Bestyears, I'm glad you liked the link! I was actually looking for supplies when I run across that site on google and was surprised at all their fabrics. Les, Outdoor fabric is a really good idea! They seem to lend themselves to being more graphic and colorful. I did come across some outdoor fabric by Robert Allen .. I think it was in his Beacon Hill group. It looks like it might only be open to the trades though, although I'm still trying to trace a source. Sally, I have thought about going solid on the sofa and then bringing in patterens with pillows. I've also thought about mixing solids and patterns on the sofa in a way that it would make matching the fabrics easier for me. Since I'm going for a kind of funky, cottage look I think I could get away with that okay. Clt3 .. thank you for the link and help!

Dee - That valance is beautiful! I've never known exactly what to do with the windows in this corner. There are two other windows (one front, one on side) in the front of the room. jterrilynn - there are TOO many directions to go in. And I like lots of different things! I also think that it can be hard to judge things from pictures, especially my bad ones. For instance, my walls are much much darker and yellow-y IRL. I will post pics but I am afraid people will just shake their heads and say "Those poor chairs, and we all did our best to help that crazy woman". As I wait for the squiggle sample to arrive, I've been researching squiggles. According the the dictionary, the word wasn't used as a noun until 1902. But I've seen fabric from the mid-1800s with whatever they were called back then. I've found jewelry from the 1930s and fabric from various time periods. As I've been looking at all this fabric is surprising how much of it seems so modern-looking. It's interesting that we often have a very wrong idea of what is "historic" Completely OT, but our state capitol building here in Maryland has a dome that's been painted white for nearly 200 years. But actually each tier was originally painted a different color: "lemon gold, muted blue and honey bordering on apricot". Sounds crazy, huh? Here is a link that might be useful: MD capitol

Well, I say, let the dogs pick what they like the best. While we have a leather recliner, it's really for the Man of the House. Dogs have to beg to be allowed up and in position on Man's lap. Sometimes they want to displace his Real Laptop and that poses a problem. So, for their enjoyment and comfort, we have a Flexsteel sofa covered in a beautiful corderoy looking fabric in a deep moss color. It has been in place for almost 7 years and looks as good as when I bought it. I considered a warm color to coordinate with Dachshund hair, but decided that a bit of contrast would just make the room! They occasionally (anyone familiar with doxies????) like to scrape and paw their sofa, digging into the cushions to fluff them up a bit. Mom doesn't really allow this when she's home, (Stop that!!!) but who knows what evil lurks in the dachshund mind when all the people go off to work for 8 hours? I bought the Guardian fabric protector when I bought the sofa. The cute salesguy told me that if my sofa stayed with me for the California mandated life of a sofa, 7 years, my protection would only cost me like $13 per year. Well, my sofa is going strong, have kept it vacuumed (about 6 times per year) and have wiped off spills and whatnot when needed. Have never invoked the protection plan, since the fabric is tough as nails, soft to the touch, and seems to evade staining. My son, who was 17 at the time I chose furniture, ix-nayed the tougher fabrics and INSISTED that a sofa needs to be soft. He said that's why it's called a "Soff-a". He says most people mis-pronounce. Anyway, I fell for his schtick and here we sit. Comfortably. Two dogs. Two people. And did I mention that for several months of 2005, we had my DD and her husband, plus two Golden Retrievers living on my sofa? Red

In the interest of keeping this thread alive, and in response (much belated) to orcagirl, I say this: do you have both fabrics to feel and look at in front of you? Which was more appealing? My own understanding (not yet the voice of experience) is that acrylics and acrylic blends tend to hold up well to regular use, do not stain easily/ ever, and are, as you noted, less expensive than many other fibers. In this sense, if you like the "hand" of the cotton/ acrylic blend option, you are unlikely to be any less satisfied by it five years from now than today. However, if you do NOT have both fabrics in front of you to touch, answering becomes much more difficult! (Also, as an aside to justerrilynn, I LOVE the way those little stools turned out! Wow!)