Upholstery Fabric Inspiration For Sofas, Curtains, & More:
As American decorator icon Billy Baldwin once said, "Fabric can create a signature for a room. You can swag it, drape it, tent it!"
In his book, Billy Baldwin Decorates, Billy Baldwin writes about "the magic" of fabric. We quote Baldwin here because he was such a fan of cotton fabric and all of our upholstery fabrics are cotton. Here are some of Billy Baldwin's insightful tips for decorating with upholstery fabric. Baldwin writes:
"The hardest thing about picking out just the right materials for your rooms is making up your mind. The variety is overwhelming. You can literally build a room with fabric alone. The difficulty is knowing what to choose and why.
My all time favorite, as everyone knows by now is cotton fabric. It has such life, freshness, and variety in itself that you often need nothing else... Cotton fabric goes with everything, modern furniture or antiques....If it is less formality you are after, use cotton curtains. They're simpler but to my mind not a whit less beautiful."
Rules of Thumb for Measuring Upholstery Fabric:
Here's some approximate yardage calculations for how much fabric you will need for upholstery and slipcover projects using non-directional (no repeat or solid fabrics).
To upholster or slipcover a large sofa: 10-14 yards of 60" wide fabric or 16 to 20 yards of 45" wide fabric.
To upholster or slipcover a small sofa: 6 to 8 yards of 60" wide fabric or 10 to 12 yards of 45" wide fabric.
To drape a small table: 5 to 6 yards of 60" wide fabric
or 6 to 8 yards of 45" fabric.
To upholster a standard size armchair: 4 to 6 yards of 60" wide fabric or 8 to 10 yards of 45" wide fabric.
To cover a dining room chair: 3 yards of either 45" wide fabric or 60" wide fabric.
To upholster an ottoman: 2 yards of either 45" or 60" wide fabric.
For 110" wide fabrics, you need a little more than half the fabric estimates for 60" wide fabric.
More Resources for How to Measure Upholstery Fabric, Curtains, and Other Home Decor Projects:
Here's a resource for measuring window treatments and slipcovers
Here's a pictorial chart for measuring how much fabric you need to upholster a sofa, a couch or a chair
Here's how to calculate fabric needs for curtains
How to calculate fabric needs for upholstery.
Decorating with Upholstery Fabric:
When decorating with upholstery fabric, some experts say more is more. Here's what some of them say.
"Have you ever noticed that when you're using printed fabric in any room, the more of it you use, the better it looks? In my very first bedroom, I covered the bed and hung the windows in a red-and-white toile de Jouy linen. It was not that interesting, and after a while, I decided to cover the walls and all the furniture in the same fabric. This transformed the room immediately and made it quite cozy and intimate." -Rose Tarlow,The Private House.
When decorating with fabric, "A foolproof way to pull together a room is to match curtains to the chair upholstery or...to a tablecloth. It's old-fashioned and straightforward, but it's cute and it works. In terms of volume, curtains should be full not skimpy. A no-fail fabric formula for generous coverage is to order at least one and a half to two times the width of the window." -The editors of Domino Magazine
Upholstery Fabric for Decorative Home Decor
At Decorative Things, we've tried to capture some of the "magic of materials" that Baldwin talks about by offering cotton fabrics that are a touch unusual. It's all brand new decorator fabric by the yard but every fabric has a history. We carry toile fabric, beach decor fabric, indienne fabric, Shabby Chic fabric, trellis fabric, Ikat fabric , suzani fabric, Beatrix Potter fabric, Williamsburg fabric...
We try to offer upholstery fabrics online like our Ikat fabric, Suzani Fabric, Toile Fabric, Beach Decor Fabric, Shabby Chic Fabric and Indienne Fabric, that you might not find in your local fabric store. Let us be your online fabric store, whether you have a decorator or you do your own decorating. We can special order a decorator fabric for you. All of our decorator fabrics are comfortable fabrics for upholstery, drapes, curtains, pillows or slipcovers, etc. Baldwin also said, "Comfort is perhaps the best luxury."
History of Fabric & Decorating Resources:
Read about the history of Suzani Fabric
Read about the history of Ikat Fabric
Read about Elsie de Wolfe, the American decorator who championed Trellis Fabric
See our Ikat Fabric in Country Living Magazine
Read Wikipedia's entry for the history of fabric.
Here's what The Nest has to say about first time decorating |
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