Without pix it is hard to really give a good answer. Obviously you love the fabric, and you say it works well in the space. Personally, I would not do the chairs and couch in the same fabric. I think the chairs and couch will each have more value if they don't all look the same.

I would do the couch in a nice neutral color and add pillows in the chair color (blue/green), perhaps some of the Schumacher fabric for pillows as well if you have any left.

Ordinarily I would also avoid all that matchiness. But if the flowered Schumacher fabric on the window seat is really part of the mix (i.e., not off by itself while the matching chairs and sofa hang out together), then why not? If you toss some throw pillows of the blue-green fabric onto the window seat, and add another pattern into the mix with pillows for the sofa, it sounds terrific. Pull the third fabric (for the extra pillows) from the flowered Schumacher fabric and/or the rug, and you're good to go!

BTW, my wise old grandmother always told me to treat good oriental rugs as essentially neutral. I agree. And I'd love to see your room when it's done. It sounds really lovely.

To quote Dr Seuss: I would not, could not. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't if that's what you want.

Unless the sofa is only sold in a set with the chairs, you could always buy a different pair of chairs from another manufacturer or buy the two matching (to sofa) chairs and recover if too much of the same gets on your nerves.

Also ask yourself, if you do get the matching pieces, other ways you'll be able to introduce some visual interest in the room (curtains, pillows, artwork, etc) to add to what you already have (rug).

I am not usually a matchy matchy person but tt's been 6 yrs since I purchased my sofa and chair with ottoman from Calico Corner's display (could not resist the price). I am not tired of looking at it at all. A neighbor of mine who has similar tastes to many on this forum had a matching chair fabricwise to her sofa also. It looked fine (her's was her choice and not a display). Different pillows and art work as already mentioned will break up the sameness.

Sometimes, based on our own personal experiences, something doesn't "sound" good. Maybe pineapple on a pizza or putting a brown paisley fabric on a chair in a room with a red/navy oriental rug. But sometimes, things that I can't picture or things that I wouldn't even think about trying, can turn out to be wonderful. And you are there. We're not. So, for what it's worth, here's my nickel's worth of advice to you......

Take a couple of photos of the room with closeups of your much-loved fabrics and post them on a free website, (photobucket, picturetrail, flicker, etc.,) then, provide a link here so we can wrap our minds around the room and other fabrics a bit. I'm assuming you can get a sample of the blue/green fabric that you fell in love with? Throw it in the shot too if you will, so that the intensity can be visualized. One more thing. Can you order your sofa and hold off on the chairs? Or vice versa? That way, you could take delivery of one or two big pieces, then, work your way through the room after that.

Everybody wants to paint their house BEFORE they move in their furniture. We all want to pick furniture and have it delivered at the same time so we can arrange everything and have the room look beautiful immediately. Many of us are so addicted to the online world that we order fabrics, drapes, furniture and other items without ever seeing them in person. But houses are made to be decorated by degree. The paint shade you choose while wandering through your new-build may not be the color that most flatters your rooms and light. The furniture you order from a state 2000 miles away, may not be the scale or size or comfort you were expecting. The drapes that were described as "Bronze" online, may look peachy brown in your living room. The comforter set described as "Pistachio" may be more Pine in your bedroom and not work at all with drapes you found. Sometimes, it's just better to do things one step at a time--eat dinner at a card table, rather than spend a bunch of money on a dining set you never quite learn to love. Waiting for a few months to get chairs may seem annoying, but if you get your sofa in and realize that 3 big pieces in the same color are just not quite going to create the beautiful space in your mind's eye, it could be a worthwhile wait.

Red

Let me add to this mix. If she doesn't get the chairs to match the sofa should she get 2 different chairs or should they match? I ask because I'd also like the answer to this question for my personal use.

From what your describe, I would definitely do it, you adore the color.

A lot of elegant decors start with very neutral same color upholstered pieces; they are a restful backdrop for the rest of the decor which can be layered on without being busy.

