MBR: toile / buffalo check, where to put which print

16 years ago

I have l-o-n-g dreamt of a pink toile bedroom. My husband is not super-keen on that, so I "compromised" and will be doing red toile instead. (In our previous house I utilized his taste, and it was lovely and oh-so tasteful, but it didn't make me smile or breathe a sigh of relief upon entering my "oasis.")

We'll be wallpapering with the toile

and doing a large-scale (color-coordinated) buffalo check

tailored bedskirt and upholstered, tufted headboard. We have plantation shutters but I was thinking to "soften" it I'd add panels on either side, I was thinking in the buffalo check: I like the idea of the buffalo check being at the window so as to marry the bedskirt / headboard with the rest of the room. I'm planning on getting (matching) toile fabric for some accent pillows (either neckrolls or squares) on the bed. The bedding is this:

But now I don't know what to do about furniture upholstery. At present, we have no seating in our bedroom; it actually reminds me of a college dorm: no bedskirt (and the cats have picked open the bottom of the box spring); computer on a large folding table, printer on an old changing table (okay, that doesn't remind me of college!) and boxes everywhere else. Oh yeah, and lots of children / puppy toys. All of that stuff will be gone when the remodel is done (our bedroom / bathroom is the only place we're not doing at this time so we'd have a place to "live").

I found a chaise I like

{{!gwi}}
but am also toying with doing two small armchairs instead. (These are really close to what I like, but not quite there -- too big and too expensive. Still searching for the "right" chairs -- any source tips?)

Can / should the seating be upholstered in toile or buffalo check? I'm concerned if I do the seating in buffalo check it'll just be too much: in my mind's eye doing the seating in toile will just be visually "softer." Am I on the right track with how I've placed the toile and buffalo check? Again, in my mind's eye it looks great!

You all helped me so much getting my sons' bedrooms' fabric choices in order (and they're still in the process of being sewn by a wonderful seamstress!) that I'm hoping you'll help me now with my room.

Thank you!

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Comments (6)

oceanna
16 years ago
I think this room promises to be really pretty. I can't wait to see your pictures as you bring it along, RM. And give your DH extra hugs for going along with this -- many men wouldn't.

I think a solid might be the best on the seating, but that's JMO. For seating how about haunting Craigslist for a few weeks and see what turns up? You can find incredible bargains there.
decorpas
16 years ago
gorgeous choices:-)

i would agree with oceanna that you might want to think about a solid for the furniture. also, have you mocked up the check in a tufted version? I only ask because patterns can change in an odd way when they are tufted. I have a tufted sofa and when I looked at it in a pattern fabric, it didn't translate as well as I had hoped. I ended up with a solid. I hope that isn't the case for your check, because it's so pretty. But please check it out if you haven't yet!

Your husband is a keeper for being so flexible. Your room is going to be soo pretty!
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What I've heard is that the traditional way to use toile is to have it be the only print in the room but use it heavily. That's why I initially did not like toile because whenever I saw it in photographs the walls where wallpapered in the same toile as the draperies and pillows and bedding were made of. Now I've gotten used to that look and I can appreciate it more but I think it's an acquired taste. Now I love the look of toile wallpaper enveloping a room with matching draperies. Where I think it goes to far is when the bedding is made of the toile. Now the eye has no place to rest so I think it looks better to have a white matelasse coverlet cover the bed (another large surface area) and have just a couple toile pillow shams to tie in with the walls and drapes. There can be a coverlet in the toile color folded at the foot of the bed. But the chair fabric and the comforter should be a solid white IMO. I'll never forget a room I saw once done up by Ethan Allen. The walls were papered in black and white toile with matching draperies (so the wallpapering company has to hook up with the fabric company and make the same print). There were two Bergere chairs with ottomans in a seating area of the bedroom, both had dark wood with solid white upholstery. Between the two chairs was a round table draped to the floor with a solid black matelasse tablecloth and a white square topper. The wood on the bed frame was dark and they had a white coverlet on the bed with toile pillows and another coverlet folded at the foot of the bed, I think it was solid black. So the room was a medly of black and white. It was very jarring and the contrast of black against bright white was a bit much for me. It was memorable that's for sure. I don't know if many people have the guts to put toile wallpaper on their walls (!) but even if you didn't I think I'd still chose to either have the pillows shams in the toile or the comforter in the toile, but not both together. There can also be a padded headboard in the toile. The idea behind it is that you can get away with a room saturated in toile because it's the only print in the room. It's hard to tell the drapes from the walls because it all blends in. I can't remember if they included a black and white checked fabric, I don't think they did because of the walls. That's another option I've seen used many times, have a second print in a non-floral, non-toile design to coordinate with the toile...usually that's a check in the same two colors as the toile. I have the same question as stargirl, when is there too much toile in a HOUSE...how many different rooms can you get away using a different toile?
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les - Brought the tuffet up this past weekend and I love it! It always surprises me that just one piece added to a room can pull a space together so much. It is shaped liked a cushion-cut diamond - square top that angles down on the sides. I have it set on the left side of the rocker, sort of under the loon print. It doesn't crowd anything and the square shaped top works with the boxy shape of the rocker, while the curved feet mirror the curves of the handles. The stained feet make it not too matchy-matchy. Since my nightstands, headboard & chest all match, I think it's better not going overboard with more black wood! The rocker was placed there because it gives a view right out to the mountain and brook, but I will move things around as you suggested, just to see. I also like the idea of a pillow with the big button. Maybe I'll leave the tuffet black, and just cover the big button with a coordinating fabric (?) And I'd still like to get another rug for the sitting area, though I'd probably move it out in the summertime. A friend who came for dinner on Sat., who had never seen the cottage but had looked up this post, brought me a Wall Words saying as a hostess gift. She made it clear it was up to me whether I wanted to use it or not. The script is black and it reads,"Prayers Go Up, Blessings Come Down" which she thought would look good on the wall behind the bed. She said she thought the phrase worked especially nicely because the wall is angled "Up" and that coming upon this property was a real blessing. Thoughts? oceanna - I can just feel how badly you want to dress that room! I now it probably looks sparse, but if you stood in it I think you would feel differently. My aim is to have it be an uncluttered space where my eyes are drawn to the outside views and sounds. I want to appreciate the way the sun glows off the wood floors and highlights the knots and texture of it. If this were in my home here, in a city neighborhood, I would be with you(and Cher!)100%, though! And I appreciate the tips on covering an ottoman. You inspire me to give it a try doing it on my own!
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I personally donÃ¢ÂÂt care for the rug under the bed because you donÃ¢ÂÂt have that much open floor space around it. As I think I mentioned when originally posted about it, if you had a lot of open floor space and were creating an island of the bed area, that would be one thing. But in your room, the rug is very close to the dresser, etc, so no visual breathing space there, and it comes up far enough under the bed that it looks like you just didnÃ¢ÂÂt get a big enough rug - you need more open floor there, too, imo. I notice that the only place you seem to have looked for comforters is PB. There are a lot of other resources, as well as perhaps local stores for you to shop. I think sometimes we all get caught up in the convenience of shopping on line, and forget to do things locally, that there are things out there that even the online sites donÃ¢ÂÂt have but are carried in the store, or are a past season item on sale that isnÃ¢ÂÂt in a quantity worth showing on line. I think the first thing you should decide is how you want to use the bedding. If you are just thinking about keeping the new patterned comforter at the end of the bed, that is different and less impact that having the patterned piece covering most of the bed. If you want to use the matelasse as the primary bedding, that is a pretty casual, country (or french country, if you prefer) look, so you need to choose the other bedding so that it works with that feel. Your original bedding is much fancier and more formal than matelasse fits with. I think the point about the rug being soft and muted is another important consideration.
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gk5040
16 years ago
I agree with the solid sofa or chair, I might even think the headboard should be solid. I would add some checked pillows or shams.
les917
16 years ago
It all sounds very nice. I would like to see the chairs done in a third print fabric. Perhaps a pretty small floral or diamond pattern, to allow the chairs to have some presence in the room rather than disappearing into everything else.

