Adam Nguyen's Blog: The Hawaiian barkcloth pattern that is setting the stage for my entire Mahalo Lounge project

My project to transform my 15′ x 45′ living room/dining room into a Polynesian pop paradise is now solidly under way — made possible by the fact that I found a fabric for the 20+ linear feet of pinch-pleat curtains required by the space. The beautiful fabric that I discovered and which is now at the drapery workroom: Diamondhead Fabric’s Kamuela Green Kahala Cloth. I am MADLY in love with this fabric. It is JUST what I was looking for! And now that I have it, it is setting the scene for other key elements of my Mahalo Lounge.

Disclosure: I paid Diamondhead full-price for this fabric, although I did offer to barter some ad space for part of the purchase, which they agreed to try. That covered about 1/4 of my cost. But, it was not a determining factor — I would still have bought the fabric: As I said, it was exactly — no, it was better — than what I had in my mind’s eye. As a nifty gifty, the company also sent me two 20″ pillow covers for free. Folks, at just $15 each, these pillow covers are a fantastic deal!

Why I chose this Diamondhead Fabrics barkcloth pattern

I will be writing lots lots more about this big decorating project in the days, weeks and months to come. But in the spirit of not making every post epic, I’ll just start by saying:

Since the 20+ linear feet of windows in the space is so dominant, I knew I needed to find the right fabric for new pinch pleats, because these coverings would be so… dominant, to repeat that phrase.
Home tiki bars are ideally meant to be complete escapes from everyday realities. Often, they are basements with few or very small windows. But since my Mahalo Lounge is upstairs, and will serve as a daily living space too. As such, I wanted a fabric that also communicated the idea of , during the day when the drapes are open, being in on a breezy lanai.
I also was very keen on the colors of this pattern vs. others I had seen. Have the right green / greens was super important to me for two reasons: (1) I love the pea green in old Trader Vic’s decor and (2) I have two vintage Orchids of Hawaii pendant lights, originally installed in the (still operating) bar in Lenox (my home town’s) Luau Hale restaurant, that I am super excited to use in the space. I also adore the corally-orange in the pattern, the slightly off white flowers, the straw colored flowers, and the hints of baby blue. And, it’s perfect that the field is black. When I close the drapes and turn down the lights to hold a party, that darkness will bring me closer to the ideal of being shut off from the world, transported to a totally different place. And black is a great “outline” color to play with.
The fabric is available at what I consider a very fair price — $20/yard. And, it’s actively being printed, so you can get lots of yardage for big projects. I needed — hang onto your hats: 70 yards.
Finally, I love the cartoon-like nature of this fabric. It’s whimsical. I’m whimsical. It’s just PERFECT. I need to ask Diamondhead Fabrics if I can interview the designer — she did a fantastic job!!!!

I’m told the drapes may be ready before Christmas! This project is happening!

Start your decorating color scheme with a pattern

When starting a new decorating project, professionals often start with the patterned piece first. I love that Kate taught me to use the phrase, “Where does your pattern lie?”, when starting the journey to choose room colors.

Why start with a pattern? Draperies, rugs, and wallpaper all are typically carefully designed by professionals to combine colors that play well together — the designers work all angles of the color wheel to come up with pleasing designs that may include complementary colors, opposite colors, accents, etc. There are many ways to go about combining colors so that everything’s not a hot mess. If you find a pattern that you’re crazy about, these pros have done all the hard work for you.

Once you have your beloved pattern, it makes choosing other elements of the room much easier. You just use the colors in the pattern — exactly is easiest — or you can add white to tint a color lighter, black to shade it darker, or both black and white to tone it somewhere in between. I am getting a new sectional for the room — fun fun fun and a story soon to come! — and one of the colors in the drapery fabric will drive the choice. So will my choice for a rug, bar seats, other pendant lights, etc.

The Mahalo Lounge

“Mahalo” = Hawaiian for “welcome”. I’m super excited about creating an inviting Mahalo Lounge to welcome even more friends and family into my home. Working from home, and now being an empty nester, and now sans Kate to boot (!), I’ve been feeling … lonely. I’m doing other things to solve for that, for sure. But my Mahalo Lounge is part of my long-term plan as well.