I Received The Foyer Bench Fabric (And I Don’t Like It)
The fabric for the foyer bench came in this weekend, and I don’t think I like it. Well, to be clear, I love the actual fabric, and as soon as I took it out of the package, my first thought was that I’d love to wash it and make a throw out of it. When I had my interior decorating business, I had an office in a local furniture store downtown called Spice, and they carried beautiful, washed velvet throws and bedding. I know that washing velvet isn’t really something you’re supposed to do, but it really softened it up and made for some beautiful bedding.
Anyway, I do have enough to make a throw out if it, which is a good thing because I don’t actually like it on the bench in the bedroom foyer.
I don’t really know what it is about it that I don’t like. Too dark? Too busy? Too green? I can’t put my finger on it. And I certainly don’t like it with the tea towels that I bought to make one of the pillows. So I thought I could just keep the two pillows I already have, but I don’t like those with it, either. It just seems a little too blah.
Of course, I will be hanging this picture on that wall above the bench. But even at that, it still seems too blah for me.
So I’ll washing that velvet fabric and turning it into a throw that I’ll either keep by the recliner in the bedroom or in the living room. I’m always wanting a comfy throw in the winter. Or I might make some throw pillows out of it for the bedroom, although I think the pattern might be a bit too bold for the headboard fabric. I’ll have to wait and see on that.
In the meantime, I went rummaging through my fabric stash to see if I could find anything that would work. I didn’t really have anything on hand that would work for the bench, but I did find this scrap of fabric and decided to try it out just to see if I liked the overall pattern and look. The color itself is all wrong. It’s too blue to go in a teal foyer. but I do love the pattern and how the more geometric pattern looks with the colorful tea towel (i.e., future pillow cover).
And I really like how it all looks with the picture that I plan to hang on that wall above the bench.
So, since we no longer have any fabric stores in town, I went back online to see what I could find in a teal and white geometric pattern. This time I went straight to Spoonflower since they have well over 750,000 designs from thousands of independent creators. I just searched “teal and white geometric” under fabrics, and then narrowed it down to a few favorites.
I really like this zigzag pattern, but I think the pattern is too big.
I also found this isometric cubes print. I think it might be a little too green, but I still went ahead and ordered a sample.
It also comes in this green color, which might be a fun contrast to the teal grasscloth wallpaper that I’ll be putting on the upper walls in the foyer and bedroom.
If I stick with the teal and white, I think this one might be my favorite. It’s a fun pattern, and it has just enough white to keep it light and interesting without the white being too stark. At least, that’s how it looks in the picture. We’ll see what it looks like when I get the sample.
And finally, there’s this floral hexagon lattice pattern.
It also comes in this pretty green.
And finally, there’s this geometric star fabric.
I’ve ordered samples for all of those, and now I wait. I can’t even express to you how much I hate purchasing fabrics online — making choices, waiting for samples, choosing from samples, making a purchase, waiting for the fabric to come. Oh, how I miss the days when we had actual fabric stores in town where I could go, make my purchase, and come home with the immediate gratification of that fabric in hand and ready to start on a project. I hate it so much that I very often skip ordering samples and just take my chance with ordering fabric, but as in this situation, that doesn’t always work out well for me in the end.
But I really want this area to look nice. I’ll have so few options for adding color, pattern, and fabric to the foyer (all the fabric will be in this one corner), so I don’t want to just settle on something that’s kind of meh. I want to make the most of this one opportunity to bring fabric into the foyer and make it as cute, colorful, and vibrant as possible.
More About Our Bedroom Suite Foyer
see all Bedroom Suite
Foyer diy projects
read all Bedroom Suite
Foyer blog posts
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Kristi, IMO I dont think the bench is a good fit there. It just seems awkward to me. I understand using something you already have and a seat is a good idea to have when you are putting on shoes
Maybe a small chair that would fit in that corner would be better. In the past I have been unsure of a few of your choices but in the end I love your decision . Guess it’s good that I am not a decorator
In that corner, have you considered a round bench?
Good Morning! Just my 2 cents here, while I adore the teal, I think you may have a problem finding that “just right” fabric color to match your fabulous grass cloth in teal?
Maybe switch gears here and go with a different color as you started to with the greens? Or possibly your lovely pinks or corals in those awesome geometrics, I mean come on….that bench in your music room? SWOON! Maybe its just me but I adore that bench! LOL I was just thinking that little corner was a perfect opportunity for a punch of color a bit bigger than a throw pillow? I cant wait to see what you come up with….always worth the wait! Have a great day!
I think the bench needs to be shortened. From side to side. It just seems a bit large. And as far as the fabric I think you like the smaller print on the fabric from your stash because it isn’t fighting for attention. I believe all the other prints from spoonflower are wonderful but too large repeats. I love what you are doing in this area of your home. What about a heavy duty solid linen for the bench?
Felicity would rip up linen in a week. I’ve already seen her napping here and scratching on the fabric.
Did you try holding up the grass cloth over the velvet on the bench? I’m wondering if the texture and shading in the grass cloth would make a difference in how the velvet looks to you. It would be difficult to find a fabric with the exact shade of teal. I really like the isometric cubes fabric in green. The lower edge of your painting appears to have that shade of green. I’m not sure how the cube design in that shade of green would look with your tea towel. I also hate not having local fabric stores with home deco fabrics. Having to order countless fabric samples to see and feel them is expensive.
