Reupholster – The Design Tabloid

Christina recently contacted The Design Tabloid to ask our resident Décor Diva some advice…

Christina asks:

“I’m trying to jazz up my sitting room. I have two dark brown leather sofas which I love, and two big Morris chairs with loose cushions back and bottom. These need re-covering and I want to them to be the focus to pull everything together – so new upholstery on the chairs = new scatters for the couches, new rug. I can’t bear beige and shades of cream and brown (dogs and cats don’t help) but I love jewel colours and would like to go deep blue. Question: does blue go, do I need to pick a patterned, textured fabric for the chairs that would feature brown somehow to link with the couches.

Many thanks – I have just discovered your site and really like your approach. Not scary at all.“

Décor Diva says:

One thing I am pleased to hear is that our blog does not scare you off. Nice to know that we are regarded as approachable.

I have to start off by saying that not having an image of the actual room and style of your sofa makes this reply very general. But I guess the purpose is to give you an indication of where to drive your thoughts.

More to the point though is the fact that your query is whether or not your favoured colour choice of deep blue will work with your dark brown leather sofas? The answer to that is a definite YES it will. In fact Indigo blue and jewel blues will work very well with brown. You can even consider introducing a some warm tones like a Tangerine Tango colour to add dimension and warmth.

It is always best to work from the floor upwards in terms of décor layers. In your case, this would be your rug. If you are brave enough, I would suggest you consider something with Moroccan, Aztec, or Navajo patterns, which include the colours I mentioned earlier. Kilim is super trendy once again. Then keep an element of fun going, by continuing on with pattern on your Morris chair cushions. I would say that a narrow striped fabric, with chenille or velvet type texture would work well – the stripes can be drawn from the colours in the rug. What you could also consider is using the stripes as the main fabric, and mixing that in with a matching plain fabric for the border.

Then have loads of fun with your scatter cushions patterns and textures. Again draw the colours out of the rug. Mix in plain fabrics, with geo fabrics, with retro patterns, with stripes and then very tactile textures fabrics as well. Not too many scatters – they will literally be scattered around if too many. If your budget allows you, please consider using a feather mixture for these scatter inners. Vary these cushions in size and shape. Pop a rectangular scatter on each of the Morris chairs as well.

Re-upholstery always presents a perfect opportunity of going about introducing your personal style in colours, patterns and texture. My advice to you would be to take your time in going about doing your research and sourcing – create a mood board using fabric samples, images of pattern, rugs, whatever you can find that represents the colours and patterns you want to introduce. Once you have that settled, go out and shop. Best of luck and enjoy the process!

Love, Rose x x x

Design Titbit:

Online image websites like Pinterest is an invaluable tool when creating mood boards or collecting interior inspiration. Marica & I use Pinterest when working on a specific design project – gathering concept images & fabric samples and general style aspirations unto one board. I you find an image on the web that you like or would work for your décor project be sure to “pin” it – soon you will have a whole board with gorgeous inspirations. Below are some images from Pinterest we have pinned that can work for Christina in some way or another (in a “that chair” with “this rug” in “that colour” kind of way)…

Click on the images below to view it in Pinterest and to see the relevant image sources: