Bee- I'd love to do Sunbrella. I looked at 2 big books but couldn't find anything except for the one I posted above. Like I said, it seems finding just the right combo of color/style/texture isn't always so easy.... but then again- what is??? lol
I actually like the fabric you like (the arabesque) better than the circles as the color is nicer IRL with the wall behind the bench.

I'm not going to rush into anything. I've waited this long so I want to make sure I am happy with my decision.

FWIW, my favorite (in the room) so far is the large floral because there is yellow in it and I like the pattern.

Also, several have commented that some of them are not "standing out" and that they are "blending into the room". I don't think that's a necessarily a bad thing. The rooms look great without fabric so I don't necessarily think the fabric has to try to be a star.

This one from Sunbrella? Looks like it might coordinate with your yellow kitchen and tie in with the lines of the chairs in the adjoining room.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunbrella

this one is a jacobean too - called paradise butter

Yikes. I want to vote - I really do! but I'm not sure. Love the ikat fabric but maybe not there. I do think that yellow is important there. Bringing in the golden yellow and maybe the rich brown of your countertop will really tie it all together. One of your fabrics, at least one, had all three colors. Enjoy! Fantastic space!

I love your curved bench and your room dividing panels!

I have to chuckle because my desk looks just like yours... strewn with fabric samples! I'm picking out chair, pillow and window fabric. My banquette is already upholstered.

I vote for the large floral, either alone or as accent pillows (with the tweed or other texture). You have florals and garden trellis patterns in the adjacent space, and it all flows with the theme. A touch of yellow and/or brown will help tie them all together.

i vote for the yellow sunbrella! or one of the yellow stripes might be nice too, but looking at all your swatches, it doesn't seem like you are into stripes? cannot beat the low maintenance of sunbrella. i didn't realize there were so many lovely sunbrella choices either.

From your original post with samples in it, the one 2'nd from the left.

I like it best because
1) It pulls in browns from your floor
2) It pulls in greens from your trees visible through the windows above the banquette
3) It has enough yellow tint in it to flow with the entire kitchen

Thanks for keeping us updated!

Love the large floral. Are you going to use this space daily? If so, I would imagine accent pillows will be a nuisance! I am a quilter-would be tempted to use several of your gorgeous choices and thereby eliminating the need to choose just one fabric! :)

The original second from left, middle now, because it has a large enough pattern, pulls in the blue, yellow, brown, cream from the cabinets, floor, and adjoining LR area, and has the lighter background to make it bright and the pattern pop. Not to mention that I think it goes with the overall style of your kitchen and its elements (e.g. lamps), happy, sophisticated, slightly French.

I'm late to the party, but wanted to look at your question as someone who sews.

One thing you need to find out is where the seams will be placed. I'm thinking there might need to be seams at the curves, but I could be wrong. If the are no seams, then you need to think about how the pattern will work when cut on the curve.

Larger geometric and linear patterns might not look so good when they take the shape of the bench. I would take some of your favorites and trace the pattern, or run of the pattern and cut out one of the bench ends to get a feel for how it looks.

You picked some really pretty stuff!

Oops....duplicate

This post was edited by 1929Spanish on Thu, Mar 28, 13 at 11:24

I have a question: what are your plans for the wall space behind the banquette? Artwork or something with color? If so, could that be something that needs to be factored in before the fabric is chosen?

Love the bench. I like these best. They seem practical and beautiful together.

BTW, I recently covered a dining bench in an outdoor fabric and have not found it to be as care-free as I'd hoped. It is sturdy and fade-resistant, but it pills when I remove stains. If you can, test your fabric for stain-removal before using.

Another vote for the large, bright floral - but, I agree with the decision that a Sunbrella-type fabric might be a better idea. I would also like to see more yellow.

If you have kids, dogs, or cats, indoor-outdoor fabric holds up much better than traditional upholstery fabric. We have recovered the chairs at our kitchen island several times and have the most longevity from a sunbrella knock off fabric I found at our local salvage freight store. Here is one from another manufacturer:

Another vote for the large, bright floral - but, I agree with the decision that a Sunbrella-type fabric might be a better idea. I would also like to see more yellow.

