New Thomas Paul Fabrics

A new fabric book just came out from Thomas Paul for Duralee and we thought we'd share it with you.  If you are familiar with Thomas Paul fabrics, you probably know how fun and cheerful they are.  Just so perfect for spring...

Here are some of the new patterns:

These patterns are made of cotton/linen and run about $50/yard retail.  You can get it for less at our fabric store (about 30% less).  The rest of the book can be viewed here.

Fantastic Faux Leather from Silver State

The other day we came across an artitle about the danger of cheap food in Time magazine. The article talks about how our food has become so industrialized to make it as cheap as possible, and how we've endangered our environment and our health as a result.

We probably can easily dismiss it as one of the many things that is better not to know-- as it only makes us depressed, really. Besides, what can one possibly do? It's not like you can grow chicken in your backyard, right?

But the article did make us pause and think about what we do eat, and how by doing little things we can change our habits, and hopefully, do our part to help the world in the process.

If you are interested in the article, click here. A note of warning: it's really, really long. Like 3,251 words long to be exact! And it makes you want to stop eating for a few days...

So may we suggest looking at faux leather vs real leather when you decorate? We were doing a restaurant project a few months back and we discovered a great faux leather line from Silver State. No one heard of them, but if you follow this blog you'll know that we are suckers for small, boutique vendors that are not well-known.

We ended up using the faux leather for the restaurant banquets and they turn out marvelous. Not only that, they are way cheaper too. Whereas real leather is sold by the square foot, faux leather is sold by the yard like fabric, which means you get way more for your money.

What we like best about the collection is the colors. You might not be able to see the real colors here, but trust us, in person they just POP! The quality is really good too. It's very soft and supple, not plastiky at all...









The faux leather shown here sells for about $80-100/yard. You can find pricing information as well as the rest of the collection on our faux leather section. To see more of Silver State products, check out their web site. It's not a very well-designed web site though, so you have to click around a bit.

Suggestion: these are awesome as wallpapers as well. You need to find a good and patient wallhanger, but they look amazing as wallcoverings, and they are very durable.