Magnolia Saloon 2013

New Settee Cushions = Bighter Saloon

Magnolia's saloon 2013
Magnolia’s saloon 2013

Sometimes this Seamless Sailor decides a project is beyond her skill set or available time.  I had decided that the plaid settee covers on Magnolia, while still in good shape, didn’t represent the look we wanted to create for our new home.  We wanted to make our imprint on our boat.  I wanted Ultraleather settees – sleek and durable.  The captain agreed to my extravagant choice.  After we had a positive experience having our enclosure remade by Captain Canvas, we had him redo the settees.  Again he did a fabulous job.

We wanted a tough fabric that could be easily cleaned.  The trade-off – cost.  Ultraleather is pricey.   We look at it as an investment in livability on the boat.  And at the time we were both working.

To decide on color, I ordered the color card from Sailrite.  It doesn’t seem that you can order the color card now (you paid $15 for it but if you returned it within 30 days your money was refunded).  But considering cost and not being able to return the fabric, it would be well worth ordering samples in advance of selecting color.  With the light color, the saloon is much brighter.  The fabric has performed well.  Any little mishap – so far –  has wiped right off.

We saved a bit in  cost by reusing the settee foam.  Captain Canvas sprayed the foam with Fabreeze and aired out in the sun.  New batting was added to firm up the cushions.  To allow for air flow, Phifertex was used on the backs and bottoms of the cushions.  Self-covered buttons were added to the backs for a bit of design.  The back cushions looked a bit bare without them.  Snaps and velcro hold the cushions in place.

The Captain and I are really pleased with the way cushions turned out and our habitability makeover.  Would this Seamless Sailor tackle the settee cushions in the future?  Probably with plenty of time and space.

What’s been your experience undertaking recovering cushions?

Magnolia saloon 2011
Magnolia saloon 2011
Magnolia Saloon 2013
Magnolia Saloon 2013

Other Seamless Sailor’s blogs about settee projects:

Sundowner:  http://sundownersailsagain.com/ultrasuede-slipcovers-boat-cushions/

Rebel Heart:  http://www.therebelheart.com/charlottes-blog/2013/7/29/custom-salon-cushions-for-a-sailboat-getting-crafty.html

Stella Blue:  http://www.wbryant.com/StellaBoat/Projects/cushions/new/

5 thoughts on “New Settee Cushions = Bighter Saloon

    1. Thank you and thanks for adding your blog post link. I had seen it and meant to include it. (I hate it when I forgot where I saw a good post or article!)

  1. And, duh, I forgot to mention that I absolutely LOVE the choices you made with your salon. Simple, sleek, cool cushions with easy clean up – they’re awesome! And, those curtains seem to hit just the right balance for a touch of patterned pizazz, without being overwhelming or making you nauseous underway (patterns can be, quite literally, dizzy’ing). Nice job on modernizing your classic boat! She’s a beaut!

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