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ricklish

Fabric Choices... HELP!

18 years ago

** I apologize in advance for this long post! **

Well, I'm graduating from the remodeling thread to the Home Dec thread and I need help! We are doing a kitchen/dining room remodel and it's time to pick fabrics. I plan to make the window treatments myself. I have consulted with one professional decorator and two window treatment shops and this is what I have so far. I could really use some help pulling it all together... so here goes:

The style I'm going for is traditional country, kinda like grandma's kitchen. White painted cabs, oak hardwood floors, brick wall, beadboard, soapstone counters, apron sink - you get the idea. I'm not froufy(?) like French Country, but not into geese either. Simple, traditional, casual, homey.

So here is the eating area, the walls are Behr Desert Camel:

{{gwi:1657393}}{{gwi:1657395}}

Another view of the kitchen. The white walls will have more cabinets on them, and a beadboard backsplash matching the cabinets.

{{gwi:1657396}}

{{gwi:1657398}}

Oh yeah... and the island is blue!

So, I'm looking for fabrics with a vintage-y feel to them, that look like they've been around awhile, washed or tea-stained.

Two I like so far are Kasmir Tinker in Eggshell:

{{gwi:1657400}}

And Fabricut Effusive in Dresden:

{{gwi:1657402}}

It all has to play nicely with the FR (painted in Wethersfield Moss)

{{gwi:1657404}}

I'd like to do a Pate Meadows Cuff Top Valance over the large window, a drape on the slider, a valance over a roman shade at the sink window and a four-inch cushion on the window seat under the decorative glass window (which will be left alone at least initially).

Any other fabric suggestions? I'd like to keep at least a splash of blue in the fabrics and not overdue the red. I also need coordinating fabrics for the cuff lining and a window seat cushion.

Then on to the Dining Room which has walls that are Harvest Brown and a tin ceiling:

{{gwi:1657406}}{{gwi:1657408}}

{{gwi:1657409}}{{gwi:1657410}}

For this I've got two very different fabric ideas, the first Porto Santo is a sheer linen background with an embroidoidered tulip pattern on it. There will be a black hutch in the Dining Room with an distressed oak stained dining table.

{{gwi:1657411}}

The other is more French Country-ish. It is Cherrington by Robert Allen (sorry the pic is a bit blurry.)

{{gwi:1657412}}

This all has to play nicely with the foyer, which is... you guessed it... blue! BM Mineral Alloy to be exact.

{{gwi:1657413}}

Whew! You made it through my super-long post. Any help/comments would be appreciated. Also any other fabric or trim suggestions are welcome too! Thank you for reading!!

Comments (18)

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Wow! Beautiful house.

    For the kitchen I like Kasmir Tinker. It's light and bright. Very pretty. It's more traditional. The second fabric is pretty and more vintage IMO. But the 1st takes my vote. I would keep the roman shade solid with a little texture, like a linen. You can underline the valance with a strip. I like solid drapes. You can also line them or add a Kasmir strip to the bottom or top, or just have solid.

    Love the Porto for the living room. Very neutral pattern that you can easily add other patterns to in furnishings or use with all neutral textured furnishings and add splash with accent pillows and area rug. Very elegant.

    Okay, I'm done with MO. Sure this will be a long thread.

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Very nice home, and I agree with jerseygirl on the Kasmir Tinker! really like your paint choices and I almost used the same light fixture for my island!

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Looks like it is going to be wonderful when it is all done!

    Kitchen: The first fabric is great, I love it, but it is not country - very Jacobean feeling, more formal and sophisticated. Not that you shouldn't use it, but it isn't the grandma's kitchen fabric you say you want. The second fabric is more along the lines of what you are thinking, but it is a lot of blue. What about something more like this:

    eldorado blue

    or this:

    rocor blue

    or this:

    jaques softbutter

    Then I would look for a coordinating check for the liner side and any trim or reveal.

    As for the DR, the first fabric feels very contemporary - not the feeling I am thinking you want, especially with the tin ceiling, etc. I like the second fabric, but I think the room may read very dark with that, the wall color, and the large black furniture piece - and then the bright white ceiling ( and white beadboard, I think?)

    How about something like this:

    bosporous 197 toile

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I agree with les917. I don't see grandma's kitchen in those fabrics. They're nice, but not what I was expecting to see after you described your vision for your kitchen.
    I like the second DR fabric, but can't see it fitting into your room there either.
    Back to your kitchen -- consider test washing a bit of fabric you're considering to see if you can get that softer, been-around-for-a while look before you make your curtains.

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Fabric #1 for your first pick

    For the dining room, I wouldn't use either of those fabrics, but would find a blue and brown or blue and black toile.

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    that I like les' toile choices with the soft blue backgrounds, the 197 toile and eldorado blue. You might also consider a smaller print in the kitchen if you're looking for a grandma's farmhouse look.
    Annie

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    The one thing that bothers me about the first fabric sample, is that I'm not sure if it's kind of "Pink" and if that will flow well with your bricks, which should be a focal point. (They're gorgeous). Does the second have a bit more of the brick tone in it? THat would push me towards number two (but I'd actually keep shoping before i picked that one).

