Happy Holidays from Classic Design

We are taking a well-deserved break until January 3, 2017, but we wanted to pop in and thank you for following our blog and journey through the year. 2016 was a very busy year and we are looking forward to new challenges and making more beautiful furniture for people to enjoy.

We use most of our space here to share the finished pieces, but the mosaic above shows that it takes a village to plan, design & build the pieces you see. We are forever grateful to our team of artisans for their exceptional work.

Happy Holidays from all of us!

Lately, in the Workroom

Excuse us while we play catch up! The workshop has been busy - here's just a glimpse of what's been going on!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays from Classic Design!

We have so much to be thankful for as this year concludes - we thank our customers & clients, we thank our vendors & most importantly, we thank the artisans that work with us everyday for helping us create beautiful furniture that is enjoyed worldwide. And, we thank you for following along with us on this epic journey!

Be well, be safe, be healthy & happy!

Restored & Reupholstered Saarinen Executive Armchairs

The Executive Armchair by Eero Saarinen is such a classic chair. And while it tends toward the industrial and utilitarian, it is just as lovely in a private residential setting as it is in the office.

This set had certainly seen better days; you can click on the photos to see them larger, but the fabric was very faded and very worn, even torn in some areas. We stripped all the chairs down to their fiberglass shell, and started all over.

The photo above is actually a great look at the 'bones' of the chair! And, if you look carefully (feel free to click on the image to enlarge it!) you can even see the date stamp of 11-12-62!

We completely restored & reupholstered each of the chairs. The photo below shows one of our upholstery professionals, Francisco, closing the chair by hand, as we always do for these classic pieces.

The new fabric, as you can see, is a gorgeous, deep blue. With the polished metal bases, they are standout, focal pieces.

We have more restored & reupholstered Saarinen Executive Chairs here and here - take a look!

Scenes from the Workroom

Just a little of what has been going on in the workshop lately! It's been a busy year - we can't believe it's December already! We've gone from large project to large project - and we are as grateful to our clients, old and new, as we are to our team! They are true artisans!

Happy Thanksgiving from Classic Design!

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours! As we all give thanks today, we are grateful to our entire team of artisans for the beautiful work, and dedication they show through their craftsmanship. Above is just a small sampling of what has been going on lately in our workshop.

In light of all that is happening in the world today, we are also so thankful for our armed forces, and the people who serve, for keeping us safe and free.

Enjoy your holiday and time with your family, friends and loved ones.

Upholstery School: Stitch Types & Samples

Many of the designers we work with already know this, but the average person might not know the difference between a plain seam, a single top stitch or a double top stitch. Oftentimes, this is one of the first questions we ask when we are reupholstering a piece, or making a custom piece.

The type of stitch will depend on many things, but most importantly is the style of the piece, personal preference and the type of fabric used.

The plain seam, shown at the top, is very common, and often used with thick, nubby or high pile velvet or mohair. It's simple and clean.

A single welt, shown at the bottom, is a thin piece of fabric, cut on the bias, and wrapped around a cotton cord. It is then sewn into the seam and provides a decorative element to a piece of furniture or cushion. This can also be a contrast fabric, or pre made element/cord. The single welt shown is small, but welts can vary in size. One thing to keep in mind is that depending on the size of the welt, and position (on the edge of a seat cushion, for example), it can impact the comfort when you are sitting.

The single top stitch has the appearance of a welt, but lays flat. This is very often used on seat and back cushions and gives an otherwise plain fabric some dimension. On thick velvets and mohair, however, this can look a little sloppy sometimes because the fabric 'hairs' can end up sewn in different directions.

The double top stitch is also very popular; it starts as a plain seam and then a top stitch is run down each side of the seam using a double needle machine. The double top stitch originated in Italy in the 1970's, and a single needle machine was initially used. The top stitch back then was rarely straight, and the needle impressions were not even. Thank goodness for technology, because it's really beautiful, but it can get lost if you are using a nubby or boucle type of fabric.

What's your favorite stitch?

The secret life of chairs...

Not all of our restorations are modern; we just finished restoring 4 of these 18th century French chairs, and it got me thinking: EIGHTEENTH CENTURY! As they are almost 300 years old, I can't help but wonder - where have they been and what have they seen?! They were most likely handcrafted by Jacob Brothers in Faubourg Saint Antoine, Paris, which is near Bastille and was (and still is) the center of furniture manufacturing in Paris. Many of the pieces for Versailles were made here.

They are part of a personal collection (which includes more pieces), and I do not know how they were acquired, but they have been clearly well taken care of. Only minor touch ups were necessary, and those were done with strict adherence to period practices (as much as we could).

As well, the reupholstery was done as the original, and we are proud of the results:

In the workroom...

This is what happens here on a almost daily basis - lots of hand sewing, attention to detail. This is what we do...have a wonderful weekend!