If you have kids, dogs, or cats, indoor-outdoor fabric holds up much better than traditional upholstery fabric. We have recovered the chairs at our kitchen island several times and have the most longevity from a sunbrella knock off fabric I found at our local salvage freight store. Here is one from another manufacturer:

{{!gwi}}

Sorry for double posting. Here is another:

And one more - these may all be brighter than you are looking for.

I like this because it also ties in with the rest of the house. Your bench is FANTASTIC!!! Your selected fabrics are nice but IâÂÂm worried about some fight going on between the lamp shade pattern and drapes pattern in the adjoining room.

I like this because it also ties in with the rest of the house. Your bench is FANTASTIC!!! Your selected fabrics are nice but IâÂÂm worried about some fight going on between the lamp shade pattern and drapes pattern in the adjoining room.

I also like the yellow sunbrella you showed.

There are so many pretty traditional upholstery fabrics out there! I must really like florals, because this is another that caught my eye:

Okay, just one more. Again, not sunbrella type.

I like the Jacobean and the two Ikats from the original set of pics. I feel (rather strongly) that yellow needs to be prominent or that side of the room ends up too blue and the kitchen ends up unbalanced. Someone mentioned that the didn't like the Jacobean because the large pattern competes with the patterns in the family room. I am not visualizing how the spaces fit together well enough to assess that, but if they are in the same line of sight it is something to consider.

I like the tweed, but viewed at a distance the yellow and blue just blur together.

It occurred to me that a contrast gold piping might be a way to bring in yellows with a mostly blue field fabric. If you do a tufted back, you could do a solid blue with gold buttons and piping, a la this over-the-top example from Houzz

Out of my current fabrics I would do the large floral and MAYBE do the darker of the tweed ones for the seat if I were to break it up. If not, floral for all of it.

I just ordered a bunch of Sunbrella fabrics as I think that would be so great with the kids especially!

****Mom, the kids, and I went out to lunch today and the banquettes had leather (or similar) on the seat part and fabric on the back. I was thinking a leather to match my fabric on the seat part would be great- easy to wipe up. Does that work for cushions when you aren't actually upholstering a seat???

williamsem- I ordered that swatch today : )

ginagordon- thanks- Very pretty but hard to tell from photo. There are so many nice ones but the texture, etc has to be right too : )

michoumonster- I DO like stripes : ) I have 2 striped chairs in the next room (same wall) so I may not want too many but I did order the Striped Sunbrella swatch...

juleecat- Yes, it's for regular use so pillows would be a pain. However, I can always take them out for company
: )

1929Spanish- Makes Sense and a good thought!

deedles- Yes, I'd definitely like to put something there but haven't chose anything yet. I'd prefer to figure the fabric first but yes I AM keeping that in the back of my mind as well : ) Good thought!

mpagmom- Good to know. Was it Sunbrella or another brand?

oasis- All pretty! But, I don't think they are the feel I am looking for. The 2nd to last looks really bright. My yellow cabs are much softer and although I have some brighter lemon yellow accents I don't think it would flow well.

The last one shows really nice colors : )

cawaps- I also agree yellow needs to be on that side, but many that are mostly yellow are just too much ... or not the right shade. IF I do a mostly blue I would definitely do some prints/art work above bench to bring in more yellow.

I love your thoughts about adding yellow edging/buttons if I should find a fabric that I need to add more yellow to.

The Jacobean is the large floral right? lol Actually it works well with the other room, IMO. It's not the same wall but you can see it. I will consider that though!

Thanks for your thoughts!

