Look What She Made Me Do
Join me each month for an exclusive drop of a one-of-a-kind Chair Whimsy design for every album featured in Taylor Swift’s epic, three-hour Eras show.
All culminating in a Live Auction sale for the Collection in July!
I’m a Swiftie for so many reasons.
I admire Taylor’s lyrical talent and entertainment presence, her naturally keen business sense, and her ability to connect with her audience and always know how to serve them.
To honor Taylor’s body of work and the biggest global tour in history, I’m crafting a tactile and visual experience to accompany her storytelling. Each repurposed chair will evoke the spirit of a single album, and include a special instructional and source guide to create your own.
And, in true Taylor fashion, I’ll include plenty of fun goodies, like my personal playlist for each album, a design guide to create your own themed chair, and maybe the most fun of all–lots of “Easter Eggs” to hint at which album-themed chair is next, and even a hidden message to be decoded throughout the entire experience.
This summer, I’ll hold a Live Virtual Auction where you’ll have the chance to win your favorite chair, and we’ll wrap it all up with a big donation to a local charity that aids families experiencing food scarcity.
Chair #1 Lover-Inspired
Although Lover is up first in chair form, it was Taylor’s seventh studio album and the last one released pre-pandemic. Visually and lyrically lighter and brighter than her prior release of Reputation, fans saw the return of “fun” Taylor. It’s also her first album with a new recording company, which is significant in her journey as an artist. Taylor declared at the 2023 VMA’s that she loves to write and perform pop music most, and this album delivers. She continues mixing evocative visual elements with her music to keep her fans engaged with the stories she tells.
Lover spells pink for me...all over pink with no shame! These happy pink colors are consistent with Taylor's videos from her Lover album. The pale pink paint is drawn from the pastel suits and sky in the Me! video, with hot pink crushed velvet inspired by Taylor’s cropped fur jacket in You Need To Calm Down. And, lastly what’s the flower of love? Also featured in a wallpaper backdrop of one of the rooms in her Lover video - roses!
Create Your Own Lover-Inspired Chair
Grab my Spotify Playlist for this release
I’ll be adding my favorite songs with each new chair reveal!
I Forgot That You Existed
Reminds me of early breakups that I thought would crush me and then I just moved on
Cruel Summer
You can't beat this tune!
The Man
Ugh! This one conjures up memories of my first job interview...when the interviewer found out I was female, he snuck out the back and refused to interview me! 😧It is also a positive reminder that both my girls are excelling in male-dominated professions.
London Boy
Who doesn't love the accent?
Soon You'll Get Better
I'm a huge fan of The Chicks!
You Need to Calm Down
I've even mastered the tongue twister lines in this one 😉
Me!
So true of all of us! We are unique and should be appreciated for it.
Chair #2 Reputation-Inspired
The darker themes of the Reputation album, its heavy bass, along with rock and rap elements, showed us a new side of Taylor. After a series of PR stumbles and public scrutiny of her private life, Taylor embarked on a self-inflicted exile from the public eye. In the Miss Americana documentary, she explains this was a time of deep reflection for her about who she wanted to become. Reputation is the first album where Taylor often writes from the point of view of various characters rather than solely her own perspective and experiments with heavily complicated lyrics–the gamble paid off as the album marked her return to pop music and helmed a stadium tour that won multiple Tour of Year awards.
Snake imagery was used heavily during Taylor’s Reputation Era, so the snake-cut velvet was the perfect and only choice for this Reputation-inspired chair. Taylor was called a snake by those who were either her enemies or those who didn't understand her, but she embraced that imagery for this album along with other dark, goth-like undertones. The ornately Victorian carved chair and dark, glittery paint reflect the darker vibes expressed in this album.
Create Your Own Reputation-Inspired Chair
This album reminds me that good can still come through the hard seasons in life. The real question is how to keep our hearts open while growing a thick skin for those who have hurt us. Our past is what makes us who we are today. Find love anyway and know that when we can let go of what others think of us (our reputation) and quit trying to please them, we will learn what it means to really live our lives.
