Planning Makes Perfect

Earlier on in my career, I commissioned a sectional from a very reputable and excellent custom furniture maker, someone I had worked with for a while and whom I knew would do a beautiful job. My clients were trying to get the living room ready for holiday entertaining. One was a CEO and entertaining is something they do a lot.

They spent most of their time at home in the family room but no one had paid attention to what was happening with the living room sectional. While she was planning, about four weeks before the party, she sat on it and noticed that it felt like the cushion inside had started to shrink, as if the foam inside the seat cushion was crumbling

Now, when someone calls me about a piece of furniture that is only two months old and tells me that all the cushions are crumbling, it just doesn’t make sense. This was a ten thousand dollar sectional, so needless to say the client was not happy and neither was I.  I could see that the fabric and the casing around the cushion were bunching up and that whatever was supporting the fabric had shriveled and the rest was just hanging off.

"What happened?" I’m thinking. "Did I use the wrong fabric?”

I thought perhaps the fabric had stretched but usually if fabric stretches, it tends to stretch in all directions, not only in one direction. I was miffed and so I called the manufacturer, one I have a great relationship with. That's important if you're going to do custom furnishing. The told me to send one of the completed covered cushions back to them at their cost overnight to figure it out.

The next day I received a call telling me that there was good news and more good news. The first good news was that a very quick diagnosis showed cushion failure from the foam manufacturer. The second piece of good news was that there was an immediate solution. I sent the cushions back and they had it taken care of in a week and a half to the delight of my client and in perfect timing for holiday parties.

‘Tis the season and as you know, planning makes perfect. Although it’s too late to get any custom furnishings before the holiday, if you’re thinking of entertaining in 2024 and need a room refresh, it’s time to start planning now. As the saying goes, a goal without a plan is just a wish.