The goal of this guide is to teach you about the practical elements of upholstery. You can have much more fun with the style, shape, color, and pattern of your upholstery once you are better acquainted with key terms and concepts.
Whether you are working with a designer or doing it on your own, here are some questions to ask yourself, the vendor, or designer before placing an order. These are all factors that contribute to making a beautiful and comfortable sofa that is right for your space.
This means that a sofa has a firm seat back and loose seat cushions. In this case, there are three loose seat cushions. The same terminology applies to chairs as well. A Bridgewater sofa or chair will add timeless comfort to any space. Note that a Bridgewater sofa or chair can also have a loose seat back.
This means that a sofa has loose back cushions and seat cushions. In this case, there is one long seat cushion. A St. Thomas style sofa has modern clean lines and is excellent to sleep on because of the one long seat cushion.
This means that the back upholstery is tufted. Tufting can completely transform a textile. I love to tuft all over fabrics with lots of color such as our Rees Fabric. I also love to add contrasting buttons in between the tufts. There is lots of room to play and fun to have when it comes to tufting!
This is a tailored and handsome skirt style. I love to add a trim to the bottom of the skirt using either a strip of a textile or a ribbon.
A ruffled or a shirred skirt is appropriate when one wants to add a bit of romance and femininity. The two are very similar, but a ruffled skirt is slightly fuller than a shirred skirt.
I recommend no skirt if the furniture legs are interesting, or as a contrast in a room where much of the furniture is skirted.
Whether you are working with a designer or doing it on your own, here are some questions to ask yourself, the vendor, or the designer before placing an order for the perfect bed for your space.
I love a simple rectangular-shaped headboard when I either want to experiment with multiple fabrics or if I want to showcase a piece of art above the bed.
A notched headboard is classic shape for a headboard. I love a notched headboard for when I have sconces I want to hang on either side of the bed. You can play with tufting or keep the headboard tightly upholstered when it’s notched.
An interestingly shaped headboard adds luxury and impact to any space. It is most fun to play with pattern and shape to create something totally unique.
This is a tailored and handsome skirt style. I love to add a trim to the bottom of the skirt using either a strip of a textile or a ribbon.
A ruffled or a shirred skirt is appropriate when one wants to add a bit of romance and femininity. A ruffled skirt is more full and flouncy than a shirred skirt.
To figure out the height of your headboard, take the measurement of the height of the mattress off the floor (frame + box spring + mattress]. After you’ve taken this measurement, blue tape the mattress height on your wall. This will allow you to better envision how much farther up you want the headboard to hit.
Consider what you are making and how the textile will look in the style you want the workroom to make. We offer samples of all of our patterns, so order some samples from our site and play around with them. The fabric of the pillow has to play off of any other patterns in the room, so create a little scheme for yourself.
Our sales team is a resource you can always email or call for help.They know our collection backwards and forwards. We also sell swatch sets that are categorized by color or scheme. If you are working with a designer, they will create a scheme for you that includes your selected pillow fabric.
Enjoy this step! This is the time to let your creativity flow or where your designer can show off their creativity and create something truly unique for you.
These next two steps are only important if you are doing it yourself.
