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.
RickG says
Pam, the choice is simple, go with either the Knoll Rivington, or the Kovi K5605. I think your right on target choosing either of these. The tones & texture of either these oranges will bring brightness & Tiki joy to the room !!! …… I think in the long haul; the orange will allow you the flexibility to decorate in many directions. – To me, it’s all about the flow & I can see this working perfectly ……. The green, not so much …… I don’t see the green making the statement your going for …… I think it makes more sense to use it as a background / secondary color. ….. a little in the drapes, the plants, etc.
Tiny says
Orange is wrong. It will be way too busy with a leopard rug. Make the couch the calm place for your eye between two very busy prints. Soft green or the cream. Orange accents in the accessories for the room instead.
Marilyn says
Definitely Orange it was a big color in the mid-century and that’s how they would have decorated. I also have friends with that color sectional vintage buy from the 60’s and it’s wonderful… so I would go with Knoll Rivington or Kovi but I am leaning Knoll Rivington…
Diane in CO says
I have “been there” with overthinking a room and ended up coming back to my FIRST impression of what was right, ordered that fabric and never regretted it.
Don’t do green!!! LOVE the orange. Live a little. A person with a turquoise kitchen cannot possibly be afraid of orange, which is the “new black,” BTW. My mother had an screaming orange sectional in our home in Michigan in the 1960’s and it was fabulous! Wish I could send you a photo…
However, the darker, more paprika oranges, like the first one, will not jump out and will look best with the shade in the awesome drapery fabric. As for the rug, I liked best the one WITHOUT the “golden” background; too much gold with the floor. With orange fabric, the leopard rug with the more off-white background would be best! Just MHO 🙂
RickG says
I agree with you 100% Diane – Retro by-law # 4989-44 clearly states – Any & all person/s possessing glorious retro turquoise kitchens, must use eye catching orange tones on all sofas, & couches ……… neglect to do so, may lead to boredom, and/or mediocre results at best. 🙂
Diane in CO says
LOL!
Katie says
Either the Disigntex Barkcloth or the one from Kovi
Lynne says
Pam, I just thought of something. How do the “oranges” look with the Barcelona chairs??
pam kueber says
They look fine.
Carol says
Designtex Adler or Barkcloth if you go orange. You could do a two-toned sofa in green. Sandra Bernhardt used to have a late night show in the early 90’s. The sofa on her set was very midcentury modern in a crescent shape. I had the exact sofa in a two toned green barkcloth by Modernica and it was fabulous. It was basically the two darkest shades of green in the barkcloth. I don’t think green will blend too much with the curtains. Orange can be tricky with those curtains. The leopard rug would look better with green. Also the oatmeal sofas you have look wonderful with the curtains. How about an orange rug to layer under or over the leopard, depending on which leopard print you choose. Maybe rattan footstools for extra seating covered in orange? So many choices. I’m Southern, so “God bless you Pam”. From what I’ve observed in the last few years, you have impeccable, classic taste with a bent toward the fun stuff. Follow your instincts and I’m sure it will turn out wonderful.
Melinda says
I would go with the knoll or the Kovi. They have a richer look to them.
The little threads of gold/yellow in the Kovi could be a jumping off point for the rug as well.
Best of luck with the decision!
linoleummy says
Yes! That’s exactly what I was thinking! In our house we’d also test how attractive the fabric is to cat hair or the sofa could just end up cat colored.
Maria says
Knoll Rivington in Paprika Is almost identical to the color and fabric style of the orange accent chairs I grew up with in the 60s at moms. So to me this looks like a great choice to go with the era. I think a green sofa would make the room look too green. If you want to go safer pull the light color tone what is it a beige or gray? For the sofa and use the orange on side chairs then cross pollinate with throw pillows. However if you want to go bold do the orange. I would not do the rust. That’s a color that came in in the 70s and not the time period You’re going for.
Tracy says
While orange is not a color I usually like, I think it’s perfect for the couch with these drapes. I love the paprika. I think green would be bland. Perhaps a leopard rug is not the best choice?
ineffablespace says
Plus, I think one of the potential issues with the orange fabric is going to be the leopard or ocelot rug. They are mostly going to be fairly gold or tan which could potentially end up fighting with the orange sofa.