I would not cover all three pieces in the same fabric. I think that would be boring. Maybe both chairs in the same fabric, or the sofa and one chair in the same fabric, but not all three pieces. JMO.

Have you asked the manufacturer if they do COM? (Customer's Own Material...I apologize if you knew that already!) That way, you might look for a coordinating fabric to go with the sofa. You might also dig a little deeper, like call the mfr and ask if they have any options in that colorway.

Beyond that, I would ask you if you can you deal with/afford to reupholster in a few years if you grow tired of everything matching? In the last five years of doing this house I've made some mistakes -- part of my learning process. Rather than suffer looking at fabric I know to be wrong, I tend to bite the bullet and get it recovered. I have a few great sources for fabric here and a very good upholstery guy, so other than the $$$, it's easy to change things out.

Your fabric sounds scrumptious, btw! I hope we'll get to see it.

I recently got a new sofa, chair and cocktail ottoman. I got the sofa and chair in the same fabric (an apple green I love) and the cocktail ottoman in a multi-stripe. I already had to work with DH's chair in the room, which is mainly brown. I felt that in my case it made more sense for the sofa and chair to match. Otherwise, nothing would match. KWIM?

Now, if I were getting a sofa and TWO chairs (and DH's chair were not an issue) I probably would have gotten a different color on the pair of chairs.

I would do it. Actually, I already did, several years when I didn't know better. Our room is small and DH wanted it the same color--he finds it more relaxing. It's a bit much for me but I like change more than him, so I might slipcover something soon. In your context, sounds like you would fine with everything else going on.

jakabedy~do you mean you would've gotten a different color on BOTH chairs or just one chair? And would the ottoman match either one?

I have a matching sofa and loveseat in a taupe chenille stripe (alright, quit it, I can hear the groans from here!) I also have a recliner in the same taupe color. When I bought these pieces, I knew I would be moving a lot, and I did. I don't think they're boring, in fact, they've been very versatile. I can switch the pillows, throws, and rugs, and paint the walls, for a totally different look.

But they are, ahem, well-loved. I need to replace them in the near future, so I'm following this thread with interest.

Some people really love the matchy-matchy thing and wouldn't consider doing anything else, and more power to them. They're doing what makes them happy. Me, I get bored stiff by matching things, and prefer related-but-not-matching. If this were my room I would put this pretty green-blue fabric on the couch and get different chairs that pull out another color that is in both the floral cushion and the rug, in a solid but interestingly textured fabric. One neat thing to look into is a fabric that has a very small pattern close up but reads as solid from a few feet away. You're not limited by one manufacturer for all the furniture, and as a previous poster noted COM is also an option to look into. There are discounters where you can get fabric at a more reasonabe price than retailers like Calico Corners. You can also look at the offerings through upholstery shops - they can get frames to make you custom furniture in just about every shape and size you can think of and a massive range of fabrics. Depending on where you are shopping this may be competitively price with the items you're considering now.

One thing that stuck out to me a bit in this description is you might have this one floral seat cushion in a sea of solid furniture, and that might look a little odd. If you have some more of the floral fabric to put a couple of pillows somewhere else in the room, that would help that issue, as would adding some solid pillows to the window seat.

You don't mention whether you have coffee and side tables that also match each other. If this is also the case, there may be a risk of what I think of as the "Rooms to Go Look" - too many matching sets. IMO one matching group of things is enough.

Red makes an excellent point to think about WRT the "I want it all right now" situation. I very much understand being tired of waiting but if you can function going more slowly even if it's not perfect, think about doing so because of how much one thing can change a room (especially a large item like a couch or pair of easy chairs).

Thanks everyone, your comments really give me something to think about. I am going to have to figure out how to post a picture asap.

