This business is not for the faint of heart. I’ll be the first to dispel the notion that being a designer is glamorous. Being a designer is 10% inspiration and 90% sweating-bullets-while-putting-out-fires-and-trying-to-make-it-look-as-easy-as-your-mama’s-homemade-pie, and don’t let anyone tell you anything different!

I could have titled this post “What To Do When Nothing Goes According To Plan,” but that would have been too dramatic because there are truly a LOT of things going right. So that’s where I’m going to start.

I promised you last week that I would share my pillow story this week, and I cannot wait for all of these beauties to come to life in this space.

ONE: I’m beyond excited to have managed to snap up the last of these two beautiful black and gold burnout velvet numbers from Hollie Cooper Interiors.

TWO: I may or may not have drawn blood biting my lip when I first laid eyes on these stunning tribal beaded vintage leather pillows from Stone Textile. I am pretty obsessed with the graphic energy they possess, and I love that their vintage soul will imbue an uncommon sense of history into the space. Love them hard, along with literally every other pillow in Elizabeth’s edgy collection. Be sure to check it out.

THREE: I have been a fan of Arianna Belle‘s stunning collection of pillows for years, and these killer beauties have my designer heart a-pounding. I love the patina to the silver sections of this pair of gorgeous linen pillow covers. So modern, so elegant, so yasss.

FOUR: Also from Arianna’s collection, this yummy leopard velvet is totally a win for me. As the only female in the house, my guys have reacted pretty hard for years now to my attempts to bring anything leopard into the house. Take note, friends: the tide has turned! I got a unanimous “sure” to this one, and I’ll take it!

If you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen this close up of the gorgeous Bernhardt Pearl Cocktail Table last night.

The finish is made of crushed mother of pearl, and I feel like no photo will ever do it justice. It is lustrous and elegant and luxurious and yet so simple. Truly divine, and the perfect centrepiece to the entire room.

I have also been paying regular visits to Whittington & Co. to capture the process of the making of our two beautiful Essex chairs. I am such a believer in the power of a beautiful process to produce a beautiful product, and the team at Whittington & Co truly embody this in their work. From the initial design concept to the highest quality materials used in construction to the finest finishing details, they really do offer a design lesson in the Anatomy Of A Well Made Chair, which is why I put together this infographic below to help tell their story.

STEP ONE: All well-constructed furniture begins with a kiln-dried frame for stability and the assurance that your piece will resist warping over time. All the joints are double-dowelled, glued and corner blocked for further stability.

STEP TWO: I’m pretty sure the team at Whittington & Co. love wood as much as I do, and that’s saying something. We may or may not have had a moment while discussing all of the varieties available, and the figured maple chosen for the show wood on the Essex chair is so yummy I want to bite it.

STEP THREE: This one is a BIG DEAL to me as a designer: heavy gauge coil springs are hand tied to the frame 8 ways. This is truly the Gold Standard of spring systems for bench-made furniture. Whereas drop-in coil units can be noisy and don’t offer an exact fit for custom furniture, hand tied coils are a perfect fit every time and unlike the much cheaper s-spring or zig-zag spring systems, they won’t sag over time, ensuring you a beautiful piece of furniture that will last a lifetime.

STEP FOUR: The seat springs are covered in high quality cotton felt lining to prefent the springs from transferring through to the fabric. High quality foam edging is also secured and then STEP FIVE: The leather deck is sewn to the sisal webbing underneath for a perfect finish.

STEP SIX: Things start to get exciting as the supple top grain leather is all single or double top stitched and then upholstered to the frame.

STEP SEVEN: Not pictured above, the seat is constructed from a core of soy based foam and wrapped in a feather blend envelope. All cushion covers are made to be reversible to once again extend the longevity of the piece.

To say I’m excited about enjoying these beautiful chairs in our home would be a massive understatement! I’m so delighted to be working with Whittington & Co. on this aspect of the space.

Also on the GOOD list, Graham managed to get the frieze mould from the kitchen cabinets wrapped around the dining room and living rooms thanks to some poplar plans from Metrie.

I believe details are a love language, so I get pretty excited about seeing this happen. It may seem a small detail to some, but for me it’s the final touch that’s been missing for 6 years and I couldn’t be happier to see it finally happening! I love that this delicate trim detail integrates the 1960’s plaster valances and the beam between the dining room and living room, making it all feel very intentional. Up next for me: fill all the nail holes, sand and paint out all that happy trim.

So the last week has been pretty loaded with plot twists, not the least of which was the discovery that FEDEX LOST THE GREEN VELVET FOR THE SOFA. Yes, you read that correctly. Somewhere between the mill in Holland and the workroom here in North America, that stunning emerald green goodness went totally MIA.

When I first learned about it, I spent two days scrambling to find a substitute fabric because (naturally) the original choice is now backordered. Clearly emerald green is the sleeper Colour Of The Year (hello Pantone!) because we probably vetted 20+ options without finding anything that was the right colour matched with the right performance ability and actually in stock.

After one really restless night, I made the executive decision to handle this situation the same way I would handle it if it was a client project without a media deadline: I am waiting for the right fabric.

I’ve seen it too many times: driven by “the magic of Christmas” or some other über-important event, a client decides to compromise the design plan in order to have the space finished for the calendar date and then they regret it for all the remaining dates on the calendar thereafter. I’m going to be living with this sofa for far too long to compromise on the fabric. While I’m sad that my reveal will not be true to the original emerald vision, I’m turning them lemons into lemonade with the opportunity to make the room over twice (enter a beautiful loaner sofa!) with two photo shoots to show the room two ways. Hoping y’all will come on back for both reveals!

To secure the “One Room Two Ways” theme, I learned today that the brass and black Strand chair is still at sea and will also not arrive in time for the reveal. So I’ll be adding “find a fabulous loaner chair” to my to-do list for this week. Onward and upward.

Bad news usually comes in threes, and my third was dropping my iPhone in the toilet leading to a rather undignified death. And you know what? It’s all good. I have friends struggling with FAR bigger REALLY HARD battles right now to think I have anything to complain about. These design dilemmas are peanuts in comparison, and the truth is I’m summing up Week 3 with a sense of gratitude. I may not be able to do the splits anymore, but I’m still flexible-as-heck as a designer and will use my love of strategy to make this week’s plot twists work to my advantage.

I truly can’t wait to check in with my fellow design daredevils to see what ORC goodness they’ve gotten up to this week. Be sure to check out their updates and let me know which projects are your favourites!

Claire Brody | The Curated House | Design Manifest  | Driven by Decor  | Honey We’re Home  | Hunted Interior  | The Makerista | Making it Lovely | My Sweet Savannah | Pencil and Paper Co. | The Pink Clutch | Savvy Home  | Simplified Bee | Sketch 42 | Jill Sorensen | Orlando Soria | Thou Swell  | The Vault Files  | Waiting on Martha | The Zhush | Media Partner House Beautiful | TM by CIH