Faux (or fake) Leather offers a great alterantive to leather. With Martindale rubs of over 100,000 this is a very safe choice for high use contract areas. It’s usually made of a pure cotton basecloth with a poly-cotton visible coating. There are many other animal skins that are mimiced in the same way and in many cases the finishes are convincing.
But why not just use leather?
Much leather production has now moved away from the West to areas with less stringent environmental laws and lower wage rates. This is where the problem lies.
Chromium based compounds are used in the tanning and curing process of real leather. They are thought to be carcinogenic as, in some European tanning factories, cancer rates were found to be up to 50% higher in workers than in the population as a whole. Furthermore there were higher incidences of Leukemia in children living in areas near the tanneries. Environmental problems are exacerbated by the siting of factories next to rivers; the significant amounts of discharge that are produced are fed into the water courses and then dispersed over wide areas. In more lowly regulated economies it is not unreasonable to believe that the situation is probably worse.
Moving towards a better leather requires that chromium use is stopped completely and that the water used in production is cleaned and re-used in the factory. Any tanins and dyes uses would preferably be plant based.
Food for thought: If you wear leather clothing on sweaty skin then chromium residues in the leather can rub off and enter the skin.
KOTHEA had two recent projects where we had to adhere Faux Leather vertically. This poses a more serious challenge than paper-based wall coverings due to both the weight of the fabric (nearly 1kg per linear metre) and the wear and tear when adhered to a door. Both installations were more involved than domestic ones as we had to consider firstly the use on a yacht in a marine environment and secondly the high levels of usage of a hotel.
So the adhesive needs to be strong.
A further set of issues to overcome are related to how the fabric might react to any chemicals in the adhesive. In both instances our fabric had a 100% cotton back coat with a vinyl mix visible layer. Superfically a conclusion could be drawn that most adhesives would be OK with the surfaces they are fastening to in these instances ie a natural wooden door and inert stone wall combined with the natural cotton back cloth. However the adhesive will almost certainly penetrate the back cloth. Becuase of this the use of a solvent based adhesive, such as Asceton, is most definately not recommended.
So the adhesive needs to be strong and water based.
After performing suitability tests in these instances we chose to use Mapei’sAdheselix VS45 . VS45 is an acrylic adhesive in water dispersion and has been used extensively by Mapei’s customers for PVC/foam wallcoverings and rubber flooring. An alternative of Adesilex G19 was also suggested for areas with more moisture but that was not necessary in these cases.
I would argue that an image is the basis of a great profile for an interior designer.
Something to WOW me and to attract me all within a second. Something that tells me more about you than perhaps words could do succinctly.
Then you’ve hooked me I might read on a bit further.
Then you would need to tell your client what kind of projects and people you work with and perhaps also how you engage and work. You might NOT even need a killer headline “Best Interior Designer In London” or you might.
What do you think?
But of course you already have done such a profile on your web site 😉
We are happy to host (no strings or ropes attached) a brief profile of yourINTERIOR DESIGN or ARCHITECTURE business on this blog (https://www.kothea.com) with a link back to your site. Nada. Nothing Rien. No cost. Your benefit is free advertising to subscribers to and readers of this blog and a reputable backlink to boost your site’s visibility even further.
What do we get out of it? One day you’ll buy some fabrics or cashmere throws from us. Maybe. Perhaps. Hopefully 🙂
To be clear: This is for interior designers and architects and NOT their suppliers.
Off-White Textured Upholstery on Contemporary Seating
Modern-day interior designers should know that there are a few neat tricks you can do on your website AND blog to make YOU stand out more in Google when your clients search for you or the things you create.
I’m going to take you through two DIFFERENT but related changes to your blog/website.
Company Brand
When you search for a brand or a rock star or something famous(ish) then you sometimes will see some interesting bits of information appear on the right hand side of the Google search results…the place where the ads normally can be found. Try this search for Barack Obama to see what I mean. This interesting information might come from a Wikipedia entry about a rock stars career or it might tell you that company’s local contact information and maybe some images of their work or some customer reviews of their services.
If you can get a Wikipedia entry about your ‘notable’ business then you will have this problem solved. Tell me how you did it as it is notoriously difficult. (Hint: Don’t try).
You only sometimes see that information because the brand owner has only sometimes told Google what to put there. You can assume that Coca Cola have done this and this search for Coca Cola shows you. You’ll notice it is slightly different to the Obama-Wikipedia one, perhaps your version shows a local stockist?
Well; you are a brand owner of your interior design business. Have you told Google?
Here’s How
You need to potentially do quite a few things here. You (or your techie person) are going to be getting involved in HTML code using rel=’publisher’ and you are going to need to create a Google+ page for your business. If that hasn’t put you off let’s continue.
Firstly you need to create a Google+ account for YOU.
1. If your business has the website BlahDesign.com then you need to have a personal email such as Nathalie.Arrigone@BlahDesign.com (Nathalie@yahoo.com will not work). With that email address go and create a Google+ account for you ie Nathalie Arrigone. It is possible to create a login based on Nathalie.Arrigone@BlahDesign.com if you look closely.
Do not use the wrong name eg Nat Arrigone or Nathalie A. It will not work.
