The scientific – and aesthetic - reasons why colour theory is all very well, but there’s no substitute for examining fabric swatches in your own home…
Colour theory in interior design has a lot going for it – you know the stuff, all about the colour wheel, and complementary versus analogous colours, and warm colours at the red end of the spectrum versus cool colours at the blue end.
However, one wrinkle in colour theory is that it tends to treat colours as though they exist independently of everything else.
Whereas in reality, colour has to live on something, and material changes colour because of how much light it absorbs or reflects, or where shadows form. That’s why if you put the same colour on plaster, polished wood, glazed ceramic, linen or velvet, you don't really have the same colour any more.
This is especially clear with fabric: rather than sitting on top of a piece of cloth, colour gets ’caught up’ in the fibre, yarn, weave and texture of the thing itself.
So here’s a Schplendid guide to colour and fabric…
Colour and linen
Look closely at a piece of good linen and you’ll see there isn't really such a thing as a completely flat patch of colour. The individual threads are visible, and some catch the light while others fall ever so fractionally into shadow. There are tiny variations in the yarn and texture of the weave, which means the surface changes subtly depending on where you're standing and where the light is coming from.
The heavier and more textured the linen, the more pronounced this becomes. Our heavyweight linen is around 860gsm, which makes it a fairly serious bit of cloth. It is woven in Tuscany and then put through an enzyme wash to soften it, so you end up with something substantial but relaxed rather than stiff or upholstery-ish.
Our lighter linen, at around 560gsm, behaves differently. It has a finer, tighter weave and a looser feel, more like a really good linen shirt. The folds are softer and the colour consequently feels different too.
It is one reason why choosing between two fabrics is never simply choosing between two versions of the same colour. You might say the cloth is part of the colour.
Colour and velvet
If linen is interesting when it comes to colour, velvet is even more so… A good cotton velvet has a pile: thousands of tiny fibres standing up from the surface. Depending on which way those fibres are lying, they either catch the light or absorb it.
When you run your hand one way across velvet it looks lighter, but then when you brush it back the other way the same patch becomes deeper and darker. Walk past a velvet sofa and the colour sort of ripples as you move.
This is why velvet can make relatively simple colours feel unusually rich. A deep green or rusty red has light and shade already built into it; the surface gives the colour depth.
Our velvet is pure cotton, woven in Italy. We deliberately don't use polyester velvet or coat it with one of the stain-repellent treatments commonly added to upholstery fabrics.
There is a trade-off. Spill red wine on untreated cotton velvet and we'd advise dealing with it rather rapidly; but we'd still rather velvet still looked and felt like velvet.
The importance of seeing swatches in your own room
A swatch viewed under shop lighting or on a laptop screen can only tell you so much, because the colour you actually live with will be made partly by the room around it.
In any given room, morning light is different from evening light, and north-facing rooms behave differently from south-facing ones. A colour beside a large window may look quite different from the same colour in a darker corner, while electric light changes things again.
Texture exaggerates these effects because a textured cloth presents hundreds of tiny surfaces to the light rather than one smooth plane.
This is why we are great believers in swatches. There really is no substitute for putting physical samples of cloths in the actual room, moving it around and looking at it at different times of day.
You may discover that the colour you thought you wanted isn't quite right – or you may discover that one you hadn't considered looks unexpectedly wonderful.
Being bold: why colour doesn't always need to be such a big commitment
There is one final further Schplendid point to make about choosing a sofa fabric colour – one which might encourage you to be slightly braver and bolder in your choice.
Most modern sofas have fairly short lives. If you think the sofa itself may only last ten years or so, choosing its colour can feel oddly momentous: whatever you pick, you are stuck with it until you replace the entire thing.
We make sofas rather differently. The frame is solid beech, the springs are eight-way hand tied and the whole thing is intended to last for generations. The covers of Vesper, Margot, Big Bonnie, Wee Bonnie and Lenny sofas are removable, which means the upholstery doesn't have to last as long as the sofa.
If one day you get bored with it, change the covers.
The truth is that there really isn't such a thing as just a colour. There’s colour in linen or velvet, in different lights and different places.
Browse our fabrics and order a free box of swatches to find the one that sings in your space.
See also:
The perfect touch: Why we only use pure Italian linen and velvet fabrics for Schplendid sofas
Are ‘Smart Fabrics' really that smart?