Wow, that is going to be a tough decision. Below is one more from the Sunbrella website. I had two wicker chairs in the sitting area of my kitchen that had Sunbrella fabric. They got lots of use as well as exposure to the sun from east, west and south windows and the fabric was still perfect after 10 years. Which I could have found a Sunbrella fabric that worked for my new upholstered chairs in that area. I can tell after 18 months that they are not going to wear as well. Good luck with your decision.

badgergal- Thanks for that info! Do you know the name of that fabric? Not sure if I ordered that swatch. Colors are great- not sure about pattern with other things going on but I'd give it a try : )

I think leather is a good idea. It is actually very easy to wipe clean. However, do you have pets? My cats' claws have destroyed a leather chair we have. And not due to intentional claw sharpening behavior, just from claws scratching in the process of jumping on and off the seat or the arms. I would assume a dog would do the same, but would also be much easier to keep off the seat.

We also have some microsuede furniture which has proven very durable as well. And it has a nice soft feel. Very easy to clean, liquids don't soak in if you catch them quickly.

Yes, by the Jacobean I meant the large floral (2nd from left in your first photos).

And just to be clear, I wasn't lobbying for an all-yellow fabric, or even one with yellow dominant. But I don't like the all-blue or blue/white fabrics nearly as well as ones with yellow or gold or even golden brown in the mix.

I quite like some of the Sunbrella fabrics, and from a pragmatic standpoint they sound great. Hopefully you can find something from them that works.

If it's not too late to vote....in the batch of pics you took from across the room, I like the 5th from the left (that's the one that was 2nd from the left in your initial batch). If you want to mix it up a little, use the 2nd one from the left in your across-the-room batch for the seating and the big floral for pillows OR reverse it...I assume you might also put something on the wall, too, so it's not like you have to have ALL the interest in the window seat fabric....

Make perfect sense? lol - reading this over, I'm thinkin' who's on first?

Hi Fishie,

Returning after a hiatus to admire your finished kitchen. Fabulous!!

I like the 6th fabric over, because it feels the most classic.

I also like the yellow and blue diamond-patterned one posted by oasis owner.

2 little fishes: the Sunbrella fabric I posted is 54" Aries Spring 45629-0000 THE FUSION COLLECTION. It does sem to be the right colors thats why I threw it out there but I do think several over your other possibilities are much classier looking. I guess you consider function over form though.

I just wanted to show you the finished bench. The cab guys just left! (They added the panels underneath and other trim...

The banquette looks as beautiful as the rest of your kitchen. Can hardly wait to see what fabric you end up choosing!

That looks great!
I love the leaf fabric that oasis found.
I would like that for the back and a solid color for the seat.
Otherwise, if no animals- leather would be great!
How thick will your seat cushion be?
I wanted 4 inches but chickened out and did a 3 inch foam(total is a little over 4 with padding and fabric

Although I am most attracted to the second from left (first batch), and think that the diamond ikat, which I also like a lot, does the best job of bringing together the blue and the yellow, I think both are a bit busy/loud for the function required. 1929spanish's point about curved seams is also well taken.

One thing I'd do in a heartbeat is get pillow covers made of both of those, and the interlocking circles on blue (which is a wonderful echo of the drum shades in the kitchen). They are just too gorgeous to give up entirely.

I'd go with the soft blue pattern, third from the right in the first batch, and bring in yellow with artwork and pillows or other accents.

The more I look at it, the surer I am. But it's your kitchen, and every one of those is beautiful. [ Have realized since posting that I'd previously saved an image of my favorite of these, the second from left in first batch. ]

That soft blue pattern (3rd from right in original) is a bit too formal. Meaning, it is velvet (or velvety) and therefore a little impractical for regular use with kids.

Fishes love your kitchen and the bench is perfection. Still prefer 1st on the left in the original pic, more so now that I read you plan to have piping and buttons. Don't know how I missed that info first pass thru.
I like that fabric with the combo mpagmom posted. Subtle prints that won't distort with buttons, probably would hide a few spills and I like that they don't scream "Look at me!" from across the room.

But my Q is, have you ruled any out? If so can you repost your narrowed down selection for another vote? Love playing with fabric!

The bench is fabulous!

I will try to find a picture of our bench with the different cushion fabric for the bottom cushion. I think leather could definitely be an option for that. I lucked out and found a sunbrella type herringbone in the clearance bolts that I used and I am very glad I did. And I don't have any little ones at home anymore! I feel like the tweeds or a leather would fill that role nicely with bold back cushions to complement.

