Resource Links for Renovating and Decorating

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For our references I collected resource links which can be helpful and inspring when renovating and decorating, including some local sources:





BATHROOM
You might be interested in bathroom related posts on Palazzo Pizzo



KITCHEN

You might also like all kitchen related posts on Palazzo Pizzo



ITALIAN FURNITURE

You also might like Palazzo Pizzo's furniture posts.



INTERNATIONAL DESIGNER FURNITURE


FOR OUTDOOR - TERRACE, GARDEN, BALCONY



HOME FURNISHING BARGAINS


FLOORING

You might be interested in all posts about flooring and tiles on Palazzo Pizzo



LIGHTING

You might like lighting related posts on Palazzo Pizzo



ART



Please note: this is my personal resource link list that I compiled during our project (I have not received any money from any company for any text link above, and there is no affiliate link in that list).

(updated September 2013)

Upholstery: Sofa and Armchair ! Before & After !

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I wrote about the inherited tiger sofa, the 7 different dining chairs and the funny baroque armchair before. All in need for upholstery. Then, I confused my readers and myself while searching for the right fabric - but knew how to measure and calculate the right amount of fabric.

But it is all good now.
Almost.

First, I had to travel to Italy this summer. I packed all the chosen fabric from Thailand into my suitcase. Before arriving in Calabria we stopped in Venice for a wedding. Then, I repacked the suitcase. The fabric continued the journey by car, while I travelled by air. Reunited in Pizzo, I entered the house - the sofa was gone! But that is another story that I prefer to skip.

It is all good now.
Almost.

The craftsman who was introduced to us had a look at the furniture and the fabric. We explained what we want, he made a proposal, and we agreed. Since it was summer, the craftsmen would need longer than 10 days for the work. We were awaiting guests and did not want to miss dining chairs. Therefore, we decided to have them, the sofa, and the armchair picked up after the holiday peak Feragosto (August 15). When everyone and everything goes back to normal.

One day after summer, we were long gone back to Asia, our order was ready and delivered - or picked up -  from the tiny upholstery workshop in the heart of Pizzo. My father-in-law made some snap shots and mailed the result to us.

From what I see, the sofa looks good.
The armchair looks wrong.
The dining chairs look okay.

What do you think?

AFTER: calm grey fabric enhances carved sofa frame

BEFORE: the "tiger sofa" and it's story


For the sofa, there was a big surprise: I never saw the back! I did not know we would need fabric for the back too! I am very glad, I bought some spare fabric.


always have some spare fabric for surprises


From what I heard, my mother-in-law did not like at all the new upholstery for the armchair. She "discussed" with the craftsman - got a chair for free - and asked me to buy more fabric, in order to redo the seating cushion.

AFTER: the armchair - something looks wrong

BEFORE: it looked promising

BEFORE: the real before with gold lacquer
(previous pic is a 2nd chair that needed more work) 


Apparently, I was not clear enough about the fabric direction for the armchair, as well as for the dining chairs. One chair had even a similar fabric and the fine stripes ran from front to back - and not from left to right. But who knows why the craftsman changed direction.


Now, our 7 dining chairs of three styles have something in common: a dark finish and a bluish upholstery.

AFTER: dining chair

BEFORE: backrest broken, fabric riven 

BEFORE: unstable and rotten fabric

BEFORE: unstable and broken backrest
(fabric runs in the right direction!)

AFTER: all new! (sorry for blur photo)


Lessons learned:
  • Always buy more fabric than you need! Miscalculation or mishap may happen.
  • Explain your idea clearly! Direction of fabric, border, nails, finish tone or colour for wood - don't leave room for unexpected creativity.
  • Be sure about the finishing before choosing the fabric (silver seems not the right choice for our armchair)

Maybe, I should think about a DIY upholstery project next time? I researched some books about upholstery and think, this might be a good introduction:



A final remark and last photo:
AFTER: new upholstery with good vibes

Does anyone see the spots in the above photo? Not the spots on the wall. The two circles, below the light switch. I would have said, Angelo's camera has spots on the lens again. My friend says, these orbs are a sign for good energy in the room. Wow, my new upholstery has a great energy boost then! 


