This island is a very small place, which is said to be both a blessing and a curse. The blessing being that everybody knows your name, your story, your every move/haircut/weight loss or gain (also the curse, depending how you look at it!). Anyway, this proximity factor led me to Conn Brattain and John Giordani, a design savvy duo who moved to Maui from New York in 2007 with a humble plan to boldly renovate an 800-square-foot former garage into a modern off-the-grid haven and work on the land. Before I delve into their project, I'll briefly share the history in my desktop browser, which led to our meeting: my first stop was hapa | hale who plugged Cuckoo for Coconuts, Conn and John's daily blog tracking their island meanderings, sumptuous kitchen creations, and design projects (the duo merge graphic design roots with a long-held fashion and interiors obsession). Soon I had recognized Conn's branding/design work for Maui florist, Dellables. Thus, I opened ReadyMade to find an awesome feature on their home and even further coverage over at Design*Sponge. We had coffee and discovered we are indeed neighbors!
Anyway, since d*sponge gave us the inside scoop on the décor details, I simply wanted to highlight a creative and fun d.i.y project if you live in the tropics. Conn thought of a clever way to bring the outside indoors with his nature-inspired fabric prints that he used to transform a dining room set. Ideas for interiors can be found anywhere, especially in such exotic surroundings. Conn recovered his mid-century Thonet dining chairs (a flea market score) with an old linen fabric (formally used as curtains) and printed the seat of each chair with a different leaf from the property (monstera, banana, palm). He used the leftover fabric to make matching pillows, too. According to Conn, it is pretty simple if you have basic sewing skills. He shared a how-to with ReadyMade so we can try!
Ingredients:
fabric
big leaves
fabric paint
paper towels
water
plastic sheeting
Tools:
measuring tape
scissors
2"-3" paintbrush
small paintbrush
iron
Instructions:
1. measure and cut the fabric pieces for your project. 2. place cut leaves in water. 3. test placement by laying leaves face side down on your fabric. put back in water until ready to use. 4. place the first leaf face side up on a plastic sheet. paint it quickly, making sure to apply the paint thick enough for it to transfer to the fabric. 5. carefully place leaf face down on fabric. cover with a clean cloth or plastic sheet and rub the pattern into your cloth. 6. remove leaf and admire your beautiful transfer. fill in or enhance certain areas with a small brush if you like. repeat for each leaf with a new plastic sheet every time. 7. when dry, heat-set on wrong side of fabric with a hot iron (no steam) for 2-3 minutes, keeping the iron constantly moving. 8. once you're happy with your printed fabric, you can use it on anything you like.
And there you have it! Thanks to Conn and John and ReadyMade for a great story! [images via d*sponge, ReadyMade ]
Came here via their blog, but I really like your blog too. :) I will have to visit more often, even though I am sadly not in HI.
Posted by: Aimee | July 25, 2008 at 09:16 AM