some days are better than others... (pt 2)

as we related in our last post, our fabulous surprise trip to the theater was initiated by planning a fabric shopping trip exploring the various crowded and cluttered small shops that line the streets of los angeles' garment district. we also explained that m21 was scared of those shops, with all their hideously bad polyester and acetate fabrics stacked out front- we break out in a rash just thinking about going inside them! you're probably thinking "how could maison21, a man who has crawled inside a dumpster because he saw pretty chair legs sticking out of it, be scared of some silly old fabric shops?" but what can we say- it's true. dumpster diving good, cluttered cheap fabric stores bad. m21 is just a bundle of contradictions- a puzzle, a decorating enigma, as it were. as usual, though, we digress- back to our topic...

the bachelorette had convinced m21 that treasures could be found in those fabric lined rat holes, and as she's not yet steered him wrong, off they went to wade amongst the bolts of cow patterned polyester and cheap cotton preschool prints. at first, m21 was convinced he was justified in his aversion- the best stuff we saw was some "imperial trellis" knock offs and some waverly toiles- not entirely hideous, but not so good either. as we progressed further into the depths of the garment district, a couple of more interesting fabrics started popping out- a psychedelic paisley reminiscent of a 70's YSL scarf, followed by bolt of pieced and embroidered faux leather. both pretty cool, but neither right for our project.

then, at our 3rd or 4th stop, suddenly a shaft of heavenly light shone down, and there it was: the fabric. the one we were searching for (though we didn't know it), and the perfect choice to transform the bachelorette's bedroom into a thing of beauty. (do us a favor, though- please don't ask who saw it first, the bachelorette or m21. she'll say she did, but m21 swears it was his highly trained professional eye that clocked it, and as this is the maison21 blog, not the "bachelorette blog", that's the story we're sticking to, ok?).

what is this miracle fabric? this life-transforming, once-in-a-life time find? behold, we give you katsugi:see why it was love at first sight?

a little ethnic-y, but still sophisticated; blue and white as we hoped for, but not a grandma-esque toile. it was absolutely perfect. if you think you've seen it before, you probably have- this fabulous schumacher print has been featured on many a blog- like my little apartment and urban grace. it also seems to be a favorite of talented new york designer, tom scheerer, as evidenced by the following two photos that we stole completely without permission from his website. mr. sheerer has long been a favorite of ours, btw- love his work. like m21, he loves to add a saarinen table to almost every project- they just work, no matter what the style. and we also love his effortless ability to incorporate natural materials like wicker and other raw textures into his interiors without seeming overly beachy or rustic- not as easy as you'd think.
besides that obvious drop dead gorgeousness of katsugi, the other thing that made this fabric absoultely heaven sent, was the low, low price we found it for (how this chic to the trade fabric ended up in some random fabric shop downtown, we'll never know). mind you, maison21 isn't one to buy and tell- the cost of goods is between m21 and his clients, and always remains confidential, so we can't reveal exactly what we paid for our fabric find- but in this case, he doubts the bachelorette would mind very much if he let slip that our katsugi purchase was a true bargain. a bargain as in we could cover all our walls like the above photo, and still not dent our total budget for the room. a bargain, as in we have enough yardage to use the excess as pillows on the bachelorette's patio, and not have to worry about about being extravagant or wasteful by using an expensive indoor fabric on the outside. a bargain, as in we got a whole bolt of katsugi (tons and tons of yardage) for less than than a yard of some high-end velvets. that kind of bargain...

as for how we will use our new fabric find- basically on everything! curtains, bedskirt and upholstered headboard and a small boudoir chair (we'll stick with basic white for the coverlet). i'm telling you it's going to be stunning paired with blue walls, white trim and white furniture with touches of brass- add in the vintage lucite lamps and venini chandelier we've already purchased, and we think we'll have quite the winning room...

now do you understand why m21 felt the need to post not just once, but twice about his very, very good day? does it get any better than an afternoon with a good friend experiencing incredible theater, followed by shopping trip where you find exactly what you want, in a place you never expected, and at a price you never even dreamed possible?

some days really are better than others!

and some days are also gayer than others- as m21 remarked to the bachelorette, "could it get any gayer than an afternoon of musical theater and fabric shopping?", to which she shot back "only if we had started with brunch!" ;-)

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