This was a rough week for the Design House project, I must say.
First, I reported earlier that Stroheim agreed to provide all of the fabric I requested. Which was huge, considering that I’m upholstering the walls and need 50 yards of silk. (Did I mention I’m upholstering the walls? I may not have. I am. You’re all caught up now.)
So I’m happy happy happy, going along my merry way feeling grateful for WEEKS, and then out of the blue, I got a call WEDNESDAY:
“Annie, yeahhhhhh…could you use polyester instead?”
They may as well have said, “Annie, no on the Manolos, but we have these Keds…”
Gentle readers, I remind you: the theme of the Design House is “Urban Elegance.” Do Keds sound elegant to you? I can’t hear you. Exactly.
So I went back to my proposal, and I cut all the fabric I could. I cut pillows. I cut the amount we need for the drapes – fewer pleats; no big deal. I said I could substitute a less expensive fabric for the fancy-schmancy 7-foot long purple mohair bench I’m designing. (I didn’t mention that either? There will be a 7-foot long purple mohair bench. Now you’re REALLY caught up.) And the super duper showroom manager and I resubmitted the budget to central.
No dice. I couldn’t help myself. I called central.
“Yes, um, I’m working on the DC Design House, with the theme of Urban Elegance? And I realize I’ve requested quite a bit of silk, but, well, it’s kind of the cornerstone of my whole concept. You’ve had a rough day at work, in the busy busy city, you come home, you need to feel enveloped, cocooned, protected from the chaos outside…”
“What about wallpaper? Could you do wallpaper?”
Deep breaths, in and out. “Actually, the showroom rep and I explored that possibility – it’s very generous of you, by the way – but you see, to really feel PROTECTED and COCOONED, I need the depth of upholstery. I want you to be able to press your finger into a wall and see the indentation a minute later. It has to feel soundproof. City-proof. Protective. Luxurious. Expensive.”
To her credit, she really listened to me. (Laryngitis-ridden squeaky me. Over-hyped on Diet Coke me.) And she was sympathetic. But things are tough all over, and in the end, they’re contributing quite a lot to the project.
So today I marched down to the Design Center, my jaw set in a line of grim determination, and the showroom manager and I chose a very pretty deep yellow silk – sorry, polyester – the one with more than 50 yards in stock, for the walls of my “foyer.”
Gentle Readers, the secret dies with you. The walls will be covered in the fanciest rayon on the face of the earth, not silk from exploited underage silkworms in a foreign land.
Tell anyone, and I’ll have to kill you.
Picture of kick-*ss shoes from factio-magazine.com.