By the way, the sofa and chairs are not sold in a packaged set so I can choose any fabric I want. Like many here, I am having a kind of mental block about doing it all in one fabric. I think I like the idea -- actually I do like the idea. But then I get kind of nervous about it because it's going against the current. It makes it look like I bought my furniture out of a catalog or off the back of a North Carolina furniture truck. But I love the color and it ties in beautifully with the rug and the windowseat fabric. But it's such a decorating no-no! The goal so often nowadays is that perfect mix of multiple patterns and textures.

What I notice though is that the floor coverings in many rooms with lots of patterned fabrics are very often sisal or plain rugs, so the room can take the multiple patterns. I've done the pattern thing already with this rug. In it's last incarnation the room was a riot of overlapping color and pattern. The Schumacher fabric is my favorite bit of that room and so I'm carrying it over into the new one, but what I'm really attracted to now are those monotone one color pale rooms. The really calm and serene ones.

I'm trying to figure out how to carve out a calm and simple room around the tumult of the rug. It's a beautiful piece but I don't really see it like a neutral. I know some people can pile color and pattern onto the rug, and it all sort of cancels each other out, and maybe that's what treating it like a neutral means. I'm just not interested in that look anymore. I'm going to try to post pictures so you can see and maybe give some pointers.

Thanks!

I have an "L" shaped sectional that I have separated into sofa, 2 armless chairs and 2 ottomen. They are all upholstered in the same fabric...and I love it. My house is quite contemporary with awesome views. I let the views out the floor to ceiling windows do the talkin'

For me, I would want at least piece to be a different fabric.

judithn: You've really peeked our curiosity! It would really help to see this scrumptous rug you describe. From your description, it seems that you would like to rug to be your focal point of the room and the furniture should be a backdrop to that. Trends come and trends go, but ultimately you are the ones that live in your home and should choose what makes you comfortable and enjoy. I've noticed when I post a question on this board, I am hoping for a clear majority (and sometimes there is one), but more often I get two different opinions which seems to be happening here as well. That tells me that either option is fine and you need to cast the deciding vote!

I really can't answer the question without seeing pictures first. Instinctively, I would say no, but I do have a "set" of chairs upholstered to match, and which coordinate with a sofa, so I think it all depends.

I posted this in the chocolate brown thread, but it'll show what I mean.

If you are attracted to calm and serene rooms right now -- and certainly understandable after all the renovations -- then I vote for the matching fabric on all three pieces.

Easy enough to add a bit more pattern afterwards with patterned cushions or artworks or pottery/glassworks in the new room ....

prairie -

If I had gotten two identical chairs, I would have gotten them in the same color. (The group I got came in 5 or 6 different solids for the seating pieces, and two additional stripes for the cocktail ottoman).

But our house is similar to how lesleyintn describes hers -- contemporary with a lot of glass. The focus is on what is outside. Our furniture is very clean and retro/mcm.

I don't think that having things that match is a problem. What is a problem is if the things that match in a room are most of what is in the room, because it makes the room look as if it belongs to someone with no taste of their own. If the upholstered furniture all matches... and the wood furniture all matches... and the curtains match the cushions match the tablecloths... that's when there's a problem. Just having one set of things match is fine.

don't want to hijack, but Lesley, I was curious about your sectional separation. What did you do about the little stud things (don't know what they're called!) that connect the different pieces together? Did they come off easily? am I making any sense here? ha...
The reason I ask is that a friend of mine recently purchase a sectional that is beautiful, but he hates it and said he would give it to me if I want it. The thing is, it wouldn't fit in my LR as a sectional. But it would be fine w/me just to have the couch part and the armless chair as long as the silver hardware didn't show!

Sorry about the "hijack answer"...but I can't help you Liz1977 because my sofa and 2 chairs don't have any little metal clips. They just push together. Maybe the upholsterer took them off, but I don't remember ever having them.

Judith, look at a few magazines and see what you like about the living rooms you find attractive - is the furniture more matchy matchy or is it more of a variety?

Someone above had a good question: do you have existing tables? Do they match? If so, I would not get matching sofa/chairs. Very Rooms To Go - love that, Marie.