Grab my Spotify Playlist for this release
I’ll be adding my favorite songs with each new chair reveal!
...Ready for It?
You cannot beat this beat. Perfect for the first song on the album setting us up for what is to come. Am I ready for it? Yes, I am!
I Did Something Bad
Taylor takes on the persona of someone who "plays" bad boys/people, but she's merely trying on a costume that people who don't know her, say about her. When I've been wronged or misunderstood, I do this also in my mind.
Look What You Made Me Do
Taylor's reputation is dead and this song is her response. This brings back memories of being wronged and not being able to make it right with what others think about me. You process it the best you can in the moment and eventually try to make peace with it.
King of My Heart
The love song on this album is a nice warm spot in the midst of the turmoil.
This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
This reminds me of the times I've needed to vent about friendships gone bad.
Getaway Car
Such a catchy song! And relationship rebounds never work...I remember a few!
New Year's Day
We all get fresh starts on New Year's Day, and that's how she ends this album...good things are to come.
Chair #3 Folklore-Inspired
In July 2020, Taylor surprised her fans and entire music industry when she released Folklore only eleven months after her previous album (Lover), and without the normal buildup, fanfare, and easter eggs that accompany most of her launches. Influenced by the isolation of quarantine, Taylor crafted mellow ballads using a cast of fictional characters to develop "a collection of songs and stories that flowed like a stream of consciousness." Her folk-driven ballads with indie-rock undertones evoke the quiet nostalgia of a childhood storytime, with some songs sung barely above a whisper.
The album was recorded remotely, with Taylor, her collaborators like Bon Iver, and producers all working individually from their own home studios. The story of this album was told in the Disney+ documentary, Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions. Its experimental sound was a huge hit, attracting a new fanbase and resulting in Taylor finally receiving credibility as a skilled poet and lyricist from even her most bitter detractors. She also won her third Album of the Year Grammy, making her the first woman in history to win the honor three times.
Since Folklore is born of Taylor’s imagination and not autobiographical at all, but made up of fictional characters, the chair design started with sheer embroidery adorned with flowers like a fairytale garden. The frame is painted pale pink and is a faux bois style first made popular in the 1800s in France when artists carved furniture to make it look like real wood, when it wasn’t. Moss is attached to the backside to further represent the cottage-core feel without getting in the way of actually using the chair. The overall representation echoes the feeling of curling up under your favorite tree to get lost in timeless tales and daydreams.
Create Your Own Folklore-Inspired Chair
This album is perfect for slow weekend mornings or while concentrating on highly-detailed work. I love how the songs weave together a larger story and can be enjoyed individually or collectively to discover the deeper meaning behind each one. It shows that nobody is ever ALL good or ALL bad, that we are all nuanced, make mistakes, and sometimes carry the joy or the burden of our choices with us long after they’ve passed.
Grab my Spotify Playlist for this release
I’ll be adding my favorite songs with each new chair reveal!
The 1
The tune of this song is so catchy, and I love the positivity even though she didn’t end up with the 1 she thought she should have.
The Last Great American Dynasty
This is one of my favorite songs because it tells a story about Rebekah Harkness, a wild, rich woman who owned a home in Rhode Island. Then, in a surprising twist, you find out that Taylor owns it now.
Mirrorball
Mirrorballs are beautiful but have been broken into a million pieces to become the shiny ball. It’s a reflection of how she has to be different versions of herself for other people and a reminder that we are shapeshifters instead of what we really are.
August
This is the other story not told in Betty. This is the girl who got the guy in the summer, but she’s not a bad girl, just someone who got caught in the middle.
This is Me Trying
For those of us who struggle with life, it’s a moving song for those who are trying, but their “trying” is still not good enough. It reminds us to be empathetic to others who struggle.
Invisible String
This is a song about fate and how an invisible string ties us to the people in our lives. It’s fate that we ended up together, but there’s this common thread that would bring you to me.