Maybe something like this?

sabada geranium

This might be nice, too, as it has some curves to balance the strong check, but has more red than white, compared to the other fabrics:

piccadilly rouge

Another choice would be to do a textured white upholstery on the chairs, with red welting. You could then put a small pillow on each, with the buffalo check on one side and the toile on the other. Then a large round ottoman or tuffet done in the toile on the top and a box pleated skirt in the buffalo plaid, with the same red welting as the chairs dividing the two fabrics.
oceanna
16 years ago
I think with this mockups on the computer would be really helpful. If not that, then drape your fabrics around the room and stand back and see how it looks... because there will be things you'll like and things you won't.

I'd be hesitant to do the headboard. I think it may be overkill. Plaids are tough enough to work with but tufting them will probably push most folks "over the edge." It would make it hard/impossible to ever sell it. It might get/show dirt. I would only do it IF the rest of the room were put together and it cried out for that as the special touch. IOW, I'd make that decision last.
rmkitchen
Original Author
16 years ago
Good Morning Kind People!

What an absolute delight it was to go online just now and read your terrific, supportive and helpful suggestions.

If just for the notion of the tufting distorting the check fabric's symmetry alone I am forever grateful, decorpas! It had never occurred to me .... My husband really likes a tufted headboard so I just thought "sure!" But now I'll need to rethink either the tufting there or the fabric choice for the headboard.

les917 -- you were the one who led me down such a great path with my boys' fabrics, so I was so happy to see your kind name here again helping me. Thank you for the links to those beautiful fabrics -- I've already bookmarked them! Thank you.

gk5040 and oceanna, thank you for suggesting the solids. I think you're right: I was putting the cart before the horse. I should first wallpaper the room (because I know it has to be that red toile!) and then let me eye direct me. And of course, deciding what the actual seating will be (either that chaise or, more likely, two petite fauteil or bergeres) will certainly help decide what the upholstery should be.

oceanna -- I am one of those who lives in a CL wasteland -- crap crap crap. We used to live in San Francisco where it was a shopper's dream! But things are different 'round here ... shoot. But I love your always-helpful and kind suggestions. When I first saw those chairs I posted above I thought I'd found a steal -- the two of them for $800. Then I reread it and realized I'd left off a zero. In this life I am just not in that bracket!

And thank you for the nice words about my husband. Yesterday was one of those days with the kiddos (my one year-old decided to take NO NAP but did want to scream at me -- he was exhausted but wouldn't give in) where I realized I earn every penny (and then some) I spend on "me" things. I think he feels likewise so he knows if he wants to continue to spend private time with me anywhere (not just in the bedroom!) it behooves him to make sure I am pretty happy. But you're right -- I'm lucky that he doesn't put up a fuss about having a pretty bedroom. I have a friend whose husband hates smocking and gingham (for little boys' clothing) and will not allow their son to wear those things. Let's just say my kids would go naked if that were the case but, of course, I couldn't be married to a man who didn't appreciate smocked jonjons! Thank you for reminding me that I did good with my husband. We all need that mental goose every once in a while, and yesterday was certainly my day.

When we get going on this project I'll be back to post pictures!

MBR: toile / buffalo check, where to put which print

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oceanna

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MBR: toile / buffalo check, where to put which print

Comments (6)

oceanna

decorpas

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les917

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rmkitchenOriginal Author

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