What upholstered in a fabric? A chair upholstered in two magnificent fabrics. This strategy is a great way to add visual punch along with a sly surprise into a living room, an office, a dining room or a bedroom. The key: Vary the scale, pattern or color enough to create a high amount of contrast — otherwise the cloths will blend into one another and look like a mishmash. And unless you are thinking about this art endeavor, restrict yourself to two materials; three or (heaven forbid) four can create confusion.
One suggestion: Upholstered chairs are key investment bits, and you would like them to have staying power. Should you go this route, either choose versatile patterns that will stay fresh and you will love for a long time, or commit to reupholstering every so often to maintain an up-to-date look.
Have a look at these eight methods to double up on cloths to get ideas on your own chairs.
Heydt Designs
1. Insert an element of surprise. At first glance, this living room minds its manners, from the classic palette into the blue and white china at the hutch. Your eye zooms from the fireplace into the set of chairs. Casual cloths in indigo and olive glue the chairs as well as the backs, providing a great contrast to the ladylike eyeglasses and turning the classic composition on its ear.
In case you looked at swatches of both patterns side by side, you’d never imagine them getting along, and that is exactly why they work so well in this space. Teamed up, they give off a level of energy that a single blueprint never could.
Amoroso Design
2. Tie in fabric elsewhere in the room. The blue lace onto the fronts of those dining chairs could have appeared just fine with the overscale floral print onto the Roman shades.
But upholstering the backs of the chairs in that same print, edged with denim piping, puts a bow on the entire pretty package. Details constantly matter in layout, and this distance gets them.
Cynthia Lynn Photography
3. Lend drama into a area. In plain black, these chairs might not have looked especially exciting against their beige backdrop. But with the backs covered in a sophisticated ikat print, the space takes on an exotic flair.
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MuseInteriors
4. Insert spark. The layout on the backs of those chairs is so quiet that it might not register until you look closely. Nevertheless it lends another tier of attention amid the pale colors and faint wallpaper motif, and prevents the space from feeling one-dimensional.
Erdreich Architecture, P.C.
5. Keep scale. This large scale wing chair could have overpowered the distance were it covered completely in a bold print. Upholstering just the back and the seat helps it to feel much more suitable for the dimensions of the space.
Designs for Living
6. Pull along a palette. Without the suzani-print fabric on the backs of those office chairs, the pink-meets-yellow color scheme would not harmonize. The print draws the disparate hues together, and limiting it to the chair backs prevents it from overpowering the space.
Cynthia Mason Interiors
7. Highlight a shape. The svelte, beautifully curved backs of those upholstered dining chairs deserve to be set off with a contrasting fabric that reinforces the area’s palette.
8. Elevate a slice that is very simple. Without the floral panel on the trunk, this desk chair could be plain and unassuming. That small touch of layout transforms it into a one-of-a-kind gem.