Color Scheme Change? Think First!

People with children, imagine a pristine, self-curated abode before the children were born.

Now, skip forward ten years…eeek!

In my flat, in that time, my daughter faithfully smeared her fingers all over the seat fabric of the dining chairs, necessitating endless applications of Scotchguard cleaner/protector, which left the coverings woefully faded. In designer speak, refreshing the look was recommended. So this past summer, I decided that she had finally become quite dependable in dining with her napkin and decided to update the chair fabric.

I was very excited. A morning spent at chc concepts in Hong Kong carrying my favorite fabric and wallpaper designer, Osbourne and Little, is a treat. The myriad of color, pattern, texture and effect means that hours are easily whiled away just seeing and touching and imagining how a particular textile might look in a room. Swatches were brought home (always ask if there are samples available for borrowing to see it in-situ and always return the swatches after use).

From a geometric blue and muted gold pattern, that matched
unnamed the original neutral colored fabrics in the living room, we boldly changed to a very modern orange and grey design.
Of course, thought was given to the orange/rust hued Moroccan rug in the dining room! In addition, because the two rooms were contiguous, the new color scheme was brought into the floor cushions with a matching orange suede-like micro fabric.

In designer speak, the new color scheme look fresh, energetic and seamless in both rooms. The problem – fast forward a few months later and I am decorating for Christmas and see two beautiful seasonal tablecloths and both unfortunately clash with my orange and grey dining chair fabric! The first fabric is a festive red pattern with a border shot with silver thread and the other is a modern gold and black bubble design. I even tried the bubble design in its other color runway of silver and white.

These eye-catching designs when placed next to my orange and grey dining chair fabric simply clash!

In hindsight, when choosing a soft furnishing that is immovable (the fabric on my dining rooms seats are stitched on), think first and think again! Think through how you live, when the room needs to change for entertaining and other special occasions. My tablecloths are all white, dark blue and earth tones which will match the orange grey fabric, but the lady is fickle and wants a change…