I’m having a new wedge-shaped sectional built for my Mahalo Lounge. I need to choose the upholstery fabric. It needs to play nice with my 60 yards of barkcloth pinch pleats — and I’m planning a leopard print rug underneath. What color to choose? I started my hunt by looking for a burnt orange — or coral orange — or a red orange — or even a rust — that would pick up on the blossoms in the drapery pattern. I online-shopped and ordered ’til my eyes about bugged out. Above: All 49 oranges, laid out by manufacturer. Let’s take a look at the seven finalists >>
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Midcentury modern upholstery fabrics in orange from Knoll:
Above: Knoll Rivington designd by Dorothy Cosonas in Paprika.
Before I started my upholstery hunt, I had no idea it was so easy to order upholstery samples from major manufacturers. Knoll is a big name — they have gorgeous fabrics — at a surprising number of price points, both high and low — and they make it super easy to order samples.
The Knoll Rivington in Paprika is a strong contender. The color really seems to change in the light.
Above: See how the fabric looks on these vintage Thonet chairs reupholstered by Modern Chair Restoration— oh my! Thanks for the permission to show your photo, MCR!
The weave is really nice — and bespeaks tropical.
As I said, Knoll was fantastic about sending samples — nice big pieces, and they came within a day or two. Following are photo of all the orange(ish) Knoll fabrics I ordered to give a try. I was super impressed:
Midcentury modern upholstery fabrics from Maharam:
Above: I was also super impressed with the easy access to upholstery samples from Maharam — and the fabrics were gorgous, too! Contenders:
Above: Maharam Teatro in Heat — it’s a yummy velvet..,
And above: Maharam’s Outback by Kvadrat 466061 in Color 641. But: It’s not really a contender, because it’s way too lipstick red in real life. But oh my goodness, I adore this fabric, so I had to show it! It’s sort of more loosely woven than a boucle, with a wee bit of gray threads in it that give it just that little extra something in dimension. Comes in a bunch of rich colors. I so wish I had a place to put this — hmmm, maybe I need to make a coat out of it!
Above: All my Maraharm orange upholstery samples.
Midcentury modern upholstery fabrics from Designtex:
Above: Designtex is a company that I learned about from ModernFabrics.com, which often has remnants, including in substantial yardage. For this project, I found three samples on the Designtex website that are finalists. Designtex was also very easy to order from.
Above: Designtex Adler — my sample is Tomato – a great looking- and feeling fabric — a wonderful boucle-type weave and lots of great mid mod color colors.
Above: Designtex Hint in Carrot — a soft chenille with 100,000 Wyzenbeeks, so seems like it would last forever. Lots more color-colors in this line, too.
Above: Designtex Bark Cloth — in Red Orange — designed by West Elm. 100,000 Wyzenbeeks, some more great colors.
Above: All the orange upholstery fabrics that I ordered from Designtex.
Midcentury modern upholstery fabrics from Kovi:
I also learned about Kovi from ModernFabrics.com, which carries remnants.
Above: Kovi K5605, a nice woven with coral, orange and persimmon-colored threads made my list of finalists.
Above: Other Kovi orange upholstery samples that I ordered.
Thanks also to Modern Fabrics, Camira, and HBF Textiles — I also ordered orange upholstery samples from them, and many were super nice, but they did not make my finals.
But: Maybe I should go green?!
Ack. After thinking I MUST go orange… and ordering all these samples, I then got the idea that a large orange sectional might present too much of a contrast — rather than act as a secondary complement — to the many many linear feet of green-dominant pinch pleats in the two rooms. So then, I began ordering greens. Story to come.
Meanwhile:
What do you think of these oranges, for a 101″ x 101″ sectional?
If I choose orange upholstery — which one?
Initial thoughts on orange v. green?
- Follow all my stories on the design of my Mahalo Lounge here.
David says
I don’t think you can go wrong with any of these. But I do like the irregularity of the Knoll Rivington. It reminds me of roots and vines, which works really well with the jungle pattern of your green fabric.
Kristal says
My preference was The Knoll Rivington in Paprika, until I saw the Designtex Adler in Tomato. The Adler looks so much richer, and makes the brighter oranges look too garish. I think it would be the easiest to live with in large quantities.
Susan Halla says
My vote is for DesignTex Barkcloth! I was immediately drawn to that one in the field of seven as the one that coordinated best with the drapery fabric. Not only the color but the intensity as well. Some of the others are too saturated and make the drapery fabric look dull.
For sh*ts and giggles, you can try some greens, but I think you’ll find that the orange will give you that lovely pop especially on a large furniture piece like a sectional.
(Spoken as an architect and someone who used to teach in the interior design department of a local college FWIW.)
pam kueber says
I am already soooooo tortured, and it’s only Monday.
But keep the comments coming, everyone!
Eliza says
Kovi gets my vote, although I like knoll too. The others are too orange. You want orange but not a popsicle, I don’t think.
Jay says
You show no pictures of your fabric samples against the leopard print carpet samples you had at home the other day. I assume you gave it all a test run. The Kovi complements the drapes which will be the back drop but am not sure of the rug but since the rug will be out in front of the sectional it probably won’t matter.
Green sounds nice but will make the sectional recede into the room somewhat. Orange was your gut instinct and will make a statement, nice choice. Those Designtex samples look like the types of fabric that was on the furniture my parents had in the seventies but in shades of golden yellows and browns.
Erika T. says
I would go with the Knoll or the Designtex Hint.
Kari says
I like the Designtex Bark cloth. It has the right combination- not too bright, not too dark, plus a nice texture.
MARTHA says
All lovely, and while I am leaning towards Designtex Hint, I think your decision will and should have a lot to do with which leopard skin rug you have chosen.
I am against the green. You have so much in the curtains already, it would bring the green right to the floor and I would like seeing some transition there. I also like the idea of the color sitting closer to that softer orange that surrounds the flower and edges the leaf, then having the brighter oranges/yellow pillows (round and triangle) on the couch. But again, I think it all hinges on your rug. Without knowing the colors framing both sides of this picture (Curtains/rug) I couldnt choose. Best of luck.
pam kueber says
The fabric for the sofa, and the overall cost of the sofa, are going to be much greater than the cost of the rug. So I am going to choose the sofa fabric first, then triangulate to the rug.
Bev says
do one of those photoshop mock ups , , , to help us decide 😉
pam kueber says
Alas, Kate does not work for me anymore and she was the graphic design whiz.
I may need to do a drawing…. It might be primitive, but it might work.
Kelley says
The Diamondhead Fabric online swatches are fairly off to real life, as I have discovered. Mock-ups from in situ photos are the way to go.
I have 13 years of professional experience with Photoshop. I am happy to do a mock-up for you. I do them for myself all of the time. Even with clothes! I find it cathartic. You can send your images to me if you would like.
Kristin says
First choice bark cloth, second choice adler, when held against the curtains. Would definitely like to see how they look alongside the rug, though. Which one did you pick? If it’s the more washed out beige-y one, definitely orange. If it’s the bolder one, then I could see going with a green but how do you even begin to pick that shade?
pam kueber says
I haven’t decided on the rug yet — argh!