Photos: Angelo and Palazzo Pizzo

The Story of a Sofa

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And then their is this sofa.... It needs upholstery too (like the armchair and the 7 dining chairs). 

I do not really know what to say about that sofa. I do not even know exactly how we ended up with it. 

Some might say, what is wrong with this sofa? Why it needs a new fabric? It looks very elegant. - Yes, it does. And it fitted very nicely in the entrance of my mother-in-law's house in the Veneto, Northern Italy. The leopard print is absolutely her style and that's how she upholstered the sofa after having found it at her favorite antique dealer in Marghera some years ago. 


But one day, this sofa was in my house (well, also her son's house) thousands of miles further South in Calabria. 

My Italian in-laws are super generous. Whenever you say, you like something, the next day it is on your doorstep (if possible). So, you have to be careful what you say. But in case of the sofa,  no one said it would look nice in our entrance in Pizzo - not even did anyone say we like it. 

I think, what happened was that my mother-in-law just had found another sofa at her favorite antique dealer which suited her place better - and she wanted to rearrange the furniture in her house. I don't think that Angelo was transporting half of the household on the roof of his car all the way down to the South of Italy (11 hours drive from Venice), since there were some other pieces of furniture and household items that ended up in Calabria. Some were for my in-laws place down here. And some were for our house. Some don't match our taste at all. And some came in very handy actually. The rest we gradually return... The sofa just stayed.

It was clear from the beginning, that it does not fit in the living room. We placed it in the entrance, where people could sit down to put shoes on, or to pose their belongings while visiting. And if you look at it, its quiet cute, (seating space is 130cm / 52 inch). And if you look closer, it has two shells in-carved in the wooden frame. Beach Style! But the leopard print is definitely NOT going to stay! 

A new fabric needs to give the sofa a more modern look

A purple velvet would look elegant. But it is a summer house, and CC, my husband, did not want a warm fabric. 

Bold stripes, beach style? I was looking around at our local fabric outlet store. But I could not find any suitable stripes.

The entrance, where the sofa now is standing, we call "the Venetian Room", since Angelo had decided to paint the walls in Venetian red. And we have two Venetian paintings - guess where from? - From my mother-in-laws favorite antique shop in Marghera. Further, this room has not only red walls, it has a turquoise ceiling and a light blue walk through... complicated to explain, but it's a color folly.

In my earlier post, I told, how CC came fabric shopping with me. Just before the shop was closing, he passed by a grey fabric, that was displayed as a curtain. He stopped, and asked: "How about that?" - Yes, yes! I totally was with him. What a great idea. It neutralize and modernize the whole thing! It brings out the wooden frame, it reflects only colours we already have enough of - what a perfect solution. The fabric we have chosen, is not very thick, but it is a easy to handle polyester and therefor we get it at a super price too. It looks grey from far, but indeed it is a grey with a BLUE thread. Perfect!


I have photoshoped the sofa to visualize the greige upholstery.

The fabric is only 54 inches wide (137cm) and the sofa is 130cm long. 3 meter might be enough, but I am going to get 4 meter to be able to use it the other direction in case the material is too short.


Upholstery for an Armchair

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Or how much a husband can accelerate fabric shopping...

When I was looking for a fabric for the 7 chairs that need repair and upholstery, I also was thinking of how to upholster an old baroque armchair and a sofa.


The baroque arm chair we found at an antique shop in Vibo Valentia was actually a pair of armchairs. We did not choose the above one, but the one that was already stripped off the remaining upholstery. We were thinking of getting a bold fabric, maybe kind of Paul Smith like stripes and paint the wood with silver lacquer.  


I love to browse our Jim Thomson outlet for fabrics. And finally, I do really need fabrics for my own. (The last time I had the pleasure to bring 11 kg of JT fabric to my fashion designer friend in Beijing.) Now it was our turn! And CC wanted to join me after I already did an initial trip and brought lots of swatches home. 