Betty
This has to be the best tune on the album. While it’s upbeat, it is an apology written from a guy's perspective to Betty, whom he left behind when August stole him away for the summer.
The Lakes
This is a song about an exit plan of running away to the lake where the poets went to die. Taylor wanted to leave bad things behind and found something worth escaping to and someone to be with. It’s a reminder to remove the things that aren’t working for your life.
Chair #4 Midnights-Inspired
Taylor has described her 10th studio album, Midnights, as "the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life." She’s often spoken about waking in the middle of a night inspired and cranking out an entire song, which she finds recorded on her phone the following morning. The music and lyrics throughout Midnights lean toward moody, nocturnal ruminations inspired by the thoughts and ideas that keep many of us up at night.
Over the years, multiple clips have surfaced of her strumming a guitar alone in the dark while trying on different lyrics. Her process is organic, and watching her create hit songs, plunking out a tune on the piano while mixing and matching phrases is fascinating. It feels so familiar with how I create my chair designs. The deep and self-reflective album is nominated for Album of the Year and is the 10th "era" showcased in her 2023-24 global tour.
Taylor’s fashion choices in the videos for Midnights range from 70’s glam to “bejeweled.” So, to pull together a chair with a look that reflects the album’s vibe, I’ve chosen dark paint and a rich black velvet with sparkles throughout, and it features a fun sequined back with colors pulled from her costume choices inspired by this album.
Create Your Own Midnights-Inspired Chair
The songs/topics are based on 13 sleepless nights. It’s an autobiographical, darker album exploring topics of anxiety, insecurity, self-criticism, and self-confidence, using confessional, yet cryptic, styled lyrics. By addressing the dark things, Taylor says it’s a way to suck the poison out of a snake bite.
Grab my Spotify Playlist for this release
I’ll be adding my favorite songs with each new chair reveal!
Anti-Hero
There’s nothing that beats this video showing Taylor as a giant in a small house. The small fork is epic. And when we tend to really examine our problems, sometimes we realize that the real problem is me.
You’re On Your Own, Kid
This is my song of the year choice for 2024. At first it seems sad, but it’s meant to be encouraging…you’ve been on your own the entire time, and you can continue and face whatever is to come. It’s a song of hope and new beginnings for me.
Question?
This reminds me of past relationships that sometimes had lingering questions long after they were over. Perhaps it is a way of reassuring myself that I’m okay.
Bejeweled
This is my favorite track on the album. The video shows a Cinderella story with Taylor mopping the floor but then decked out in jewels having her own good time.
Karma
What goes around, comes around. I’ve always believed this, so I do try to keep my side of the street clean and do the right thing.
Sweet Nothing
Who doesn’t want to feel they can go to those who love them just as they are for comfort…away from the world’s pressure and fear.
Mastermind
Who hasn’t schemed a plan to get the one you love? I love the idea of owning up to it and then realizing everyone else knew what was going on.
Chair #5 Fearless-Inspired
Taylor’s second album was a blend of country and pop music, perhaps foreshadowing her future as a pop icon. With more than half of the album’s songs written solely by Taylor, this album is also the debut of Taylor as a producer of her own music, listing her as a co-producer among the credits.
The two biggest breakout hits from Fearless were “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me.” The latter went platinum seven times and was accompanied by a video that won Taylor her first Video Music Award in 2009.
That awards show also ignited the long-term feud between Taylor and Kanye West after he leaped onto the stage to interrupt her speech and claim Beyonce’s “All the Single Ladies” video as the “best video of all time.” The video, along with the famously catchy lyrics, “she’s cheer captain and I’m on the bleachers,” resonated with women cross-generationally as many were taken back to the days of feeling unseen by their high school crush. This song is believed to be the catalyst for Taylor’s eventual transition into pop. This album secured one of Taylor’s first record-breaking wins in the music industry: Female artist with the most Top-20 debuts (five) in just one calendar year.