Do not try and put a funny picture there. It will not work
You need a passport standard photo. Otherwise it will not work.
Do not put a picture of your company or product. It will not work
Got the message?
You could of course create a totally fictitious persona based on a photo of your dearly departed aunty. Which would be a bit creepy 🙂
Almost there! Well the first part, at least.
2. While you are on your new Google+ page the only thing you NEED to do is to check that you are listed as a contributor to your website AND to your blog. Go to “About/Links” and add that information.
4. Now choose your profile and then PAGES. Create a the appropriate page for your business. Ideally Local Business or Organisation
Add your real-world website AND verify it eg www.BlahDesign.com AND http://blog.BlahDesign.com
Add all the appropriate email addresses eg info@BlahDesign.com and verify them ALL including yours if you have not already done so..
5. Finally ! You have to now put a link on your website to your new Google+ PAGE – replace 1111111111111 with the number of your Google+ page. Do it on your home page and also for the home page of your blog.
Please do not try to link this to your personal page. It will sort of work. For a while. You have been warned!
6. You can now test your new Google+ Company Page is working with the Google Structured Data Testing Tool. Just look for the section further down the page concerning the PUBLISHER information. It’s just that bit that should be nice and green coloured.
So that should be “all” you need to do for the company branding. You can play around some more with the Google+ Business Page and you can add map, product, address and other information which will also get shown by Google in various places.
2. Personal Branding – You as a creator of content. AUTHOR Boost
If you create truly meaningful content then you should go forwards with this option. This particular post that I am writing now would count as meaningful, original content. If you put up a blog post with the line “Here is a picture of a chair I like” – then that is not meaningful content. The content needs lots of originalstuff (pictures and/or words and/or video).
Personal branding will mean that sometimes Google will very kindly put your Google+ image (from earlier) next to your content when it appears in their search results. Not always. Sometimes. When they choose. You can’t control it (and from 2015 onwards Google have decided to display it much less as it attracted people away from clicking on their ads !!)
You add this line to EVERY post your write and/or every page of your web site. You change the 4444444444 with your personal Google+ Account (not your company page. The company page will not work. Don’t do it. Honest).
Here are a great selection of London based upholstery companies. Some of them are relatively small and other are very considerable and long-established companies. They are not necessarily at the upper end of the market, nor the bottom. I guess I could more easily say here is a range of upholstery and re-upholstery companies in London ! Enjoy, in no particular order.
Barnes Upholstery – 020 8255 9797 info@barnesupholstery.co.uk/ Sofa And Chair Co – 020 8752 8938 info@thesofaandchair.co.uk
Business-Related Interior Design Articles
Whilst we have dealt with some of these companies as clients this post is not intended as a specific recommendation, or otherwise, of any of them.
Most interior designers these days use social media. They might not use it effectively but they do use it. They might be using the wrong social media…but, yes, most still use it.
You: So, how do I best choose social media to ‘reach out’ (well that means “sell”, I guess) to my target markets?
Me: Well, silly, you use the same social media that your (potential-) clients use.
You: Ah! But what are they?
Me: Oh! 🙂
Well of course “It depends” is really the answer. Just as there are different types of interior designer so too are there different types of customer. If you understand your ‘type(s)’ of customer then you should already know where they digitally hang out. If, indeed, they do that sort of thing at all. Some won’t.
Anyway, as a guideline look at and consider the following:
A. Interior Designer With A Shop or online shops (e-commerce)
Choose: Mass-market retail-type social media: Twitter, pinterest, Google+ and Facebook
You need to work with images, with advertising and frequent/unique content in a highly sales driven way. Focussing on content that converts to sales leads.
B. Practice-Based Residential interior designer (mid-, top-end)
You need a great portfolio showcase somewhere. Probably on your own website. You might also reach out with your selected portfolio to PINTEREST. There’s also a good chance that many of your clients (or at least their partners) will use LINKEDIN. Showcase your service there as well.
You might also consider targeting advertising on facebook where you can select your demographic market quite precisely which will then, of course, mean that you should have a FACEBOOK presence as well.
As a one-off, you should also have a HOUZZ presence. But do not give too much away there. Make your content inspiring but tantalising. Link all the images and content back to YOUR website. Do NOT link to their website and let your leads go elsewhere. C. Hotel / Commercial interior designers
Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest are the sites to use here. However, you CANNOT use them half-heartedly. You really have to interact on these sites. Not just with people looking at your content there but also, on Pinterest, with target clients.
Even then your success here will be limited. The phone call to find out about re-fits, office moves and new hotels will prove the best way to generate new leads. Perhaps couple that with industry knowledge site such as http://hotelprojectsworldwide.com.
Fabric care symbols are most usually thought of in terms of the use of clothing. However the same symbols apply to fabrics used for curtains and upholstery by interior designers. It is of the same importance as with clothing. Fabric can fade or shrink if cared for incorrectly. So if these symbols are used then you need to know what they mean.
You can probably use ‘right-click’ to save the image or you can use pin-it or you can see a copy of the image here on our PIN-IT site.
Many of these fabric companies sell a wide range of products including: chenille, contract fabric, faux / fake leather, mohair velvet, linen velvet, cotton velvet, wool, hand woven products, natural silk, cashmere and damask for upholstery, curtains and cushions.