Unfortunately, it was late Saturday and almost closing time. But no problem for my fast decision making husband. In only 40 (!) minutes we went through the whole shop (five floors) and found all the fabrics we needed! For 7 chairs, 1 armchair and 1 sofa. Wow.

I was happy - but also frustrated! How can he be so fast? Last time, I was there almost 2 hours, and no results ....  Well, that's why CC is probably the manager and not me. But I am in charge for the interior! ... He realized, once again, that he actually could be an interior designer - maybe next life.

And after all, it was team work ;-)  

I like my bunch of swatches, so colorful !

The top swatches are our favorites!

1) my pre-selected silk/linen mix for the dining chairs
2) CC's selected fabric for the chairs is 100% silk
3) a polyester greige (for the sofa)
3) a 100% silk fabric with orange, green, gold and turquoise threats for the arm chair


Our selection so far ... we need 13 m in total... so not such a big decision to make... and prices are great.... now I should stop blogging and start acting... in the car and to the shop!

7 Chairs need Repair and Upholstery

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These chairs are our dining chairs. We have three pairs - plus one. Two of them cannot be used at the moments since one is totally unstable, and one just got its backrest broken. The others are in a not much better condition.




In fact, since we got them, they were supposed to get a makeover, repair where needed and new upholstery. But so far we had no time. Since we could sit on them, we used them last summer and this spring. It had its charm. But now, it is really time to focus on them, before more brakes apart or people land on the floor.

Angelo will take care of the repair. Not sure, if he can do it by himself or if he is going to give them away. And my job is to look for suitable fabric.

Now, that sounds like another fun project. Since the chairs are all different, we were first thinking of different fabrics for each chair, or maybe for each pair. We could go with blues and yellows, or with purple as a contrast to the yellow wall. We could choose one pattern in different hues. Or one color in different pattern. - But don't we have enough "noise" in the dining and living area? I remember, I counted once six different colors on walls alone. And then my crazy, stunning, tile mix in the kitchen.


But why musing, when I can find out what fabrics are available at the biggest Jim Thomson outlet in only 10 minutes! (While Thailand and myself are suffering from the heat and I cannot enjoy Italy's spring right now, why not check out the cool air conditioned JT outlet with its friendly and well English speaking young salesmen? But the 10 minutes drive are generously calculated when there is no traffic in Bangkok. )

Fabric paradise, pattern delight, silk, cotton, linen mix, stripes, prints, pattern in all colors...

My choice were the more simple and durable fabrics - here some of my swatches of "beach sea sky" colors, some cotton, cotton/rayon, cotton/polyester and silk/linen:


Or we could go more colorful with only one pattern:


But that means no more table clothes - so far we use colorful table clothes from the local markets (I took it off for the picture above).

After all, maybe better to choose a light blue fabric that caught my eye first. It is a linen/silk mix, not ideal for dining table chairs though, a bit delicate as the salesman said. The texture has a bit of a rough, natural touch from the Thai silk, and the calm light blue would match our interior.


If we wanted to add more diversion, this fabric is available in different shades.

Or how about this waterproofed blue/golden cotton/polyester mix? It is impregnated by a special coat on the back and it's on sale. 290 Baht/m (about 7 Euro/meter), with a width of 140cm it gives upholstery for two chairs per meter. Ah, too much choice!


Prices are not bad at the outlet, and Jim Thomson stands for quality. I have a sofa upholstered with a creme white cotton fabric by JT. It is over 12 years old and survived many guests and kids. After each machine washing it looks like new! So, I might carry some fabric from Thailand to Pizzo in my travel bag this summer.

But now, I wait for CC to return from a business trip. Let's see what he thinks... he might not like any of the swatches. Or his mother will skype and say she just found some cheap and beautiful fabric in the market, and that's why she bought it already for us...

competent JT staff cutting and labeling a fabric swatch

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Jim Thomson - Outlet Store
Sukhumvit Road Soi 93
Bangkok - Thailand
open daily from 9am - 6pm