    I'd like to see some blue pulled into the other room. Your colors are so pretty it would be nice to see them flow throughout the house.

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I love your home and all the fabric choices.. I lean towards the second option for both and while they are very different, they kind of echo one another.

    My fear though is that the blue in the kitchen fabric will compete with that fabulously blue kitchen island rather than enhance it. I like the first two options Les shared but I wonder if they'll look too washed out with the butter yellow and blue island. I think you'll have to try some swatches.

    I also think Les is right about the dining room choice darkening the room. I love it but I am afraid it will overpower and suck the light out of the room. Again, I'd give a swatch a try .. and a toile.

    It's all really beautiful though.. you have a great eye!

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Les how do you put more than one link in a post?

    And here's a few ideas..


  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Igloochick.. WHERE are these fabrics from? I absolutely must have the yellow print with birds (are they hummingbirds? I am on a small screen right now)

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    OMG! You all are terrific! Thanks for all your suggestions. I agree that Tinker is very bright and fresh - it looks great with the cabinets, brick and the touch of blue ties in great with the island. I found Waverly Colette in Jute as a complementary fabric to cover the window seat cushion with, it plays up the chamois color of the walls. And it coordinates well with the adjacent FR color.

    Actually, the same pattern is also available with a black background - Tinker Onyx - is it 'legal' to use the same pattern in two different colors in two different rooms?

    Then I go back to the Fabricut Effusive blue. It has a nice, vintage look and it carries the blue over to the eating area of the kitchen. The Waverly Colette works with it as well.

    Then - les917 - I really liked the Eldorado Blue and the Jacques Softbutter - both are very nice. I'm not a big fan of toiles, they seem a bit French Country to me, I guess the same goes for paisley.

    Jerseygirl - great idea on the roman shade - do you think I could use burlap (sorry, I'm not kidding!) or is it too 'rough'. I really like the visual texture of it in small doses. I had a simple burlap valance over a Waverly fruit print roman shade pre-remodel - that would be one less treatment to make :)
    {{gwi:1657428}}
    ('scuse the mess, we were packing for remodel!)

    Annie1971, great suggestion on washing the fabric to give it a more worn look. Thanks.

    Anybody got any more vintage-y suggestions?? Less sophisticated, we're beer folks, not martinis or fine wines (not that there's anything wrong with that...LOL!)

    Thanks again!

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Funky, that fabric is called Chinese Birds and it's on sale today at Design Diva Fabrics (website). $22.50 yrd skew DD-5637.

    I am DDF's best customer...or at least I am now, since I found their site after seeing someone ask about it here last week :oP I look at their offerings constantly and when my...ummm I think I'm pushing 100 yards, shows up, I'll tell you more about them (the thread actually does discuss the quality of their fabrics being fabulous).

    rciklish, you want texture...how about Linen? Design Diva has several gorgeous linens on sale right now. There's also a fabric called raffia which has a great deal of texture in it, and comes in great colors.

    That house is not a beer house darling...it's not :oP

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    No, not the one in the window pre-remodel. It would not do justice to Tinker or your kitchen. There are so many textured fabrics that would work. Linen came to my mind in my original post but there are many with the same texture value.

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    well, burlap with a nice check or floral would be cool-- esp if the burlap were edged with a trim of some kind. We had a whole thread dedicated to the merits/demerits of burlap. I recently made a dining room tablecloth out of burlap with black long fringe. It is next to silk taffetas and a Horchow sofa, so who knows what the look is. Beer meets champagne? I like the juxtaposition of the burlap with the finer materials. I like burlap anyway. I was just in a super high end house (the decorator who owns the French store in town that I mentioned on another thread)and she had burlap with printing on it (like old seed bags) used as roll pillows on super posh chairs.

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    One thing about ordering from Design Diva--get a sample first. A couple of their fabrics were way, way darker IRL than the way they looked in website photos. Usually, if the description says maroon or burgundy, but the photo looks rose, it's the description that is correct. I'd like to see how a ticking stripe or check with a more complex trim or lining looks.

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Something along these lines for a lining would pick up the bricks, the island, and the moss.

    '

    Here is a link that might be useful: Ralph Lauren plaid

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    For something totally different, this is one of my favorite linens. You would definitely need to see a sample in order to assess the blue with your island and the cream with your cabinets. I would love to know the name and brand of your island blue, BTW.

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    BTW
    On Igloo's list, I own the last one. It is very delicate, probably not the best for a kitchen (I have it on throw pillows in a blue and yellow guest bedroom). I've eyed that peacock feather for months. It's exquisite, but super delicate and quite formal. You might want to check out Bennison linens, but you would need a showroom. The website doesn't show the whole collection.

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