What to do when the kids hit the sofa with a sharpie

Alan — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 19:53:09 +0000

I bumped into a friend at a chamber of commerce mixer the other day. He had a bit of a problem. The kids had written on his sofa with a sharpie so he was hoping I had the magic solution that would make it go away. The plot thickened when I found out it wasnt actually his sofa but one that was on loan from a family member. Ouch. With that kind of pressure, we knew we had to come up with a plan to help. I thought you might enjoy the email dialogue…

Fred (name changed to protect the guilty),

Ok, I talked to the team and here’s the order of attack on “operation sharpie”:

1-If your relative knows what happened and is the original owner, find out if any stain-proofing was done to the sofa. For example, if they used Guardian, they could call the 800 number and have it taken care of under the extended warranty (not from the manufacturer, but from the stain-guarding company). Stain warranties don’t travel to new owners, so I am guessing this option might be a challenge.

2-Try to have it professionally cleaned. Call Steven Vorbeck at Citrusolutions at 770-476-7211. I called Steve for you earlier and he has a product designed to get ink out of upholstery. It works on regular ink on sofas all the time, so he thinks it might work with a sharpie. He was at the chamber meeting last night. He will welcome your call. He does an awesome job on carpets, by the way.

3-If the cleaning fails, sharpies are made to be permanent, take the arm cap to Thomasville and see if that fabric is still current. It’s somewhat of a long shot, but if it is a traditional fabric it could still be in production. If so, you could order new cushion covers from them. If the fabric is current but the sofa style is not, you can get the fabric from them and have new cushion covers made by John Barker at Five Star. They do recovering, expertly and reasonably. (770) 614-3045. John can give you an estimate of cost and tell you how much fabric to order based on measurements.

4-If you have no luck with Thomasville, bring the arm cap to us and our staff will have a pretty good idea if there’s a chance that a different fabric source can provide the fabric.

5-If all that fails, know it is relatively common to have contrasting cushions. So, if we totally strike out we could come up with a contrasting fabric that would look awesome and have John make new cushion covers and maybe a couple of pillows and your relative gets a cool new look.

6-Invite your relative over and give their kids sharpies to play with and then go “oh no, look what happened!” Just kidding.

7-We do have great prices on new custom sofas. Sunbrella now makes fabric for sofas and chairs and you can clean future sharpie marks with bleach!

Hope this helps! Let me know what happens.

Alan

Michael quickly responded.

That’s awesome! I will get to work. She lives in another town and her daughters are 22 and 12 so I don’t think that one option is really feasible but of course I know you were joking! I like all of your suggestions though and the order in which you presented them. No wonder you are as successful as you are, Alan!

Best-”Fred”

One last suggestion…

Not a problem! Spread the word.

I think you still have a shot with #6 and the 12 year old…

Have a great weekend,

Alan

Great price point sofas…Leather too!

Alan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:39:20 +0000

We are making a philosophical shift in our showroom to allow people strolling through to be able to see the real differences between the various levels of home furnishings, especially upholstery. Over the years there has been a consistent worry from many of our potential clients in that they are uncomfortable with the notion of buying a sofa without ever sitting on it. Our assumption is that if you are working with a quality designer who knows her products and deals with quality manufacturers, you will always be pleased with the comfort level of your new room. If you’ve ever had a suit custom made, it was sewn for you from measurements of the tailor and your choice of a fabric swatch…without ever trying it on. A custom suit is always perfect.

But, since not all consumers have the ability to trust a designer (Lord knows not all of them can be trusted!) we are going to have a little more show and little less tell in the studio. Over here is a solidly made sofa but no ability to select your wood finish, cushion cores, or add any extra trim like contrast welting or fringe, and over there is a sofa that can be completely customized. You will pay more for it, but at least now you will easily be able to see and feel why and make your decision. Sometimes the basic sofa is perfect for a client’s situation, but without the ability to see the difference some clients just get stuck on price rather than satisfying their needs.

These photos show just two of the new sofa frames that we now have on our floor. We’re really happy to have them because not only do they look great but the price points are very attractive, AND they are made in the USA with laminated hardwood frames-not plywood or pressboard. We have the sharp skirtless sofa on the floor in a sage faux suede with four fun pillows priced under a thousand bucks. The leather sofa is priced at $1299 and the same frame can come with a lot of leather choices under 2K. We consider ourselves leather snobs and it’s hard to have a custom sofa with quality leather made for under four grand. This one has no frills, but it provides a lot of look and is very comfortable at an amazing price point. We have it as shown in a softy chocolate leather. Nice!

Georgia Interior Design » custom sofa

What to do when the kids hit the sofa with a sharpie

Great price point sofas…Leather too!