Summerland Style

I just made a big mistake 😅 But I’m ok with it. I thought I ordered a black faux shearling for this pair of chairs I inherited from my grandma several years ago (fourth slide). But when it arrived it was closer to cobalt blue. Oops. About five years ago I attempted to reupholster them in a funky black and white print (fifth slide) but I made a bad cut on one of them and so they sat unfinished gathering dust and stains for years. There was nothing wrong with the inside/outside backs and I had applied nailhead trim already to one of the chairs which I didn’t want to take out. So my plan was to just do the seats and arms in the “black” faux shearling. After a bit I decided to just go for it anyway since I have a loud print that incorporates the cobalt in a few places in my house. It may not have been what I envisioned but I think it works. And the chairs are finally properly finished!

My stories explain what we are looking at here. So much work but so worth the end result. I’ll post a before and after when I’m done with all the cushions 😊

I’ve been trying to decide how to close out the year on my business Instagram, here. In looking through all my pics from 2021, we still managed to create some really great memories which is a miracle, cuz … 2021 … amiright? One major decision I made as a business owner and creative-type is that I won’t be taking on any more custom projects for customers. I have a storage unit full of furniture that I’ve rescued over the years that NEED to be revived and put up for sale. With working full time as a furniture store merchandiser and doing custom upholstery “on the side” there is no time left for working on these pieces. Something has to give. So I will continue to keep my impossibly tiny workspace churning out awesome furniture. Only difference is they will be up for grabs! I hope you’ll continue to follow along and keep me accountable on this 😆 It’s so hard to say no to people - especially when I believe with my whole heart people should reupholster their treasured pieces. Here’s to a creative 2022!! 🥂

I was able to redo this doll high chair that belongs to my aunt Lynnette as it transitions from her daughter to granddaughters and now to her great granddaughter. The 70’s had a grip on this hard. I changed up the fabric as well as a few finishing details just to refresh it further. Notice anything about the old fabric?

Today I was able to finish up this mid century platform rocker for my client who is expecting a baby soon! I had to rebuild all of the padding to make it more comfortable and re-styled it a bit to be a little more streamlined. I’ll have to break out the lint roller before they pick it up tho 😅

This is one of a pair of chairs I redid for my client and friend as part of a design from scratch project. We’ve been working together since June on her great room that includes a main living room, conversation area and dining room. It has been the most delightful project and I’m excited for her to see these chairs! I hope to post pics of the entire design project when completed. The fabric on these chairs is S2522 Fog from and is so plush 🥰

Just a little nip and tuck.

This was a satisfying little makeover. The previous tapestry fabric screamed early 90’s and was due for an upgrade, dontcha think?

A couple things I’ve learned over the years … cleaning the house, lighting the candle and wearing something that makes you feel good are simple ways to appreciate living in the moment. Multiple upholstery projects await me in the studio - but knowing I will come back to calm vs chaos this evening justifies my procrastination this morning. Right? 😅

Just thought I’d show you this quick little transformation (although I forgot to take a before pic). This new blue and white texture is a Crypton fabric from which will be super durable for these hardworking counter stools.

Summerland Style updated their info in the about section.

It was my pleasure to redo this English arm club chair for my customer Susan. It wasn’t in bad shape, (as seen in the third pic which I barely remembered to take - only after it was on its side on the table). But needed it needed a refresh. I hope it’s treasured for many more years.

You’re correct! This is a before pic of a dining room chair and there is no after pic. It’s not because they didn’t turn out gorgeous - because they did! I just didn’t take an after pic cuz I was in my head about delivering the finished product. I swear my anxiety over delivering projects has gotten SO much better the past few years, but I still struggle with what-ifs when dealing with customers I don’t know. Let me just say that the customer chose beautiful fabric, we replaced the 30 year old foam with high density foam that will last another 30 years and my 17 years of upholstery experience made the finished seats fit like a glove. When I delivered them, I had a feeling the elderly sisters who were the clients would need me to screw the seats back in. I was right. However, they didn’t have tools and I made another appointment to come back the next day with my own drill and better screws. Of course it took three times longer than it should’ve. But ... the moral of the story is, I guess, do your best, be kind, go the extra mile. Sometimes you may get burned, but that’s not on you. In this case the sisters were THRILLED. And I felt good knowing I had done my best, been kind and gone the extra mile. I KNOW my fellow upholsterers relate. Can I get an amen?

This weekend involved lots of ladders. 🪜 Owen, Scott and I finished up all of the exterior painting on the pumphouse. PLUS ... we painted and reinstalled the gutters as we are going to be collecting our rainwater to water the flowerbed along the side of the pumphouse. We also fixed a couple of vintage ladders as trellises for our existing rose bushes. I’m thinking about what other plantings I’d like to add to the planter. Although I’m very far away from being a plant lady. Baby steps, right?

I’ve done a few chairs like this over the years and they’re so satisfying. In fact, the first chair I ever reupholstered in my 2003 upholstery class was nearly identical to this one. Ah, nostalgia. This one was obviously very loved by my client’s kitty 🐈‍⬛ You know what they say ... cats keep upholsterers in business 😉

Treehouse update: although progress seems glacially slow ... we have actually been making good progress this past year. Four out of the seven salvaged iron framed windows are installed. We used up all of our cedar shakes and are on the search for more. Exterior door and trim is painted. The second slide shows where the treehouse was a year ago when we started work on it again after a 10 year hiatus. This week a mama bird has been busy. Because our pace is so slow we will let her build her nest and hatch her babies. They’ll be gone out of the nest before we have it completely closed in 😏

This one was so interesting and VERY old. It had 3 layers of old fabric and needed all new webbing support. Originally I wasn’t sure I was going to use the nailhead trim again but it just felt right.

