Adventures
in Upholstery: The Sno-Cat Delivery
By Mitchell Powell,
January 2002
My
clients called me in July 2001 saying they had a local upholsterer redo a
preexisting sofa that never quite fit their room. The upholsterer had done a
good job, considering the preexisting frame design had terminal limitations and
could not be modified to fit the style of their hand built mountain cabin.
Faster than a mountain rabbit we began our collaboration and adventure into the
world of custom design. These people are FUN to work with, partly because they
are open to lots of ideas. These projects are the pentacle of mastership of
ones craft: to conceive a design that suits your client's needs while satisfying
the creative process within ones self. As it turned out, I used another sofa
that lived in their cabin as the basic template. T
It took a year for all
the bugs to be worked out, and
the piece was ready to be delivered. Fabric searches, designing and subsequent
modifications, obtaining materials, building of the frame, build-up (the
stuffing, springs, etc.) and upholstery took months. (For an actual pictorial
on the building process, click here.) We
started the actual work in October, snow was approaching and
my clients lived on a
mountain at an elevation of 6,500 feet! Great upholstery can't be rushed;
right? The piece took 6 weeks to complete from start to finish. Storms came
and went and along with it, snow. Great big flakes piled up one upon the other
until it stacked about hip high. No way up to the house unless we opt to pull
the 375-pound, Nine-Foot-Sofa from behind on the Sno-Cat -- and that's just what
we did!
All
possible scenarios were discussed and accounted for. A skid was built out of
two sheets of plywood for the base; the sofa was wrapped in a padded blanket
then a clear plastic sheet then in a thick blue plastic tarp and then.......THE
GREAT BLUE TARP WAS BUNGEED! (We were taking no chances!) My friend Michael
and I were snow-gatored to the knees and were ready to guide this great blue
whale toward its home 500 feet above.
Up
it went, behind our client's Sno-Cat! Michael and I sank into the snow up to
our knees as we walked behind the sofa-skid. The skid occasionally wanted to
drift off onto a snow bank. Michael's and my attentions and a lot of muscle had
to be used to stay the course. We pushed the sofa up the hill with all the
enthusiasm I could muster!
Michael
told me later, "I looked over at you and you were huffing and puffing with a
strange look on your face". Now at 50 I still have just a thread of pride so
that hurts. Michael is 23 and when he talks about "old people", he means
people over 50. He doesn't realize usually he's talkin' to the ol' guy when he
talking to me.
Finally we
arrived at last at the chalet, an hour later than we planned. Snow was mounded
five feet to the front door!
We pulled out the snow
shovels and commenced to make snow cones. (Okay, not snow cones, although that
would have been more fun.) We cleared the way and opened the door which
immediately invited us up a flight of stairs to a three foot landing. (Would
this endless uphill battle never end?) Remember, we were toting a heavy plastic-tarped sarcophagi with no hand holds, completely wet and slippery. It took
everything we had and my customer's help to get it into the house. We took it's
tarp and plastic covering off while it was sitting in the entry vestibule.
Finally,
Couch-in-the-Woods had arrived! Lovely! I looked through large
southern windows
overlooking the Siskiyou mountain range. The colors of the natural woods
reflected in this hand washed paprika toned cotton chenille made the room come
alive. (Yes, I did say, "Hand-washed"; I washed it! It became very fluffy and
the colors deepened.) When the lady of the house sat on the solid pocket down
cushion, she sank in with a sigh. A smile came on her face that let me know we
had succeeded. Light danced on the fabric, the sofa seemed self luminous.
There are several
fulfillments in a process like this one. First is the service given to a
customer; second is the fulfillment of creating the form and experiencing the
joy of its coming into being. Last is the fulfillment knowing that your client
has been pleased. Ah, the joy from fulfillment of purpose!
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