Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 40

Shop Talk Interior
For the love of fabrics
by Krisha Plauché
W
" We used to tell
clients to 'pick
three,' and now
it's, 'Let's fi nd out
what's in stock
if you want it
this season.' "
e marine fabricators love
fabrics. In fact, most of the
conversations I have with
customers start like this, " We love
fabric. We have fabrics in every color
under the rainbow. But our fabrics are
special because they are marine grade. "
And let's be honest, fabric is the fun
part of our job, right? The big question
is: How do you fi nd the right ones for
your customers?
Onboard Interiors LLC, located in
Marblehead, Mass., has been cultivating its
marine fabric library since 1984. Collecting
fabrics from large mills and small boutique
collections, the company updates its
collection each year by going through all
its fabric books and logging in each fabric.
Library lifeline
Onboard Interiors LLC, located in
Marblehead, Mass., is an awardwinning
full service interior design
fi rm specializing in custom marine
interiors for private and commercial
powerboats and sailboats.
We have been cultivating our marine
fabric library since 1984 and have spent
years collecting fabrics from large mills
and small boutique collections. We pull
fabrics from all over the world. We meet
with fabric reps all year (recently on
Zoom), watch for new styles coming
out, attend trade shows, boat shows and
conferences, and we are lucky enough to
have the Boston Design Center nearby.
We collect fabrics for our library use
in general, but if the project is large
enough, we might conduct special online
searches or go on outings with our
clients to design centers.
A living library
Our library has a life of its own, and
we update the collection at least once
a year. We do this by going through all
our fabric books and log in each fabric.
It's a tedious process but if you have
ever had a customer search high and
low for fabric and then you can't get
it-prepare yourself for the equivalent
of a two-year-old having a tantrum!
Customers can't " unsee " their hearts'
desire, and it becomes an uphill battle to
fi nd a fabric they like even second best.
There have been times we've searched
the depths of eBay for fabric. Because
of this, we put a lot of time into keeping
our collection updated and " clean. "
Pre-COVID this was challenging, but
now it's a new level of diffi culty. We used
to tell clients to " pick three, " and now
it's, " Let's fi nd out what's in stock if you
want it this season. "
Client meeting savvy
Our client meetings begin by
explaining the importance of our
extensive fabric collection. We discuss
how marine fabrics are made and
talk about solution-dyed acrylics.
We talk about pricing-how it varies
and how to fi t quality fabrics into
40 Marine Fabricator | March/April 2022

Marine Fabricator March/April 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Marine Fabricator March/April 2022

Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - Cover1
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - Cover2
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 1
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 2
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 3
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 4
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 5
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 6
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 7
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 8
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 9
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 10
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 11
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 12
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 13
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 14
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 15
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 16
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 17
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 18
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 19
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 20
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 21
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 22
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 23
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 24
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 25
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 26
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 27
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 28
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 29
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 30
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 31
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 32
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 33
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 34
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 35
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 36
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 37
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 38
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 39
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 40
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 41
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 42
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 43
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 44
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 45
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 46
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 47
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - 48
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - Cover3
Marine Fabricator March/April 2022 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-may-june-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-march-april-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-tips-and-trends-supplement-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-january-february-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-november-december-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-september-october-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-july-august-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-may-june-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-march-april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-january-february-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-november-december-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-september-october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-july-august-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-may-june-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-march-april-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-january-february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-november-december-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-september-october-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-july-august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-may-june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-march-april-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0121MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/1120MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0920MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0720MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0520MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0320MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0120MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/1119MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0919MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0719MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0519MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0319MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0119MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/1118MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0918MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0718MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0518MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0318MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0118MF
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com