If you weren’t trying to find an orange that worked with the barkcloth and then find a rug that goes with that, maybe this wouldn’t be a problem. It’s that there is a third element now.
(And there are maybe two dozen leopard or ocelot rugs vs. a larger number of orange fabrics so in a way this selection process is going a bit in reverse?(Which it has to sometimes). Ideally it’s easier to pick the most limited option first and then end with the element of which there are possibly hundreds of options. If you have hundreds of options in the last choice, one of them is bound to work. If you have only a dozen, not so much.
So it’s possible if you are absolutely set on orange for the sofa, you may not find a leopard rug that works that well. Maybe the leopard could come in on another element like accent fabric.
On the other hand, if you selected a green sofa fabric, almost any leopard print would work with that in isolation, so finding the right green only involves the barkcloth. Do you see what I mean?
You could use orange fabric as the accent, and its correlation to both the rug and to the drapes would not be as crucial.
When I am helping people to pick things out I tell them that it’s often impossible to use your first choices for each different element or the things that you love for each element because those things may not the the best in combination as a part of the whole. You really have to think of the big picture at all times. This gets very frustrating for some people who want to use something just because they love it. –Sometimes that isn’t a good enough reason.–You have different friends that you love, but you know would not like each other very much right? Same thing.
pam kueber says
As I’ve mentioned before, getting the right fabric for the sofa comes first for me. The sofa is going to be much, much, much more expensive than any rug.
ineffablespace says
I read that.
My point is that it may be more difficult to find a rug that works both with the drapes and an orange sofa simply because the leopard skin rug is the one that has the least options. A green sofa may allow more flexibility with the rug, since you are picking the rug last.
I am not questioning what order you are picking things.
pam kueber says
Yes. I understand what you are saying. I also tend to agree with your logic “pick the things that are hardest to source first” then build on that…. And often, a rug is a first choice anyway. But in this case, I’m going a different order, as I explained.
I also wanted to run the leopard print rug story first so’s readers would have a context for the sofa upholstery. Yes: If I go orange, I think the leopard print rug options may become even more narrow.
pam kueber says
I will also say, cuz I love chatting with you, ineffable, that in reality, I DID choose the hardest-to-find thing first: The drapery fabric. Once I spotted that, I jumped on it, and this whole project was a go!
I also just walked Astro and was thinking about this story/series. I am being un-helpful by not stating a larger vision. Maybe I’ll do that next — although I will say that my vision adapts depending on what the Retro Decorating Gods have been sending my way!
Jay says
Pam, I was thinking the leopard print rug was something of a red herring because you seemed to have decided on orange upholstery and the two seemed incongruent. Perhaps if you confine the leopard print to the bar or peacock chair area, away from the sectional. Anyway I think you have way too much design savvy to be wandering around in the dark and that you know what you want the room to look like. It’s all very interesting.
pam kueber says
Thanks. I do wander around as I head to my final decision. I also consult my husband a lot — he is super good with colors.
I am going to try and do a watercolor today of the idea for the room. But, I am not a very good illustrator.
Marie Gamalski says
Maybe I’m being obtuse, but I don’t think you’ll have any problem selecting a rug. The comments about tan always having a green base do not seem accurate to me, yes, some have a “green” base, others a golden and some even a red/orange… I’m speaking of the BASE to the tan, not the actual “tan” if that makes sense. To my mind, you seem to be doing fine, the only “rules” if there are any, are view the textiles in the space they will live, (which you’re already doing) and choose what works for you…. you’ll absolutely know it when you see it. Pam… don’t allow anyone to suck the joy out of this process, it should be fun and exciting, not angst ridden… I LOVE it so far and as long as you, the hubby and the pup love it, that’s all that matters! Keep having fun????????
Marie Gamalski says
A little post script here…. I’m all FOR the orange, you want tiki, that’s fun and fizzy… green?? Nah…. a little flat and boring… again just a humble opinion… I’m not actually selecting one because I feel I’d need to actually be there in the room, with the light and the other elements to make a choice, however, I’m all for that nice big punch of color. I’ve found over the years when I’ve talked myself out of something for fear it might be to bright, to bold, to “weird” to… whatever, I’ve been sorry…..now, I go for it and I’m ALWAYS pleased. It’s your space, you need to walk by and say…. I NAILED it…. everyone else be damned…