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Decorating with a Budget?

Using high end fabric on light shade is a brilliant idea! Our eyes are naturally drawn to light and the center of the room. Its height also invites contemplative gazing. When the light is on, the beauty of the textile is also amplified and illuminated.

Here, merely one yard is needed for our client to make a statement: Scalamandre Watermark Moire in Ming Yellow.

2nd idea: use high quality textile—something you absolutely love to create a small “nook”. A small space that you will spend a lot of time often. Thus the beauty will be enjoyed more often. In this private retreat, you can disregard other family member’s opinion and simply go with what pleases, energizes and revitalizes you and you only.

Here is what our client did with some extravagant silk lampas. Merely 2 yards, full of colors, patterns, fantasies and textures, offers her a piece of heaven that nowhere to be found.

3rd trick: create a “wearable” or “carry-on” piece that you can use and enjoy in different rooms and occasions. A throw can be on the sofa, your reading chair, your table, your bed and even on your evening out!

After you get years of joy out of these pieces, full of our own creative energy, you will see so clearly how “affordable” and “economical” such projects are! Even half a yard, as a gorgeous table running, can make such an impact.

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Vintage Chair in Scalamandre Watermark Moire Ming Yellow

In his New York home, Mr. Lazarus Douvos picked the perfect fabric to reupholster tat special chair.

Moire, with its subtle yet rich texture, picks up light and provides a gently yet sure ambience.

www.lazarusdouvos.com

We have Watermark in 3 colorways: Ming Yellow, Tea & Peony.

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A Tiny Extra Will Save Your Day Down the Road

Every year we have clients coming to ask “this is discontinued and I need just such and such small amount but I cannot find anywhere!”

The chances of finding a discontinued wallpaper, fabric, trim with accurate identification information is very slim. Even with those information it is still very hard. This is from our 14+ years of experience.

You may have to find a creative way to repair that area. Or even replace all the wallpaper, fabric or trim if it’s not too costly. Unless your time has no value, pending two years watching internet is costly too.

1.Next time when you buy new wallpaper, fabric and trim, it is a good idea to have a bit extra for future repair. Because repair will happen. Same with tiles & paint!

2. Save the accurate information of the material: Brand, pattern name, colorway, SKU # and even dye lot.

Do not just put it on paper. Save it on your email or/and computer.

Experienced designers may know this. The rest of us (99%) learn this too late!

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Yellow is Underutilized

Don’t be afraid—-shine! Confess your secret love in Miss Sunshine!

Do you know our brain starts to produce https://thebestbrainpossible.com/sunshine-vitamin-d-depression-serotonin/serotonin, within seconds, when our eyes meet sunlight?!

Scalamandre’s Watermark in Ming Yellow. The silky glow of melted sunshine…

https://thebestbrainpossible.com/sunshine-vitamin-d-depression-serotonin/

House Beautiful, September 2015

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Valentine’s Day: Red, Pink, Silk & Flowers in Garland

First lady Laura Bush redid the Green Room in White House. The silk damask by Scalamandre she chose became the focal point of the whole space. It both anchors and enlivens the green walls and portraits.

The timeless beauty of Neoclassical is, surprisingly, deep rooted in nature and human’s relationship to them.

Here is Scalamandre Josephine 100% Silk Damask Classic Laurel Wreath Butterfly Neoclassical

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Dress in CLARENCE HOUSE LES OISEAUX ENCHANTES BIRD PRINT SILK ITALIAN RATTI GREIGE 1

By Erin Solaro.

Artist’s statement, “Fabulous silk and I had the perfect pattern, The Assembly Line’s Box Pleat Dress. Had to do a little careful pattern matching on the sleeves, which was a good exercise. Please forgive the wrinkles, I wore it before photographing it. Won’t work for another project (as you note, the pattern is very large) but I am sure you have other fabrics that will.”

“Are you a professional seamstress or designer?”

Erin Solaro, “No, self-taught. Do this as a form of political / culture protest: I reject fast fashion.”

