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.
Merilee says
Tomato by Adler has texture and muted colors, the boucle would be comfortable and the color would also not overwhelm the room
Having lived through lots of orange in the 60s and 70s ( from Schwann bikes to house colors) I recommend a softer approach that will be timeless and retro
Barbara Caldwell says
WOW! Love the black idea with the orange and green! Texture, texture, texture! Only thing, because careful it doesn’t look like Halloween! The green might be too much.
Think of if you want the sofa to stand out or receded. What will be the star of the room? Everything else should take a back seat! Me, I LOVE the black idea.
Deb says
Love the color and texture of the Rivington. I would also like to see some greens and, as someone mentioned, black. (I drive my husband crazy because I have to check out all choices before making a decision!)
Joe Felice says
People with animal companions that shed have learned to avoid black at all coasts. I have cats. I also had a pair of black slacks once. Big mistake.
When I bought my sofa, I brought home the fabric swatches and let the cats lie on them. Then I rubbed them over the floor and rug. I wanted to find the fabric that gives up the hair easily, so the sofa would be easy to brush or vacuum. I did find the perfect one with that. It’s a synthetic chenille. No matter what type or color of fur, it comes off easily. Some fabrics “hold” onto hair and even lint. Cat hair embeds itself in bumpy fabrics like terrycloth.
Chris says
That is a great idea – to bring the samples home and let the animals roll around on them, no matter what colour the samples are. I don’t know if Pam has cats. I thought she had a schnauzer, which “supposedly” sheds minimally.
Sandra L Sells says
I agree with Joe and also no one used black for this type of furniture. Actually they would have used a fringe around the edges and my mother’s set the fringe was actually a tan and green with a green nubby soft fabric. Also had sides in bamboo. Wish I had that set now. Gosh in hindisght!! Careful of black always!!
Sandra L Sells says
I know from being alive in the period that the more texture the more authentic it will look. So, go for the textured one that feels like you want to live on it. Since we can’t feel the fabric it is hard to tell. Not green as it will be a jungle and no longer tropical! HA!!
Neil says
The Kovi one!
Chris says
Ok, just to be weird, what about black?
Carol says
That was my first thought as well! A tweedy black with specks of the orange and green would be spectacular!
Enid says
My thought also. Black with orange edges and buttons!
sarah s says
This was exactly my thought as well!
Black is the common colour between the leopard carpet and the background in the curtains. If you follow the theory that we learned in design school of pulling the least dominant colour, then pulling the black will make both the rug and the curtains ‘sing’.
Kim says
Knoll Rivington! Lucious color and texture! Love your project!
Kelly Montano says
I like the Knoll Rivington. I think it complements the color in the drapery fabric and adds a lot of interest with the weave. However, green could look really stunning. The orangey rust color could be used as an accent that would really pop if you chose green. I can’t wait to see the green swatches you choose. 🙂
Bonnie says
The Knoll Rivington in Paprika is so perfect I can’t even visualize the sofa in green.
Diane in CO says
Love the Design-tex Adler like several other folks. You mention the luscious “feel” and that would be important to me. Color also best with the drapery fabric. Good luck deciding, Pam!