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Many times people think the term "upholstery" means the fabric that covers the piece of furniture, when, in fact, upholstery, or upholstered furniture, is the actual sofa, chair or ottoman that is covered in fabric.

Upholstered furniture can be one of the most exciting or frustrating areas for interior design projects. Many of the components of upholstered furniture aren’t visible to the client. Some examples of this are: the seating or suspension under the cushions, the frame and the composition of the cushion interiors.

Not all manufacturers incorporate these criteria. In particular, if they don’t use the last two (COM and Flow Matching), I question the quality. Flow Matching takes a bit more time, material and skill. While flow matching doesn’t add significantly to the price, it adds immeasurably to the look. If you work with manufacturers meeting these criteria, you are only limited by imagination. You will have approximately 100,000 fabrics from which to choose. Some of the manufacturers I prefer to use are: Carsons of High Point, Century, Drexel Heritage, Flexsteel, Hickory White, Hickory House, Highland House, Huntington House, Isenhour, Key City, King Hickory, Lexington, Marlow, Pearson, Pennsylvania House, Temple,Thayer Coggin, Vanguard, Weiman and Woodmark.

You will gain further personalization when you use contrast welting, cording, tassles, or fringes. You can also use contrasting fabric on the throw pillows for versatility. It is important to remember that you should always use an odd number of fabrics in a room. An odd number of fabrics makes the presentation more interesting. Contrasting throw pillows can help achieve this. If a rug is involved, treat it as a neutral or as art for the floor. Pick out a color or colors in the rug and coordinate your fabrics with them.

The rules today are that there are no rules. Plaids, stripes and florals are mixed even when using oriental-style rugs. Over the plast couple of years, even fabrics with similar designs are in use. This is called layering.

Your look can range from extremely conservative to very bold. It is important that you have your room or home reflect your taste and the taste of others living in the home.

When you look at upholstered furniture in a store or magazine, remember that the fabric you choose can totally change the look. The fabric can make the piece look more traditional or contemporary, more formal or casual, even larger or smaller depending on the colors and patterns of the fabric. With that in mind, if you don’t like the fabric on the frame, try to look beyond the navy blue and orange polka dots to the style and shape of the frame.

Together we can put together a look that is uniquely yours, and will be almost impossible to duplicate. I welcome the opportunity to work with you.

Our next article will explore the use of COM or Customer's Own Material