CLARENCE HOUSE LES OISEAUX ENCHANTES BIRD PRINT SILKhttps://silkresource.com/store/?product=clarence-house-les-oiseaux-enchantes-bird-print-silk-italian-rat is one of the most stunning prints we’ve ever seen, but our client’s creativity brought its versatility to another level.

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Lee Jofa LE CYGNE STRIPE on Chairs from John Jay & Alexander Hamilton

Antique chairs from estate of John Jay. Before that they belonged to Alexander Hamilton. Two of America’s Founding Fathers.

From our client, “The chairs were in terrible shape when I found them, but that meant I could afford them, and then afford restoration once I found someone I trusted to do the job. If the provenance is correct, they came from the John Jay house in Bedford, NY, and before that belonged to Alexander Hamilton. May or may not be true, but they are really beautiful and deserve beautiful covers.”

When every bit of things were precious and meant to last for decades and generations. A furniture should be used for at least equal amount of years that takes to grow the tree.

Restoration, giving a historical piece new life, is so rewarding.

Client already has the chairs restored but when they found Lee Jofa Le Cygne Leeda & Swan Silk Lampas, they had to redo the job—the neoclassical silk honors its history and also achieves aesthetic perfection. Merely 1.5 yards of Lee Jofa Le Cygne was needed.

Before and after

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How Green is Silkresource?

How Green is Silkresource?

  1. First and foremost, only sell quality things with long life span. Silkresource only sells textile that stands for 20+ years. Most of our textile, under proper care, will last for 20-30 years and more. After that, they will become antique or collectable when other goods have ended up in a dump long ago. Fast fashion is wasteful of land, water, energy, transportation, space, your money (surprise!), and, most preciously, your time and your attention. Eco friendly is our core value. Fabric with 20-30 years of life-span uses 10-20% of resources than something you want to replace in merely 2-5 years.
  2. 99% of our textile is biodegradable. Silk, cotton, linen and wool. Non biodegradable fiber is a huge environment challenge. They will stay on earth for hundreds of years. Before humans find a solution, we have an obligation to use biodegradable fibers.https://www.unsustainablemagazine.com/a-comparison-of-the-environmental-cost-of-natural-and-synthetic-fabrics/
  3. About 70% of our collections are silk, which uses no pesticide, little or no fertilizer, little or no water. Silkworms feed on beautiful mulberry tree leaves, so it increases forestation rather than deforestation like cotton or linen.
  4. Painstakingly accurate photos: many, various angles, sharp and big. So client knows what they are getting. Low return rate means reduced waste of fuel and time. (Returned goods create about 15 million metric tons of carbon pollution in the U.S. each yearhttps://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/11/free-returns-come-at-a-cost-to-the-climate/)
  5. We pack with love, so nothing is damaged. Yes, 0% damage out of our 20,000+ shipments and counting.
  6. We reuse packaging material as much as we can. (Inner packing material is always new)
  7. We don’t print invoice or packing slip which have easily saved 10 trees by now. Why waste thousands of pages when all buyers have record on their computer? Miraculously, not a single buyer complained, out of our 30,000+ clients! We must be like- minded! (For orders over 6 items, we do print the list because now it is a necessity.)
  8. We never send “Thank You” card. Ten thousand plus pieces of paper saved. My philosophy: if our offering and services are good, buyers will return.
  9. We save pieces, scraps, samples and donate them to schools, artists and volunteers to make masks against Covid in 2021. It “costs” us more to save and donate than to toss them away, but we feel good for the environment and the beautiful material itself.
  10. At last, one reason we pay so much attention to your inquiry (purchase or not) is to hopefully catch mistakes by clients, their designer or upholster, so no precious textile and time is wasted.  With so many details, one missing piece can spoil the whole project.

We love everything we offer;

every client is a friend and creative buddy;

we treat every order and inquiry with full attention.  

Because, at last, your time is arguably the most precious resource. 

Live green, live beautifully, live gently on this beautiful Earth.

Runfang & Silkresource Team

Jan 19, 2022