Create Your Own Fearless-Inspired Chair
Fearless is Taylor’s coming of age, 2nd studio album. It easily transports us back to the carefree days of our youth, where lives revolved around what happened in school that day, first loves, and friendships that meant everything in those early years. It’s pure fun, and the writing, although not yet as evolved as her later albums, is impressive for a teenager.
Grab my Spotify Playlist for this release
I’ll be adding my favorite songs with each new chair reveal!
There’s no better song to start off this 2nd album.
And this one is a classic Taylor song that gives me the needed encouragement to be fearless.
Love Story
What a great Romeo & Juliet song and I can’t help but jump once it gets to the last chorus! It reminds me of getting engaged 31 years ago.
Hey Stephen
This is my favorite song on the album. I like the beat, the lyrics, and who can’t identify with unrequited love at some point in their lives? I would replace her lyrics with “...but would she make a chair for you?”
White Horse
“I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairytale” pretty much sums up my dating experience during college. Dated a lot of frogs before I really found my prince.
You Belong with Me
Okay, this is the one I remember most playing on the radio in the mornings as I drove my kids to school. Love it!
Breathe
I love the new version of this song!
The Way I Loved you
Sometimes we just yearn for the drama in relationships, don’t we?
The Best Day
I love this song for her mother. It’s moving and touching to see their close relationship…hope this is how my girls feel, too.
Change
I love the courage in this song…standing for what you believed in and worked for. We never give up!
Jump Then Fall
This song is about loving someone and hoping they will jump and then fall for you, too.
Chair #6 Evermore-Inspired
Less than five short months after releasing her surprise album, folklore, Taylor released a previously unplanned 9th album, evermore. The album came to life as an extension of her work on folklore, Taylor felt there were still stories to be told, and she has said these are “sister” albums. The subject matter in evermore continues the anthology style of tales about marriage, love, infidelity, and grief that she first introduced in folklore. Because the music started as an experimental extension of her collaborations with Aaron Dressner and Jack Antonoff, there was more freedom in developing music that was not initially intended to become a full-length album. Again, all collaborations were done remotely, due to the ongoing pandemic, and creative license was extended to her vocal guests, including Haim, and Bon Iver.
One of the most notable production elements of the album occurs in the song, Marjorie. An homage to Taylor’s maternal grandmother and famed opera singer whose vocals are sampled on the track and play in a subtle call and response, answering Taylor’s phrase, “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were singing to me now…”
Create Your Own Evermore-Inspired Chair
Since Folklore is a sister album to Evermore, I selected this Victorian chair and used the same embroidered fabric, but in a darker version. The purple velvet gives the chair a more “fall/winter” feel as opposed to the summer version of Folklore. I sanded the back side of the chair to give a different “woodsy” vibe. The front is dark mahogany, alluding to the darker mood of the album. The flowers are a nod to the storytelling found on this album.
Grab my Spotify Playlist for this release
I’ll be adding my favorite songs with each new chair reveal!
Willow
I can identify with this song as she talks about bending to the will of those around her. But I love this tune!
Champagne Problems
Champagne should be for celebrating, but this song details the rejection of a lover's proposal. I really like the line, “ “Sometimes you just don't know the answer 'Til someone's on their knees and asks you.”
‘Tis the Damn Season
Sometimes we wish for the path we didn’t take because it seems easier and more comforting…even though we know we wouldn’t be happy long term.
No Body, No Crime
This dramatic song is such a great story about a friend who went missing, so she made sure the husband went missing and pinned it on the mistress.
Happiness
“I haven't met the new me yet” is a striking line in this song about a breakup. It reminds me that all relationships help us grow and change into a new version of ourselves.
Cowboy Like Me
In a strange way, this song feels like my story. I met my person in the most unlikely way, and to our surprise, we’ve been a great match for life.
Majorie
This is my favorite song on the album. Taylor remembers her grandmother, and believes she is singing to her. I think of my dad and how I still feel him around me, giving me advice and telling me I can make it. “I should have asked you questions, I should have asked you how to be” reminds me of all the conversations I now wished I would have had with my dad.