite a lot, considered buying it, then put it back on the shelf because of lack of je ne sais quoi.

Fabric I LOVED. Loved loved loved. But the print was small and likely wouldn’t transfer well to a large piece of furniture .

Fabric in Ikea. The boyfriend loved this. I really liked this style, but I wanted a more serene living space, not an art gallery (though if I ever decide to build on an art gallery in my house, I’m looking at you, Ikea!)

Finally, I broke down and went on fabric.com. I didn’t want to have to order online, due to misleading colors, but I eventually found myself transfixed by indoor/outdoor fabric from Tommy Bahama. Plus, more durable fabric means less wear from active cats. So one night, I added a bunch of swatches to the fabric wall on their site, and my Mom and I went to town.

After a long hour of back and forth, measuring and decisions, I placed an order for the following four fabrics, and had them sent directly to my grandmother, who sewed everything (I know!).

Here is the result:

!!!!

The colors are amazing in person, and it has a very India a la Eat Pray Love vibe.

The eggshell fabric is reminiscent of ostrich leather and pulls the look together in a subtle way. There were three more pillows made (another eggshell, and two in the main green fabric) that are on the other couch.

The mattress is double sided with the light blue tweed, in case with ever get bored.

After all this, I remembered a photo I took of an Alexis Bittar bracelet many months ago. The general color palette, and glam nature style are similar, no? I guess it stuck in my mind for many moons.

Le fin.