How about bringing the headboard fabric out to bench—or something in the orange, coral family?
Love this idea 💗a
I trust your wants, but have a hard time seeing all the problems. This weekend was frustrating with a lot of tech being wonky. Maybe the navy was a little bolder lines than the image shared so there’s 10-20% less white at scale, and the scale just doesn’t work well.
An oddball super expensive “toy” I came across this weekend via online ad…Brother makes a fabric printer for at home crafts. It prints ink, onto a roll of fabric or flat paper. I was excited, but looked into the supply costs. The fabric rolls are $80+ for 5 yards, not even a foot wide. Now if they made bigger ones available, they’d sell better.
I saw that Michael’s will start carrying fabric. I think it’s stock from JoAnne’s. It won’t be all of them, but maybe Waco will have it.
What about the soft pink of your drapes in the living room? It would bring out the pink in your closet wallpaper and coordinate well with your music room settee. The other thought was a stained wooden bench that would go with anything and break up the white. You could find many options on marketplace in a shorter length. Just a thought. I am really loving everything you have done!
Speaking of Spoonflower…I have two samples of the same fabric from them. They are two different backgrounds colors. Has that ever happened to you? I don’t know if I can trust ordering fabric. Do you order the Performance Linen for your drapery fabric from Spoonflower? And would you recommend this same fabric for upholstery?
what about stripes?
For what it is worth, I do agree with others about the size of the bench, I think that might be the problem. You could make a “corner” bench seat, I know more to do when you want to be done. I like the idea of taking the wallpaper in the closet and making it the fabric or the headboard fabric. It gives a lot of symmetry to the three open areas and still gives you a playful colorful space. I know that you will figure it out in the end, you always do. But I think the stumbling block is the bench itself. Perhaps you can cut it into two and make the corner bench from it. Just thinking out loud on Monday morning watching the frost on my crops here in Tennessee.
Cheers to you, Matt and the Fur Babies!
Wasn’t there a striped fabric that you were considering for your studio office chair ( or maybe it was a consideration for your bedroom)? Why not that?
Hi Kristi,
I share your disappointment regarding the lack of fabric stores. I’m sure you have thought of this but Hobby Lobby sells fabric and even upholstery fabric. Recently, I saw a small fabric department in a Michael’s store in Cedar Park, TX. I didn’t explore it because I was there for something else but I will take a look in the near future. I realize that neither of these stores will have the variety of what we enjoyed back in the day but maybe worth a look if your online choices don’t work out.
I love your home, and your creativity! Beautiful!!
I like #4 and #7 the best of all. But thats MHO, and without seeing it in person, it’s hard to really see it on the bench. You’ll figure it out and it’ll be beautiful as always. 😁
Hi Kristi: I hope you and Matt had a great weekend. When I saw the blog title and picture, my gut thought was that I didn’t like the fabric. It’s not that the fabric is bad, it just doesn’t go with the bedroom suite color palette. If your decide to go with teal and white color, I’m with your favorite choice. I love that pattern! Do they offer that in an orange tone. That would tie in and be cohesive with your bedroom. I look forward to seeing the suite finished in a few weeks. You are making great progress!
I like the bright green fabric to pull the green from the church picture.
Call me crazy, but I am seeing a creamy light gold metallic velvet (no pattern) and paint the bottom the same light blue as the closet. In my head that is so pretty. The gold calls to the L on the closet island and the closet hardware, the blue is subtle and low enough to not be matchy-matchy. I love the tea towel fabric and that is your punch of color.
I do read that you want it to be cute, colorful and vibrant – so my idea probably isn’t the winning one for you. 🙂
It all seems too much. Would you consider using the velvet you are using for the curtain as a cover . That would bring that color into the foyer.
I love your teals but it will be hard to find a match I think. I keep seeing a coral mini stripe in a velvet. Oddly specific I know but my mind keeps going back to it. The color would integrate the closet & bedroom, the mini stripe wouldn’t compete with the grass cloth texture or gorgeous pillows either. The only other thing I can see is crazy & might not work with a dog or cat. It is a long white furry pile fabric. The texture would be exciting and the pillows would pop.
Have you tried Amazons Fabric Outlet? they other choices as well. I am not crazy about a few of those you are getting samples of but I know you will chose what steals your heart and puts a spark in your eye. Part of the problem I have is when you say something is green it doesn’t look green on my device. I refuse to buy a new one until this one just dies. Then I will give it a decent burial and provide flowers, she’s been good to me over the years. HAHA Be blessed.
You always find the right things. Always!!
What about using a pink velvet with a teal welt? Your pattern could be your pillows and art.
That fabric is really cool! But you are right, not for that space. I hope when you turn it into a throw you will write a post about it because I would love to see that! My first thought for the bench was the velvet you will be using for the drapes in your bedroom. I remember you said felicity doesn’t really like to scratch velvet, and you already know that it goes with your decor there. Anyway, your comments are full of interesting ideas and your fabric samples look interesting too!
Do you have to have a pattern in the fabric? I actually like the green, but not necessarily the pattern. Have you looked at Hobby Lobby? They have fabric for furniture.
I went about two weeks ago. They have such a tiny selection now, and I could swear that I’ve seen some of those fabrics that they have for 20 years now. I was very disappointed when I went.