Chintz & Co. Part 2

The fabric department is my favorite area in Chintz & Co. Beautiful options, inspiring prints and plenty to choose from. There is often a line of creative women waiting for the yardage to be cut and the sewing to begin.

The Whole 9 Yards

Prepare to be inspired. I nearly fainted when I walked inside.

 Fabric for living room pillows

Also purchased luxurious fabric for staging. The throw pillows are being created as we speak.

Seattle Design Center

Found some wonderful inspiration at the Sample Sale. Didn't purchase what we thought we were going to but it was good energy.

 One of our favoite showrooms is Schumacher Fabrics.

 And on to my all time favorite....Nancy Corzine. I have been pining for this $8000.00 sofa. Her welting is over the top.

I adore this fabric called Velvet Roses. So dreamy...

I Feel Validated!

Thrilled to see my curtains in the February issue of Traditional Home (well a version of anyway.)

The cover was photographed by Emily Followill 

Here is my creation. Cloth from Fabric Depot and sewing my me.

Time to get busy...creating

Looking forward to some time off to paint and recover some chairs and create some fabric art work.

Pretty Visual

From a wonderful website KAI we have more beauty for the day.

Portland Shopping-Fabric Depot

A necessary stop on our Portland "to-do" list. Fabric Depot! Mountains of fabric housed in an unremarkable space. It is so large that it has a "conceirge". I love that so many people are sewing, quilting and designing. A fabulous stop for inspiration and motivation.

Our inspiration for this fabric is the pillow in the next photo.

{Steven Gambrel}

Some of our purchases.

This fabric will be made into large 22" pillows.

Fashion District

The Los Angeles "Fashion District" is most certainly a colorful part of town but the "fashion" part is lost on us. Tons of stalls of fake leather shoes and hand bags. Cheap jewels and tshirts. All was not lost as I did find some cute headbands for my sweet salon.

Fabric Inspiration

Once again we road trip to Portland and land at our favorite spot-Fabric Depot. One of the largest fabric stores in the nation! It's really bad but really good. The store itself is visually uninspiring but the energy is amazing. "What are you making?" Everyone is inquiring! The person that cuts your fabric wants to know what you are creating, those that are standing in line and the person ringing you up. It's crazy with creativity!

Eventually we get into fits of laughter. It's what us sisters do. Everything has the potential for a good laugh.

Our finds: I bought white vinyl to (occasionally) cover my icey blue dining table and give it a modern look. I plan to set the table with my vintage china and POW! A collision of old and new. Way cool. Also, some Hollywood Regency inspired fabric for window panels that I will craft myself. I just need to pull out my vintage Viking sewing machine and I'm off!

My sister extraordinaire found some killer Robert Kaufman inspired navy & taupe fabric. A spring board for a new master bedding ensemble. Very current. She also purchased a chocolate & cream Robert Allen knock off that she has been eyeing for herself (oink) or a client (lucky dog). Tara also found (in a random cart pushed off to the side ) a modern floral for amazing throw pillows for her ever-so-hip office. Last but not least some designs that inspired her for the next production of her lunch bags. http://www.coolconservation.com/ .

Fabric Depot- http://www.fabricdepot.com/

Our young interns. Portland Rocks!

A Roadtrip to Ignite Creativity

HOTEL
How cool is this photo?!

My business partner and sister extraordinaire is a former Hotel guru so when we travel we always start with a good hotel. This time, it was the brand new "The Nines" above Portland's Macy's store. It's the bomb! Hip and ever-so-laid-back cool. Thank you Tara and thank you "The Nines" $99.00 for 99 days. It was the perfect way to get the juices flowin' and the heart pumpin'!
SHOPPING
We begin at Fabric Depot. A visually painful fabric store. But once in the design zone we are lost with killer creative ideas. If you don't mind the occasional drip of water from the ceiling on your head it can be a fabulous place to brainstorm on furniture and room transformation. I bought some shimmer white crocodile vinyl to cover a boring petite bench and turn it into a fashionable side table. I will show you the before and after upon completion (we just returned yesterday). I also got some silver & white sparkle vinyl to create a cushion for a chair that's in my head and not yet in our warehouse. Sometimes the cart needs to be before the horse. I'll show you that when the look is complete. We finished off our purchases with a geometric print to bring a bench into 2009 and beyond. http://www.fabricdepot.com/
Target is always a nice go to place for easy, current pieces . Don't they knock if out of the ballpark? Talk about a store that is not burdened by a bunch of old dinosaurs unable to shift at a moments notice. Love the people in charge. Which brings me to purchasing a bottle of wine at Target to take back to the hotel and spend time thumbing through magazines. http://www.middlesisterwine.com/ "because we think middle sisters sometimes deserve a little extra attention". This middle sister will drink to that! Love the "Rebel Red". As the visual girls that we are we will forever fall for a cleverly designed label.

After the wine we move to dinner (and more wine). South Park Grill & Wine Bar. Into the wine bar we went for some simple fare. Only to be approached by 2 men wanting to settle a bet. I know, I know, it's bad but it happened. Then a call to our older sister to bring her in on the laughs. The food was great! Once again, many thanks to the people at The Nines who sent us over duck confit and creme brule. How cool is that?! http://www.southparkseafood.com/

Day 2 we are clearly running out of time. 5 kids and 2 over worked husbands mean we start our road trip with our hair on fire from the crazy planning we have to do to get out of town. And that's just to get away for 1 night-Yikes. Back to the morning: we start via the Internet and check up on our favorite blogs, our favorite clients and favorite design sites. On to West Elm. We are again in the zone. We have 2 employees helping to move our piles of purchases to the front desk ready for check out-it's out of control! We have 1 car that has to work as a truck so we measure and calculate what pieces of furniture are coming home with us. It was comical. After spending a fortune and saving even more (designer discount & no tax) we spread the entire contents of 2 days work on the sidewalk of Portland's Pearl District to be reviewed and repacked (or stuffed) into the car. Tara was thrilled that the West Elm warehouse guy did not look at the treasures and then to the car and comment that it won't fit. I am always in awe of what my sister can do when it comes to shopping and space. She works her magic. The car is full but Tara has kept a small area available for a few more bags that will hopefully be filled with clothing by the hours end. We have 45 minutes to power shop and get on the road. On to 23rd Avenue. My all time favorite shopping destination. Most treasured shop for me is 3 Monkeys. (They're too cool for a website). I mean it, they're really cool. Bought a few ever-so-cute pieces and moved on to Galore Department Store. Definitely not a department store and again, too cool for a website? We grabbed our purchases and flew out to door to begin the road trip home and recap the whirlwind inspirational buying extravaganza. I'm pumped!

Erin Quigley/www.openhousestaging.net
Middle Sister