What beautiful fabrics do to colour
The scientific – and aesthetic - reasons why colour theory is all very well, but there’s no substitute for examining fabric swatches in your own home…
Colour theory in interior design has a lot going for it – you know the stuff, all about the colour wheel, and complementary versus analogous colours, and warm colours at the red end of the spectrum versus cool colours at the blue end.
However, one wrinkle in colour theory is that it tends to treat colours as though they exist independently of everything else.
Whereas in reality, colour has to live on something, and material changes colour because of how much light it absorbs or reflects, or where shadows form. That’s why if you put the same colour on plaster, polished wood, glazed ceramic, linen or velvet, you don't really have the same colour any more.
This is especially clear with fabric: rather than sitting on top of a piece of cloth, colour gets ’caught up’ in the fibre, yarn, weave and texture of the thing itself.
So here’s a Schplendid guide to colour and fabric…
Colour and linen
Look closely at a piece of good linen and you’ll see there isn't really such a thing as a completely flat patch of colour. The individual threads are visible, and some catch the light while others fall ever so fractionally into shadow. There are tiny variations in the yarn and texture of the weave, which means the surface changes subtly depending on where you're standing and where the light is coming from.
The heavier and more textured the linen, the more pronounced this becomes. Our heavyweight linen is around 860gsm, which makes it a fairly serious bit of cloth. It is woven in Tuscany and then put through an enzyme wash to soften it, so you end up with something substantial but relaxed rather than stiff or upholstery-ish.
Our lighter linen, at around 560gsm, behaves differently. It has a finer, tighter weave and a looser feel, more like a really good linen shirt. The folds are softer and the colour consequently feels different too.
It is one reason why choosing between two fabrics is never simply choosing between two versions of the same colour. You might say the cloth is part of the colour.
Colour and velvet
If linen is interesting when it comes to colour, velvet is even more so… A good cotton velvet has a pile: thousands of tiny fibres standing up from the surface. Depending on which way those fibres are lying, they either catch the light or absorb it.
When you run your hand one way across velvet it looks lighter, but then when you brush it back the other way the same patch becomes deeper and darker. Walk past a velvet sofa and the colour sort of ripples as you move.
This is why velvet can make relatively simple colours feel unusually rich. A deep green or rusty red has light and shade already built into it; the surface gives the colour depth.
Our velvet is pure cotton, woven in Italy. We deliberately don't use polyester velvet or coat it with one of the stain-repellent treatments commonly added to upholstery fabrics.
There is a trade-off. Spill red wine on untreated cotton velvet and we'd advise dealing with it rather rapidly; but we'd still rather velvet still looked and felt like velvet.
The importance of seeing swatches in your own room
A swatch viewed under shop lighting or on a laptop screen can only tell you so much, because the colour you actually live with will be made partly by the room around it.
In any given room, morning light is different from evening light, and north-facing rooms behave differently from south-facing ones. A colour beside a large window may look quite different from the same colour in a darker corner, while electric light changes things again.
Texture exaggerates these effects because a textured cloth presents hundreds of tiny surfaces to the light rather than one smooth plane.
This is why we are great believers in swatches. There really is no substitute for putting physical samples of cloths in the actual room, moving it around and looking at it at different times of day.
You may discover that the colour you thought you wanted isn't quite right – or you may discover that one you hadn't considered looks unexpectedly wonderful.
Being bold: why colour doesn't always need to be such a big commitment
There is one final further Schplendid point to make about choosing a sofa fabric colour – one which might encourage you to be slightly braver and bolder in your choice.
Most modern sofas have fairly short lives. If you think the sofa itself may only last ten years or so, choosing its colour can feel oddly momentous: whatever you pick, you are stuck with it until you replace the entire thing.
We make sofas rather differently. The frame is solid beech, the springs are eight-way hand tied and the whole thing is intended to last for generations. The covers of Vesper, Margot, Big Bonnie, Wee Bonnie and Lenny sofas are removable, which means the upholstery doesn't have to last as long as the sofa.
If one day you get bored with it, change the covers.
The truth is that there really isn't such a thing as just a colour. There’s colour in linen or velvet, in different lights and different places.
Browse our fabrics and order a free box of swatches to find the one that sings in your space.
See also:
The perfect touch: Why we only use pure Italian linen and velvet fabrics for Schplendid sofas
Are ‘Smart Fabrics' really that smart?