Knight Moves: Fabricadabra

I saw a Hotel Maison sofa on Horchow, called the Parker Sofa, that reminded me how much I like a small pattern for upholstery...especially when it's a dot print. The dots are fun and mod but subtle enough to not detract from the sophistication level. On the utilitarian side, the dots are great at camouflaging spots or stains too!

The fabric on the sofa above looks like Hable Construction's signature print, Beads, but I'm not sure if it actually is. Here is the Hable Construction Beads fabric in Green Bean as seen on a fab Apartment Therapy home tour...

Image via Apartment Therapy

I absolutely adore both of Hable's dot prints, Checker and Beads, but they wouldn't work well in a formal setting. Here are more examples to give you an idea of the range of styles of dotted fabrics that are out there:

From a Domino 2007 issue, here's China Seas from Quadrille Rio (and Nairobi) in action...

So, what are your thoughts on using dots on upholstery? Love it, hate it? I think it's a great way to use pattern on a large piece of furniture without committing to a specific style or color palette. As some of the images above illustrate, dotted fabric is so versatile and can be paired with geometric, ikat, animal, and floral prints.

If you don't love the idea of covering a whole sofa or chair with dots, then consider it as an accent fabric. If that sounds appealing, check out Hable's super cute ready-made pillows. They sell them in linen, cotton, and outdoor fabric. Here's the Lemon Beads/Oyster pillow paired up with a floral and an ikat....