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Holly Johnson and the Cheeky Monkey Home Team

Hello! 

With much love and gratitude, we bid farewell to our beloved Belmont Center Studio + Shop in August 2023.  We are taking a step back over the next few months to re-imagine our collections and business model.  Please stay tuned through our social media to hear about our next chapter, and please contact me with any questions. (holly@cheekymonkeyhome.com)

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I am Holly Johnson, Owner and Designer at Cheeky Monkey Home, where we design, cut and stitch decorative pillows and handmade accessories using colorful, unique designs and our own wool felt applique technique. My purpose is to bring joy to our customers with small batch, locally made, beautiful and durable products using a business model that employs and empowers women.  

Everything we do at Cheeky Monkey Home is about:

  • creating beautiful, artistic felt applique designs that evoke joy and a sense of style
  • delivering artistic, handmade, hiqh-quality products that are 100% New England made and sourced locally
  • developing unique home decor and gifts inspired by timeless handwork techniques and design traditions from around the world
  • supporting women: mothers, women in need, immigrants and refugees by providing mentorship, training, flexible work and community through our Sew@Home program and employment in our studio + shop


Thank you for visiting us and please let us know how we can help bring joy to your home, wherever it may be!  

 

Felt Applique Designer Pillows and Canvas Tote Bags by Cheeky Monkey Home

 

MATERIALS + TECHNIQUE

At Cheeky Monkey Home, we design, cut and stitch all of our pillows in our studio to ensure our standards for quality and beauty are always maintained. We have perfected a richly layered applique technique using 100% wool felt in radiant color combinations set against 100% cotton or linen base fabrics. Our pillows come with a 10/90 down/feather insert and every piece is finished with decorative topstitching details, a hidden zipper and custom trimmings. 

Our collection is growing and changing all the time, reflecting the discoveries we make during the creative process. We are a made-to-order company and in order to ensure fresh and inspired designs, we do not mass-produce or carry huge inventory, and our materials may change as we discover new materials and trims.

 

Cheeky  Monkey Home Sew@Home Program employing women from the refugee community and women in need

SEW@HOME

Through our Sew@Home program, we achieve the very best quality and craftsmanship with the help of incredibly talented sewers who are recently resettled people and women in need in the Boston area. Sew@Home began in 2017, when I had the timely good fortune of meeting a fantastic sewer who was looking for flexible work from home. She and her family had fled from Iran, and had just settled in Massachusetts after three years in a refugee camp in Indonesia. While she left her life and family in Iran behind, she brought with her many skills, including an incredible creativity and talent for sewing. I was so fortunate to meet her at this moment, and she has been working with me to manage growing orders at Cheeky Monkey Home ever since. After this eye-opening experience, I began the Sew@Home program to support all of Cheeky Monkey’s operations—committed to training, mentorship and providing work for women in need who seek flexible work from home.   

 

Cute Packaging by Cheeky Monkey Home and Easy Ordering Information

ORDERING INFO 

LEAD TIME

At Cheeky Monkey Home, we make our products to order and therefore require 3-4 weeks to ship from time of order.  We do our best to ship sooner, and encourage our customers to let us know of any deadlines so that we can make every effort to accommodate you.

SHIPPING

Shipping costs are charged to the buyer and vary depending on size and weight of package and destination.  USPS Priority or FedEx shipping will be used unless other arrangements are made.  Please let us know if you desire expedited shipping and we will bill accordingly.

RETURNS + ORDER CHANGES

We are committed to customer satisfaction and exceeding expectations. We are always working to improve our products, and welcome feedback of any kind.  Please let us know right away if you are not satisfied with the products you receive and we will work to resolve the situation.  Returns and exchanges for unused goods are accepted within 14 days of receipt.  Return shipping will be paid by the customer unless products were in some way damaged upon receipt.  Please make returns using original packaging.  Custom orders are generally not returnable.  Please contact us with any questions.  We are committed to your satisfaction!

PRICING

Cheeky Monkey Home pricing is driven by the level of detail in design, quality of materials and the care and effort taken to stitch each piece.  We work to balance our costs by running a very “lean” operation, working from a home studio, carrying very little inventory and making everything to order. 

PRODUCT CARE

We use 100% wool felt for all of our appliques.  We recommend spot-cleaning with cool water and mild soap for small spills, as felt repels liquids and you can often catch a spill before it soaks in too far!  In all other cases, please dry clean.  Wool felt cannot be submerged in water!  Call us anytime if you have questions!

FABRIC SAMPLES

Please let us know if you would like to receive color swatches of our gorgeous wool felt or cotton and linen fabrics.  We want to be sure you get exactly what you want!

 

HERSTORY

After an early career in museum administration, I was drawn back to the studio to pursue my artistic passions. As a new mother, I found a gap in the marketplace for unique children’s décor, and thus began painting murals and sewing pillows for young families and kids.

The idea for Cheeky Monkey Home was sparked by an old set of floor cushions that my toddler boys played with every day. Seeing how intrinsic (and threadbare) these cushions became in fort-building and jumping games, I was inspired to reinvent them in durable fabric with fun designs.

Soon thereafter, I met the founder of a wool felt company and learned about the amazing qualities of wool felt (durable, fade resistant, eco-friendly and gorgeous) and knew this was the perfect material for my pillows and floor cushions. This was the start of Cheeky Monkey Home, which launched in 2012 with a small line of unique pillows and floor cushions-- using felt applique in endless color combinations and design themes.

Today, we continue to perfect our design and applique technique—drawing on the endless inspiration found in traditional crafts and cultures from around the world, and in the everyday beauty of coastal New England, right in our own backyard.

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