We were not finished with the kitchen yet so excuse the table and the rest of the mess.

I love the bright blue and yellow floral and also the blue and yellow paisley. Good luck, it is going to look lovely. We must be neighbors. I live in York, PA.

Hey All-
I received the Sunbrella Fabric swatches today! They are really nice. However, they are really small to get a god feel of the patterns! (about 3" x 3")

Here are some photos:
1 & 2

3 & 4

5 & 6 & 7

8 & 9

10 & 11

12 & 13

#14

Wow, you have found the most beautiful fabrics in existence in those colors. This is what I would do:

1) Pick one of the fabrics that somehow brings in the color of your beautiful floor (along with the blues and yellows)

2) Put that fabric on the back of the banquette.

3) Put a solid colored vinyl / leather on the banquette bottom (this is what I did on my banquette - fabric on back, solid leather look vinyl on the bottom.) That way, people can slide around on it easier, it won't grab your dress / skirt bottom like fabric will when you slide, and clean ups are a breeze. Stuff tends to drop horizontally...

This is mine from > 10 years ago.

I'm very glad I put vinyl on the bottom because any fabric would have long since worn out. The Raymond Waites fabric along the back has held up fine.

You might need to turn up the brightness on your monitor for this one. But I like the darker picture because it includes the stagecoach blinds at the top behind the light. I was trying for a Texas country look.

The only disaster has been to the table finish. Someone left a frozen turkey in a grocery bag on top of the table for maybe an hour. Now there are a spiderweb of hairline cracks inside the finish radiating out from where Mr. Tom the Turkey rested..

It's still the favorite hang out place in the house.

I planned on cushions. Can that be done with leather or similar for seat part? Or if I upholster the bottom can that be done here? Not removing bench at this point!

Yes, you can definitely do a vinyl or leather covered cushion for the bottom. And I love, love the new fabrics for the back! We have no problem moving on our bottom cushion with fabric, but our bench is straight and only 5 feet long.

You are on the right path! I like the fabrics in photos 9 and 10 and the last photo. Can't wait to see what you pick.

This post was edited by momtofour on Thu, Apr 4, 13 at 9:08

I really like the version mpagmom posted up thread (Thurs). Which I think is the part of first four fabrics from the left on the DAY 2 SERIES.

Whatever you pick is going to be gorgeous!!

I like #4 of the Sunbrella samples, even though it doesn't seem to have any actual yellow in it. The beige and brown give it nice balance with the blue, and the beige has yellowish undertones (at least it looks that way in the pic).

hmm..

In that case, for the bottom cushion, I would do one continuous bottom cushion in vinyl. That would set off the fabric on the back, and then you'd have the Seat-Cabinet-Floor... Color-White-Color effect that looks chic.

Also, I didn't want individual smaller bottom or back cushions that would move around and fall on the floor when people got up and scooched over.

What is the depth of your bench?

I defined my banquette dimensions by going to the local restaurant that had the most comfortable banquettes, and crawling around the banquette with a tape measure.

MareLuce...what are the dimensions of your banquette? It looks incredibly comfortable and spacious. I love the curve to the banquette fishies has, but that doesnt work in my space. I am in the planning stages of one and it is not the easiest to figure out what size to make it

Looks like a tough decision to me, they are all so pretty - I just wanted to comment on how beautiful your kitchen is. I absolutely love it. Having leather as mentioned above seems like a great idea also - I like that one can slide on it, in and out very easy. This is why I always preferred leather in car interiors.
I think anything you choose will look fabulous!

I've just looked again at the long shot of your kitchen, and realized for the first time that a vinyl/leather seat for the banquette would echo the seats of the stools.

Which is inclining me to the tweed as a fabric choice, as the seat would pikc up its subtle yellow tones. If I were you, I'd order enough yardage for pillow covers from a few of my favorites among these fabrics (you can always do the pillows later, and some might work in your living room as well.)