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.
Brooke says
From the 7 image samples over the tropical fabric I like Designtex Adler and Designtex Barkcloth because they look great with the red/orange in the fabric. In the photos on the sofa though in the Designtex category the third fabric (closest to the pillows) looks closer to the red/orange in the pillows. I’m kind of torn between those 3 from Designtex. I just got back all my chairs from the upholsterer this weekend and the Designtex Adler fabric looks amazing.
tammyCA says
Designtex barkcloth and designtex hint would be my choices..I think they have a more natural-ness tone than a bright kool-aid like orange. Also, the warm color for sofa will feel cozier than adding more green. Adding in bamboo, rattan, monkey pod bowls, and other natural items will make it all feel like a secluded hut to escape to (I need an escape!)
ineffablespace says
It may be some color metameric failure, but I think that compared to most of these fabrics the pods in the bark cloth end up looking brown in comparison.
On the mockup with the seven contenders, which are pictures on pictures, the Designtex Barkcloth appears, on my monitor to be orange-enough to be orange, but have enough brown in it to still allow the pods in the fabric to be orange instead of turning them brown. In the real life shot it’s harder to tell.
I’ve found that it doesn’t really matter if the plain fabric is or isn’t an exact match for the color you are picking up from the patterned fabric. Sometimes an exact match is not the best match. Because in the patterned fabric the color you are picking up is surrounded by other colors that change how it looks while the plain fabric is one broad swath of color. This isn’t exactly metameric failure and it isn’t exactly contrast, I dunno what the name of it is, but it is a phenomenon.
An example of this is the moon. What color is the moon? If you isolate it from the very dark night time sky, it isn’t nearly as white or yellow as it seems, its brown.
I think if you go with something that is slightly more orange than the pods you are going to end up with a sofa that is very very orange, and the pods are going to look brown. That’s not to say that one of the ones you have isn’t it. It might be. You may need to order a yard of a couple to be sure.
I would not make any decisions until you see some greens.
pam kueber says
I also have the greens in hand; story to come.
Yes, having the sectional “scream” orange is a concern of mine — especially that it is large and will be a dominant feature. Now I need to go look up “metameric”.
Gwen says
Definitely orange so people are drawn to it (and *sit*). Green would get boring.
My biggest consideration would be the fabric feel. Most of those oranges will look just fine but they might not all feel so good if you take a little nap after the fifth or sixth MaiTai. Fabric texture imprinted on your face should be a definite consideration.
terry berry says
I love oranges, very retro, BUT me thinks a green might be a classier move and more soothing to the eye.
CAT says
I just traded out a 60’s rust orange, super long, velvet couch for a 50’s pink frieze couch. And although I love the jazz of the frieze, I have to tell you, the velvet was so much more durable. My cats have already partially shredded the arms on the frieze. They couldn’t touch the velvet. I mean, if you’re looking for something that has looks and function…..
Marie Gamalski says
Love all of those yummy oranges!! I’m a fan of bold colors… but, I couldn’t help but notice…. that lovey tan sofa you already have in front of your pinch pleats now is quite nice, perhaps that w/some orange and/or green accent pillows??
pam kueber says
Ha! They are very nice love seats actually — vintage Baker loveseats that I had reupholstered in that mid mod brown fabric before it was ‘easy’ to find mid mod brown fabric. I agree: We could stick with them… but… there is something so cozy and inviting about the sectional to come.
Holland VanDieren says
Rivington or Kovi, both pop nicely. Though green’s my fave color, I think a peppery orange hue is best against the drapes. Not so sure about leopard underfoot … Can we think on that?
Tom says
The fabric on the sofa (woven tan) in the pics ( 3rd pic down) looks amazing with the curtains it would also go well with any of the leopard print rugs you have chosen.
I know the tan woven fabric isn’t one of your choices but it looks great with the curtains.
Orange sectional is a very bold choice but it sounds like you have changed your mind to green.
This will be an interesting project to watch.
Barbara says
The Kovi caught my eye first and I have no other rationale for recommending it. What a fun project for you. I can’t wait to see the finished room.