I forgot to post this project from last week (mostly because I didn’t get super great pics). This little antique belongs to my boss at the store and was in such great shape. It’s rare that pieces this old are in such good shape structurally as well as the wood finish. This was a fun one to redo. And of course, a couple pillows to round it out 😉

Well, we made a decision on the door color on the pumphouse. After much debate, we went with ... black. Ultimately, the pumphouse is one of 3 structures on our property that are all visible together. So we wanted them to all coordinate without anything standing out too much. Once the house is also painted black, we will see if an accent color makes sense for any element on each structure. Now that we have two out of the three painted black, the house is looking pretty massive. I think I’ll break out the paint sprayer for that guy 😏

I’ve missed a few posts 😬 The first one I missed was about my process which I think I will do a little video for soon. Skipping ahead, this post is about silver linings. Which got me to thinking about my brick and mortar that I opened in 2015. It was so cute and a long-held dream of mine. As soon as I opened, I had a full roster of clients. We expanded across the courtyard into a dreamy space a little over a year from opening my doors. From there we expanded again into a larger warehouse space to accommodate my growing furniture hoard and to allow for more workspace. By 2018 the stress started to take a toll and my body was screaming at me to reevaluate. I felt like I was working so hard and paying everyone but myself. I had mistakenly thought that I could only ever work for myself until an incredible position at a local furniture store fell in my lap. I was hired as the visual merchandiser in November of 2018 which meant that I had to close my shop doors and break my lease. It was the single biggest (and expensive) relief I think I’ve ever felt. After finishing my backlog of customer reupholstery, I spent several months just working 9-5 at the store and enjoying my weekends and evenings. When lockdown started, so did the requests for reupholstery. I began taking on select upholstery projects last year and continue to find a really nice balance. So for me, the silver lining is that although I only had my shop for 3.5 years, it led me to where I am now. I learned SO MUCH from running and growing a business and it has not jaded me from considering growing a business in the future.

This mid century club chair was one of the first things I redid to sell. I was trying to find my signature look back then (2004 I believe). My how things have changed. But I do still really dig that turquoise print!

Today’s asks what my focus and priorities are. Stick with me here. I manage a few chronic autoimmune issues ... which sucks. But, I prioritize eating well, getting plenty of sleep and keeping stress as low as possible. I do this so that I can truly enjoy time spent at home with my all-boy family building a wonderland on our property. Time with our boys has flown by! But they are both still living at home which I love. Being as healthy and as present as I can be allows us to take full advantage of living in one of the most incredible places on earth - the . I mean, come on! Look at this place!!! What does this have to do with being a maker? Well, one of the changes I’ve made during this year of Covid has been that I have stopped giving myself or my clients deadlines. I am finished when I am satisfied with the finished product. The sharper my skills become, the higher my standards become. So allowing myself time to get it as close to perfect as possible eases my stress tremendously 😅 So I guess my focus and priorities are balance and health because it truly affects everything else.

Here’s the final before and after of this interesting channeled wing chair. A cat or two had loved it at one point and the lumpy seat had seen better days. I’ve got a quick turnaround project ready to go on my cutting table BUT I will hopefully have a fun surprise post for tomorrow. We worked all day on it today and should be ready for the reveal tomorrow 🤞🏻

It’s funny the thought process that follows each of these prompts from Today’s is “in use”. Which got me to thinking about my hard-working cutting table that I use every day, which is inside my hard-working yet tiny studio that I use every day, which is also our pumphouse that has also been a guest house at times in the past when my workspace was elsewhere. So there you go. No matter the function, this cute space is almost always in use!

Portrait:

Taken 9 years and 25 lbs ago ... This pic was about seven years into my professional upholstery journey. ⛏

But first things first - my name, Nia (pronounced Nee-uh) is a nickname. My full Swedish name is Linnia - which my grandma changed the spelling when she was growing up with it to the way it is now and I wish she wouldn’t have. It’s pronounced Luh-NEE-uh not LIN-ee-uh. But I get it. That’s what it looks like. So to avoid the whole mispronunciation thing, my Starbucks name is Summer. Which I now use when ordering food and drinks from most places. ☕️

I’ve had my nose pierced three separate times. Probably will get it done one more time 🤷🏼‍♀️

I was a tomboy growing up and I LOVE being a boy mom. 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦

I’ve been married to Scott since 1997 and we are legit best friends. 👩‍❤️‍👨

We’re building a really killer treehouse from nearly 100% salvaged materials. I also have plans for a hobbit house too. 🏠

My 7 year old black lab Loki is my very best boy and our quarantine kitty Teddy is such a riot. 🐶🐱

We have a very happy home. One of the things we are known for in normal non-pandemic times is the killer summer parties we host in our yard. They are epic and life-giving and it’s the thing I miss most💕

Nearly there, folks. Today for This is my current work in-progress. I made the cushion after I got home from work today and will just need to make and apply the double welt. Fun fact: speaking of in-progress, in college I was in a sketch comedy group called Inn-Progress. We aired our episodes on our local public access tv back in the 90’s. My husband, Scott, was also part of the group and the first time we met is forever captured on videotape. 💕

I always think I will finish way faster than I actually do. I’ve almost got the outside back and arms on and then all that’s left to do is the trim and cushion. This one’s been rather enjoyable!

I get free choice today and tomorrow with what I post for So I’m posting the reason I can’t quit upholstery no matter how many times I try. It’s simply the challenge. Seventeen and a half years into my upholstery journey and I still come across things I’ve not seen or attempted before. This wing chair I’m working on has channeled inner wings! Just constructing, stuffing and attaching both wings took me about 4 hours today!! More progress pics tomorrow 🤞🏻