Help in choosing coordinating upholstery fabric for a sofa

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

Hello, I will be getting this Baker sofa reupholstered mostly in this Covington Goochie Linen fabric with a antique brass nailhead trim but was thinking of using a different but still neutral fabric for the seat and perhaps. Any suggestions for other fabric(s) that would coordinate well with the main fabric I’ve chosen? I’m not opposed to another animal print or other textured fabrics. My budget is $25 or less per yard. Thank you in advance for your help!

Featured Answer

J Inhof

6 years ago

FYI. If you have children or pets or expect to use this sofa a lot I would consider one or a combination of the “Crypton” fabrics. These fabrics are especially constructed to repel stains,dirt, etc. and are easy to clean up and wear like iron. There is a huge variety of choices—tweeds, linens, even prints—and the pricing starts around $15 per yard. I first heard about it on Laurel Bern’s decorating blog—the Westchester County interior designer—and she raves about it. (You can google her name and her blog will turn up).

I found my Crypton “daria stone” fabric on the “Sailrite“ fabric website for $18/yard. They are also available at JoAnn’s fabric and Calico Corners (at higher price points for the same fabric). You can send away to Sailrite for small samples. You can also find nice Crypton fabrics on ebay at very good prices. BTW, the other hard wearing fabric maker that is often overlooked is Sunbrella. They are coming out with some wonderful indoor/outdoor everyday fabrics (at good price points on Ebay).

I was surprised at how comfortable and “natural” Crypton seemed. Looking at it it would be hard to tell it was not some real linen weave. I reupholstered our old sofa with it for the basement. Then we liked it so much we used other colorways on upstairs furniture. Crypton is a fabric innovation that somehow is impregnated into the strands to produce really durable fabrics. You can find it marketed under the Crypton name, but it is also available through the top end designer fabric makers like Schumacher and Clarence House (Of course at much higher price points).

Good luck!

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Comments (9)

PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
6 years ago
I would select something extremely durable for the arms because they are going to take a beating and it's expensive to reupholster.
wildbrat
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Thank you for the tip! I wish I could afford leather but that's way out of my budget. The fabric I have chosen has been rated at 50,000 double rubs. I only bought one yard of it though to see what it looked like in person so there's still time for me to change gears regarding the main fabric. That top sofa you shared is nice though but again, way out of my price range.
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PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
6 years ago
I am cinfused you are doing this sofa with nailheads where exactly. IMO this sofa is already very busy style wise and to add anothe fabric and the nail heads and the tufting I think will just make it look tacky. In fact the cost to reuphoster this even with cheap fabric is going to be expensive and I think sofas done with mixing fabrics never look good thye always look like you couldn’t find enough of one
Jennifer K
6 years ago
If the fabric of the sofa is not too worn, you might do better to just have the seat cushions restuffed and the fringe replaced. That will neaten things up until you can afford to do the upholstery properly.

Something else to think about: if the cost of good reupholstery is greater than the cost of a new sofa (of a grade that is acceptable to you), maybe it would be better to buy a new sofa.
wildbrat
Original Author
6 years ago
Patricia Colwell Consulting I am planning on doing a spaced nailhead trim on the arm fronts and possibly the bottom front. I had a similar style sofa reupholstered years ago (pictured) with nailhead trim and a plain linen/cotton blend and I didn’t think it looked tacky at all but to each their own. I just want to try different fabrics this time around. My upholsterer’s prices are very reasonable.
wildbrat
Original Author
6 years ago
Jennifer K, thank you for the advice. Keeping any of the current upholstery is not an option for it to work in my space. My upholsterer does excellent work and his prices are very reasonable. If I get get the durable fabric at a great price point, the total cost will be less than $1k which is cheaper than a new sofa. I’m the type who’d rather buy a used great quality sofa than buy a new sofa that’s not good quality.
Jennifer K
6 years ago
That's an excellent price! Wish the upholsterers around me were that reasonable. But yeah, trying to source good quality fabric at a decent price is an even bigger problem. I'm going to look into Crypton too, thanks to @J Inhof.
wildbrat
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
J Inhof, I have been looking online for fabrics to buy and getting samples or seeing it in person when able. I actually purchased fabric I used for a sofa I had years ago on eBay, and it was a steal but I want to try a different fabric this time around. I do have a 15 pound poodle mix do so I’ll try looking at that as well as the websites you mentioned, thank you!