CUSTOM FLORAL FABRIC

For our Big Dreams of a Small Chalet project, we needed a statement print. Whitewashed floors, white walls, black trim and high ceilings felt too stark, especially for a mountain home. Our client mentioned the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, a city that was a major source of inspiration for this project early on and a place near to their hearts (they lived in Amsterdam for a few years). The Rijks is special. The museum promotes using their masterpieces so you can attempt your own "masterpiece". Rijksstudio makes high resolution images of their art available for download. For free. Yes, FREE, it's amazing what you can do and they hold a competition each year to support the art others make from their art. All that they require is an account. So incredibly innovative and forward thinking! 

Still Life with Flowers in a Glass Vase - Jan Davidsz-de-Heem. Oil on Copper

Date: 1650 - 1683

I've never actually made a pattern before so I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Thank goodness for tutorials and Skillshare guiding me along the way. There was a lot of trial and error. Before I even finished the pattern, I had to find a place to print. I ordered sample fabrics from Spoonflower and did multiple test prints. You can print a full yard or a fat quarter to test repeat, scale and color. In the end, we used their eco canvas. I was impressed with the overall quality of the print, especially for the price. Once printed, we shipped the fabric to be treated with a UV protectant and stain guard which we also had to sample to make sure it didn't change the color or the texture of the fabric. We then delivered it to our upholsterer and put it on a naked Ikea couch. Did you know you can buy Ikea furniture for a slightly lower price without fabric and add your own? The Dutch are doing it right people, can we all just get on board with these innovative ideas?

Alpine Noir repeat by Casework. This is the final version of the repeat for the fabric. Each bouquet is about 15" across. So it took some trial and error with getting the repeat spacing dialed for the exact width of the fabric. It was also helpful to print full size images of the fabric before testing with Spoonflower so I could see the scale in real life. Transforming from screen to real life is always the most difficult.

Initial palette inspiration we presented early in the design phase. We had our eye on this painting from the beginning as a major source of inspiration. Little did we know, we'd be covering an entire sectional with our version of it.

Photos by Mikola Accuardi