Most interior decorators help customers choose their furniture, artwork and window treatments, and then order the products from suppliers.
But The Red Chair in the Haven Beach section of Long Beach Township takes it a step further. They actually make many of the items that will go into their customers' homes, said owner Ann Zaleski-D'Astugues, of Manahawkin.
"It's pretty unique because most decorators or designers have to send (the work) out to someone like us," Zaleski-D'Astugues said.
The Red Chair has a small retail shop in the front, where people can walk in and buy accessories such as glasses, dishes and their Long Beach Island pillow, Zaleski-D'Astugues said. The workshop is in the back.
The LBI pillows are stitched in a different color every year, and include the names of every town and section on the island. They're a hit with year-round residents and summer visitors, Zaleski-D'Astugues said.
"People love their little section (of the island), so we have a pillow that has everyone's town on it," Zaleski-D'Astugues said.
The Red Chair started in 2003 out of the garage of a home her parents owned in the Brighton Beach section of Long Beach Township, Zaleski-D'Astugues said. She had been working as a teacher, but didn't see herself spending the rest of her life in a classroom. She always loved sewing, and was working as a waitress one summer when a friend suggested she apprentice with an upholsterer and window designer in Stafford Township.
Zaleski-D'Astugues said she worked with the woman for several years, and when her mentor moved out of state, she struck out on her own. The business name came out of a brainstorming session with friends.
After working a year out of the heated garage with a worktable and sewing machine, Zaleski-D'Astugues said she moved to a space rented out by the owner of the Sink R Swim shop in Haven Beach. After a year, she moved to a bigger space with room for a small retail area.
"I felt that to grow the business, I needed a place where people could see me," she said.
Many of her customers have second homes on Long Beach Island, Zaleski-D'Astugues said. In the winter months, when she's not as busy, she is willing to go to homes away from the southern New Jersey area to help with owners' decorating needs.
Zaleski-D'Astugues said she works with clients on the look they want. She shows them fabric swatches and they choose the patterns. She and her staff then make the upholstery in the back room.
It's a lot different from walking into a store and picking out items that are already in stock, Zaleski-D'Astugues said. She also tries to put her own preferences aside to help the customers pick what they want for their homes.
"You have to be able to adjust your thoughts and your plan with every project," she said.
A lot of island homeowners buy blinds, which she orders from Hunter-Douglas, because the sun tends to make the fabrics fade, Zaleski-D'Astugues said. She often recommends indoor-outdoor fabrics, even for the interior of homes, because the color lasts longer and they are more stain-resistant.
"We have control over the project from start to finish," Zaleski-D'Astugues said. "Anything you can sew, we can do."
No project is too big or too small for the Red Chair, Zaleski-D'Astugues said. They'll happily make one custom throw pillow or re-do an entire house.
When customers can buy their accessories over the Internet from the comfort of their own homes, "you have to set yourself aside from everybody if you want people to come in," she said.
Contact Elaine Rose:
609-272-7217; ERose@pressofac.com
The Red Chair
Location: 11205 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach Township
Owner: Ann Zaleski-D'Astugues, of Manahawkin
Phone: 609-492-6002
Started: 2003
Employees: Two to seven, seasonally
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