I wasn't really a nightmare client when I reached out to Papa Rasta for help with my kitchen chair…read morecushions -- it's just that I have high standards which lean toward perfectionism, and an aversion to failure. To the uninformed, this looks like fear. Besides, I'd already invested $!!! per yard with my favorite decorator, on custom-ordered, high tech, stain-proof upholstery fabric, and wanted the cushions to turn out pristine and well-crafted, with uniform pattern repeat on each chair. OK, so "perfect."
Supposedly, recovering dining chairs is simple. I thought I'd do it, but the fabric arrived, and it was so beautiful -- like a fairy-tale treasure which I didn't want to ruin by my own hand. While cradling the roll of fabric and tenderly professing my awe at its beauty, I decided to spend real money and hire an expert. A trusted friend recommended Emoja. He was open on a Sunday until 9 p.m.! Now, that's someone who knows how to work weekends.
My job was to remove the cushions from the chairs and bring them to his shop. I numbered each one, so reattaching them would be simpler as the screws would line up. He humored me, and put a little tape with numbers 1-6 under each seat, so as to not mess with my overcompensating brain.
My text conversations with Emoja are pretty laughable. I texted him to make sure that the pattern repeats would be the same on all six chair cushions, because if they weren't it would bother me all my days. I made sure to tell him that I'm a wedding florist, and for my own daughter's wedding reception, the florists who helped me went from place-setting to place-setting, checking utensils and glassware, asking the country club staff to buff water spots off of a piece here and there, "because Julia would notice!"
I didn't want to make him nervous that I was nervous, but if someone should be nervous, it's the person being paid for perfection. The person paying should be able to relax.
Emoja calmly reassured me, in his good-humored, endearing way, that the cushions would be perfect, the patterns would be uniform, the welting would line up, and they'd be ready in one week.
I decided to trust him, because worry is a waste of time if you're not in the driver's seat (oh, he reupholseters those, too!). Now my beautiful kitchen chairs please my discerning eye every time I look at them, which is too many times a day to count -- thanks to COVID, because I'm home too much.
I will gladly hire him again. This next time, I won't worry at all, and probably won't even text him.