Custom cushions for Slovenian Alpine homes, apartments and coastal terraces

Three climates, one tape measure

Slovenia's weather changes faster than its borders. The northeast is continental, most of the country is oceanic and the coast is Mediterranean. About 90% of the territory sits about 660 ft (200 m) or more above sea level, and Triglav tops out at 9,396 ft (2,864 m).

The specs, from ARSO, the Slovenian Environment Agency: - Ljubljana (1991–2020): January nights of 28.9°F (−1.7°C), July days of 82.2°F (27.9°C), about 53.9 in (1,368 mm) of precipitation, about 50 snowy days, and fog on about 64 days a year, mostly in autumn and winter. - Portorož, on the coast (1991–2020): July days of 84.9°F (29.4°C), January nights of 34.3°F (1.3°C), about 37.8 in (959 mm) of precipitation and about 2,397 hours of sun, 334 of them in July. - The west: over 138 in (3,500 mm) of precipitation in some areas, against about 31 in (800 mm) in Prekmurje.

Read those as tolerances. Indoors in Ljubljana the variable is damp and fog, not cold. On an Alpine balcony it's snow and rain. On the coast it's sun, plus a bora that is usually cold and gusty. Same tape measure; different fabric. Croatia carries the Adriatic rules south, and Austria the Alpine ones north.

Flower boxes, wooden balconies and the drip line

If your balcony has flower boxes on the rail, the cushion below lives in the drip line. Watering day sends water, soil and petals down onto the seat. Plan for it:

• Outdoor fabric only. A water-repellent membrane weave or the workshop's outdoor fabric, both UV-resistant. Water-repellent is not waterproof: it sheds a watering can, not a week of rain.
• Plain, not tufted. Tufted cushions let water in even in outdoor fabric.
• Ties at the back corners. On a windy afternoon a loose chair pad ends up in the geraniums.

Measure the seat, not the chair: width between the arms, depth from the front edge to the back, and the back height you want. Then water the boxes and watch where the drips land. If they land on the seat, move the bench 4 in (10 cm); don't ask the fabric to do the moving, partner. The chair cushion builder turns your numbers into a drawing.

Pine balconies, Piran stone, Ljubljana fog: a color for each

Color follows the same split as the weather. On an Alpine balcony of honey pine, the wood is already warm, so the cushion can run cool: sage, slate blue, stone gray, piping one shade darker. Red geraniums on the rail will do the shouting.

On the coast, Piran's compact medieval houses and narrow streets come from five centuries under Venice, 1283 to 1797, and the stone is pale. Pale stone plus 334 hours of July sun at nearby Portorož is hard on saturated colors, and dark cushions get hot to sit on. Oatmeal, sand and olive have less to lose.

Ljubljana's fog is the third case: on a gray November week a warm oat or rust brightens a window seat more than white does. Hold two or three swatches in the room, in daylight, before the code goes on the order. What color is the wood on your balcony?