Marine Fabricator January/February 2023 - 43

I assured her I did and brought
out all my Sunbrella sample books.
Unfortunately, her requested pattern was
not to be found in any of them! So, we
ended a two-hour client meeting with the
clients not locating what they were looking
for in any of my sample books. I suggested
we do some further searching to fi nd
something they both liked.
I directed them to the Sunbrella
website to look at patterns that were
not available in my books. In the
meantime, I started searching for the
Wayfair pattern and color. After a timeconsuming
search, I realized that what
they wanted did not exist.
My fi rst thought was: Did this pattern
once exist, and it was at the end of a
roll and sold off to Wayfair to construct
pillows for the home goods market? No.
I eventually learned that Sunbrella manufactures
patterns specifi cally for other
companies, such as Wayfair and SilverState
fabrics, and the companies have
exclusive rights to those products. This
means these patterns are not available in
the open Sunbrella line but are offered
only to the contracted companies.
A balancing act
The second client meeting took place
at their home, which gave me a chance
to see their style of decorating. This
helped a great deal because people often
carry over their home decorating style
to their boat. I brought along turquoise
cushions as an example of the size and
color they requested (Photo 2). One of
the lessons I've learned is that despite
clients telling you they are looking for
" a change, " they often gravitate to the
same color and pattern they've used
before. You might spend a lot of time
exploring different options only to end
up with a familiar color and pattern.
This is why it helps to have a diverse
portfolio of suppliers-it allows you to
steer clients to a design line best suited
to their tastes. In this situation, I chose
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The clients requested diamond quilting
on all the cushions. The author advised
them to do the quilting (which was done
by hand) only on the cushion backs.
Photo 3
Photo 4
Photo 5
The design solution to breaking up the
all-white glare of the cushions was to add
a black stripe to the cushion bottoms.
The author worked with Canvas
Designers Inc., Riviera Beach, Fla., to source
these SilverState fabric samples while the
clients were wintering in Florida.
marinefabricatormag.com | 43
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Marine Fabricator January/February 2023

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