Page 202 of The Seven Rings
“I hear that. You’re the one having the art show at Bay Arts this weekend. I plan to come by. Tried my hand at fine art once. Well, tried my hand at most everything. Nothing stuck until I started working with fabric and furniture.”
She sat.
“Well, you said nothing modern so I don’t have to talk you out of that. More Victorian patterns for the chairs, a solid for the sofa to coordinate. Maybe some pillows.”
“That’s exactly right.”
As Sonya got the coffee, Cleo sat, opened a sample book at random. “These are lovely. This isn’t going to be easy, Son. We have a lot that would work, and this is only one book.”
“If you let me know a budget, I can whittle the choices down for you.”
“I’m not thinking budget yet,” Sonya told her. “I want to see what strikes us. And I’d love something that picks up what was, if you know what I mean. It doesn’t have to be a match, just…”
“You want to honor what was.”
“I think Maddy gets us, Son.”
Marianne Faithfull sang from the kitchen tablet. “File It Under Fun from the Past.”
“I bet she keeps you entertained” was Maddy’s opinion. “I got something here. It’s on the high side.”
Maddy picked up another book, flipped through samples.
Sonya brought the coffee to the table, and as she set it down, beamed.
“Not hard after all. That’s just it. It’s not exact, but it echoes. I love the rich bold colors here. The deep green, the purple, just hints of cream, almost like a tapestry. Nothing floral, just rich and bold.”
“Well, I love it. And dare I say we go bold? Purple couch.”
“Purple couch!” Sonya hooted out a laugh. “Who does that? We do!”
“Victorian era liked its bold colors and patterns. Still,” Maddy added, “you might want to look at more choices before you decide.”
“And we will,” Sonya assured Maddy. “But I don’t think we’ll top this.”
In the end, they went back to the beginning, and went bold.
“It’s a game room,” Sonya said. “It’s for fun. And we’re honoring its past with the pattern on the chairs.”
“I can promise you, it’ll be striking. And I’m looking forward to working with this fabric. So let’s talk cushions.”
They talked cushions and pillows.
With all decisions made, and the cost tallied, Sonya sat back.
“It’s just exactly what we want, isn’t it, Cleo?”
“Honestly? Couldn’t be better.”
“You do custom window treatments, bed coverings and so on, don’t you, Maddy?”
“I do.”
“We don’t need anything like that—yet. But after Corrine recommended you, I took a look at your website.”
Maddy frowned into her second cup of coffee. “Corrine warned me about you.”
Laughing, Sonya lifted her shoulders. “You’re going to make those three pieces beautiful, functional, and uniquely ours. I can do the same for your social media and marketing. Just give it some thought.”
