Having a Pretty Yet Practical Home
While I was at Market I attended an educational panel moderated by The Potted Boxwood, all about Form, Function & Family in the home. The fabulous panelists were Sarah Bartholomew, Jessica Bennett, Lauren Clement, Liz Goldberg, and Lori Paranjape. All of these women were so knowledgable and gave such good answers! I wanted to do a whole blog post on this topic because I feel like the issue of making your home pretty and practical is so widely discussed. I took notes during the panel so I’m going to break them down by question and answers of the panelists but I also have included some other bullet points, and ways to have performance fabrics in your home without a designer!
*note: some of these questions and answers are paraphrased since they are from my short hand notes!
Q. How do you keep projects timeless and functional?
Sarah Bartholomew:
Comfort, durability, storage (how & where)
Certain materials for certain areas
Need to know how your client functions and what their needs are
Lori Paranjape:
Focus on the “back of house”, the area from your garage to your kitchen island
Have systems in place
Have a place for everything
For new construction you can create these spaces
Q. After you determine the function what comes next?
Lauren Clement: It needs to be pretty too. After you figure out the function you need to select finishes, paint, hardware, etc.
Jessica Bennett: Probe your client with questions to figure out what function they need, know how to ask the right questions!
Q. Favorite Performance Fabrics:
Romo
Perennials
Sunbrella
Jasper
Crypton
Q. What are your favorite space saving techniques?
LP: Concealment. Put stuff away and close the door! Spaces need to be “muscular and smart”.
Liz Goldberg: Converting closets into storage you need and building benches under windows with storage.
SB: Use antiques and pieces with drawers to store items!
Q. What are items you tell clients to save vs. splurge on?
LG:
Splurge: upholstered pieces, custom window treatments, wallpaper
Save: tables, rugs, art
LC:
Splurge: upholstered pieces, customization
Save: decor/accessories
SB:
Splurge: Master Bedroom, Dining Room, Foyer, Living Room, Family Room
Save: Kid’s Rooms, Guest Rooms. Use existing items so you aren’t starting over on everything!
A few other notes from the panel…
One of the panelists quotes Miles Redd and said “buy it best and you only cry once.”
Buy things while you’re traveling so your home feels curated and developed over time. It also gives a personal connection to items and they will have memories attached to them.
Look at old work and think about what still looks fresh and incorporate those pieces, finishes, colors, etc. into your home to make it timeless!
Performance fabrics have come leaps and bounds from what they used to be! For a while in order to have durable fabrics your only option was indoor outdoor fabrics, which are very stiff and not as “pretty” as indoor fabrics. They have a particular look and feel that are not particularly comfortable for indoor use! Performance fabrics are all the rage right now, and are newer to the industry, within the last few years they have really blown up in terms of popularity, and limitless options. All of the photos below have upholstered pieces with performance fabrics, don’t they look fabulous?! You truly cannot tell the difference in look and feel, which is exactly what you want.
So, you might be wondering.. how can I get these performance fabrics in my own home?! It may be easier than you think! Many big box stores now carry performance fabrics as an option for upholstery! Both Ballard and Pottery Barn have dozens of options with their upholstery products that you can choose from. Even Serena & Lily has Perennials products! Smaller more boutique lines, like Brooke & Lou also offer upholstery pieces in “Life Friendly” fabrics that are available to the public.
Any product labeled “Sunbrella”, “Performance”, or “Indoor/Outdoor” will pass the durability test! In my experience, Indoor/Outdoors tend to be a little stiffer and less comfortable than Sunbrellas and Performance, so I highly suggest ordering samples of any fabric you are considering for upholstery. Both Ballard and Pottery Barn have the feature of ordering a sample of the fabric, so definitely do that to confirm you like the feel. If you have access to designer fabrics, my personal favorite performance lines are Kravet’s and Perennials!
When it comes to rugs, wool reigns superior in terms of look, durability, and cleanability. The price may be a little higher than synthetic rugs but as the ladies in the panel stated, you get what you pay for! We have also been seeing a rise in handsome polypropylene rugs, so, check those out as well! They are great for families with pets and kids.
If you have products already that aren’t necessarily “durable” I would look into a cleaning company in your area that specializes in stain treatment. Getting your furniture and rugs treated is a great way to protect them against future spills and stains if you aren’t able to reupholster or re-buy!
I know form and function is a huge topic of discussion in the industry today, so I hope this post was informative and helpful! As always, if you are looking for specific products please reach out, I would love to help you find what you’re looking for.
There’s always Something to Style Over!
xx, Lea