Sunday, October 14, 2007

Renegade Topic

Greetings from Manhattan!

For one night only, I have taken over zwick's blogging duties. Although she has taken a break from the knitting scene, I think this forum is a good one to share her most recent artistic endeavor.

I have the pleasure of staying at zwick's very cute new NYC apartment, which has been even cuter since the day she put down HEB's staple gun and finished re-covering these IKEA chairs. She purchased the fabric at Purl Patchwork. The leftover fabric will be transformed into pillows or placements. Maybe in the comments section you can voice your opinion on the matter. Admittedly, the lighting in this photo is not ideal, but it is what it is (and a poorly lit glimpse of these chairs can only inspire you to come see them in person). Cute chairs, zwick!

9 comments:

kzwick said...

I would just like to note that Christine posted this, not me. Thanks for doing that Christine, and it was great to have you. I just want to make it clear that I do not make a habit of speaking about myself in the third person.

HEB said...

These chairs are fabulous and the fabric looks great! Zwick, how did you choose this particular fabric?

I'd vote for pillows over placemats because I think placemats would be a little too cutesy in a matchy-matchy way. I'm not quite sure why matching pillows do not bother me. But they don't.

Elizabeth said...

Thanks for the clarificiation kzwick. I wasn't sure if it was the chairs that were supposed to be talking or what. I also ask: wherefore were cute covered chairs when we were roommates?

I also vote pillows. Placemats=eh from me generally though.

kzwick said...

It seems to me that HEB's question of "how did you chose the fabric" may be offered with a tinge of sarcasm since she was in fact with me when I went to the store to buy this fabric. I swear we looked at every pattern in the place. She tried to talk me out of this one, but I resisted. For those considering recovering chairs, the key is to pick a thick fabric that will be durable enough. I am happy to report that they seem to be withstanding use relatively well. EW, we had real chairs when we lived together that did not necessitate this sort of drastic measure. Let's be very clear: these chairs were UGLY before the recovering.

HEB said...

Tinge of sarcasm? No, there'd be a tinge of sarcasm had we spent one hour looking at fabric. After three, it's a little stronger than a tinge. But the end choice was excellent and well worth all the waffling.

For the record, I did not try to talk Zwick out of this fabric. In general, I do not try to talk Zwick out of things. That's not my style of life coaching. And, anyway, I was a fan of the French clouds. (I'm pretty sure that if Zwick searches her memory, she'll remember that I was the one to first suggest this fabric as being acceptable to her roommate.) But I will admit that I tried to talk her out of the boring stripe fabric that she was considering pairing with this fabric. Luckily, I succeeding in that one.

To support Zwick's comment about the pre-covered chairs, it was really clear that IKEA intended these chairs to have slip covers. They basically had batting as chair fabric and it wouldn't have held up at all. Covering them was a wise choice and Zwick did an admirable job doing so. The chair picture does not do justice to the ingenuity of Zwick's upholstery design. You'll all have to come to NYC to fully appreciate it.

kzwick said...

...We did not spend 3 hours in that store, and HEB did try to convince me that I shouldn't get this fabric. She said "It's funny, but you'll get tired of it."

Also for the record, these chairs are the second thing I've bought this year containing improper French grammar. Oh well, so much for English expressions translated into French by a Japanese company.

HEB said...

I love how the blog reflects our alternate views of reality. It really is almost like we're in the same room!

Elizabeth said...

I am increasingly impressed with the Zwickster's creative use of fabric from the fabric version of purl!

And I am surprised by how cute the fabric seems from the picture alone! If someone had called and consulted me during the days spent camping in the store, I would have voted against words. However, the red and perhaps general awesome of the fabric makes it work.

Kudos to all, and our differing world views.

CH said...

Oh, it is like we're all in the same room!