I will cut to the chase with this decision: I will be using Knoll upholstery fabric — Rivington in Palm — on the sectional I am having built for my Mahalo Lounge.
Earlier, I tantalized you by showing the final choices I was considering for a burnt orange sectional. I had always thought I’d go orange.
But once all my draperies were up… and I had a bit of time to viscerally absorb the dominance of the greens in the large expanse of fabric… I pretty much knew that green, not orange, was the way to go. I ordered a bunch of green upholstery options pronto, and once they arrived, I knew it was the right way to go.
A green sectional will anchor the room much better and ensure eyes moves all around the space. An orange sofa would be okay… but would stop your eye too much… I’ll use lots of orange in accents instead.
To search out the just-right green, I collected samples from the same companies I wrote about in my orange upholstery roundup.
I also knew my choice for green upholstery fabric the minute the sample arrived at my door: Knoll’s Rivington in Palm.
Several friends who have seen the fabric in the room including with the draperies are up were gobsmacked at how beautiful this fabric was in the space. It was a no-brainer.
The Knoll Rivington in Palm has a chunky woven weave that includes greens in a few colors and definitive pops of blues, too. It will look great given the Polynesian Pop style of the room — hey, it’s named “Palm” for goodness’ sake. The chunky weave also gives the fabric some motion, which I like in a large piece of furniture; I was concerned about using a solid color, afraid that all-solid would read like a big blob. I almost always prefer tone-on-tone patterns to solids when I am covering a large expanse — be it countertops, walls, windows or furniture.
I also think the rich green upholstery will look fabulous with all my faux bois wood trim surrounding it and with the leopard print rug planned for underneath.
Last week, the furniture maker who is building the sofa for me came for a visit. He assessed yardage needed, and is sending me a contract letter. Once that is in hand, I will be ordering the fabric, mailing in the deposit, and then … waiting with baited breath to get my new sofa.
I’ll be visiting the furniture maker during the process to take photos — and I’ll reveal who it is then. The company has been in business making furniture for more than 50 years. They’ll be making my sectional the old-fashioned way — with eight-way tied springs, etc. I’m very excited to have found it!
Most of my room is being put together very affordably (wait ’til I write about my $10 bar hack). That said, the sectional is one of three significant expenses that I bit the bullet and decided to spend on; the other two are the faux bois painting, and the pinch pleat draperies. While I “could” have done the faux painting and made the draperies myself and saved some money there, I was not game to try and build a sofa sectional from scratch; duh. This will be the most money I will surely ever pay for a piece of furniture in my life. I have a feeling that I also may being researching plastic slipcovers soon.
Marie Gamalski says
Ohhhh, bummer… I was so onboard with the gorgeous oranges! That Palm is nice though I guess….
Chris says
Oh that’s beautiful Pam … It will look FANTASTIC in your room
Phil says
What a cool looking fabric. I can’t wait to see the couch.
Dan says
I think you made a wise decision. I just realized our small sunroom has similar color values to your lounge. We brought in the orange in a high gloss end table and some lamps.
Must say that fabric reminds me of the Sears Herculon Faux-lonial sofas our family always ended up with – the kind that left ridges in your face for days if you made the mistake of falling asleep on it.
Jay says
YES. YES. YES!!!! to the green! Phooey on all the angst over the orange; certainly got the readers all wound up. Should have known when you threw that wrench in the mix about maybe going with green. Really complements the drapes. Before even delving into the Tiki aspect of décor, the triumvirate of your drapery and upholstery choices and the painting are giving the rooms a superb 40s/50s decorating vibe. The Tiki theme will bring it to the 60s.
Kate says
Personally I love an orange sofa, but in this case I think you are right. The green fabric is perfect and even better since you knew it was right the moment you saw it. I think all that warm color on the woodwork plus an orange sofa might be too much, but the green on the sofa will be harmonious and provide a good balance in the room. I’m very excited to see how the sofa turns out!
Are you keeping the leopard rug now that you’ve decided on green?
pam kueber says
Yes, I’ll still do leopard skin rug. Hi Kate! Misssssss you!
ineffablespace says
This is a very strong choice. Rivington has good performance in abrasion tests and is available with their Nanotex finish. (Which I think is an upcharge, but may be worth it).
I think a lot of the orange fabrics were great but most of them on my monitor made the orange in the barkcloth look brown by comparison.
Katherine Stevens says
I have a very similar fabric on my own wood-frame mid century sofas! You will LOVE the way the color changes in the light and sets off everything in the room.
John says
Love the fabric choice, the little hints of blue really connect with the blue in the curtins”
Carolyn says
Ooh, that’s nice…from what I understand, the couch is usually the biggest investment in decorating. Your choice is exciting enough for your purpose yet plain enough that later generations can fit it into their decor when you’re on the porch in your rocker.
We laugh at the plastic covers yet if it wasn’t for ladies like Marie Romano, would we have the opportunity to be buying vintage furniture in good repair? I think that’s why Dad got his own easy chair because of that saying “That’s why we can’t have nice things” (although usually aimed at the kids.)
Yippee! it’s all coming together!