How does that serenity prayer go? Something about accepting the things you cannot change, trying to change the things you can, and the wisdom to know the difference?
Well, that’s me right now. Serenity 101.
My living room chairs are back. You’ll recall that there was a problem with the upholstery: the back pattern wasn’t lining up, part of the front was orange when it should have been patterned, etc. etc.
Several weeks, many phone calls, a lot of angst, and 2 additional yards of fabric later, the chairs are at a point where I can accept them.
The “before” (not the “way before,” with different fabric, but the “recent before”) is above. The “after” is below. Look carefully, and try not to laugh. There IS a difference.
Don’t see it? Here’s the other chair. (Hint: follow the wavy lines.)
There’s no question that the first upholstery attempt was unacceptable. But this is what I learned: The pattern is SO HUGE – it’s a 26″ repeat, vertically and horizontally – that if we lined up the pattern exactly, across all three panels, the sides of the chairs wouldn’t have any focal point. That ship that right now is centered pretty well on each side? You might only see a piece of it if we lined up the pattern perfectly. Does that make sense? (It took me a while, believe me. And I do this for a living.)
The compromise was to line up the wavy water lines to provide a good transition between the back and side panels of the chair. Each panel has a focal point, and the seams are less offensive than they were before.
This, truly, is as good as it’s going to get. (Said through gritted teeth:) I…accept…that.
Here’s what DOES make me happy:
The front skirt does line up with that part below the cushion (help me with the vocab again, designers among you?), which is now the patterned fabric, not the orange. That was just odd.
So. Here’s how the room looks now. Drum roll please.
A new lamp is en route to replace the orange one at the left of this picture:
The lamp is too small – I “stole” it from my office when we were having that event here – and I feel like the orange is now overpowering the yellow in the room. So the new lamp is blue.
Next stop: a new coffee table. We all know that re-upholstering is expensive, so we’ll be going the bargain route on that. Wish me luck.
You know I’ll keep you posted. Serenity now…serenity now…