Do you ever feel like you want to know more about something you’ve seen on Instagram? We started this blog because we felt like we needed some type of platform to tell a story about the projects we design and the products we develop. And, oftentimes the ‘making of’ is even more rewarding than the final product. So here we have some of the ‘making of’ snapshots from this sofa project in Port de Soller, Spain, as well as more detail on how it all came together. Hop on down to learn more….

In designing this custom sofa cover, we wanted to start by honoring the deep blues of the Mediterranean Sea which is just meters away from this stunning home. This is generally where our conversation starts with most clients: COLOR. And then of course after imagining how the color will enliven the room, we turn to functional considerations: which of our vintage fabrics has the TEXTURE to withstand repeated use.

The vintage fabrics we source from all over Europe come in a wide range of weights, textures & weaves and we naturally gravitate towards the heartiest of them for upholstery projects like this one. Believe it or not, these 8+ pieces we painted for this project were once 8 small mattresses in Eastern Europe.

Developing the color takes about a week, and painting it takes another week. We allow the colors to fix with time & heat, so the whole process is about a month. Once the fabric pieces were ready to go, we turn them over to our trusted upholsterer to measure, make patterns and sew the meters & meters & meters of fabric to cover the sofa.

Covering a sofa like this is like fitting a wedding dress: it takes time. Natural fibers are naturally more idiosyncratic than synthetic ones, which means they take on a life of their own. They stretch a bit, then shrink up a bit and they sag a bit if not handled by someone knowledgeable. All in, it took our upholsterer and her assistants 2 months to design, construct and fit this beautiful cover.

In the end, this beautiful one-of-a-kind sofa is now set against the neutral grays of the walls and polished cement floors, and our hand painted colors & textured vintage fabrics become a headline & centerpiece of the room.⁠ Scroll below for photos of the finished product, or hop on over to The Chalkboard Mag to read more about this beautiful project.