Paint & Fabric Instead of Wallpaper?

I hated the blue upholstery on the new dining room chairs (I’m just not a big fan of the color). I peeked underneath and saw green, so I decided to take off the blue fabric. I figured the fabric underneath would either be gross and need to be recovered (which would be fine), or it would be in good condition, having only been covered up for a change of color. Luckily it was in pretty good shape.

I rolled up the orange rug that was in the dining room and in it’s place I put the rug I’d been using in the living room. It’s not my favorite, but it’s neutral. It’s a pretty close match for the couch color, so it does bring a little continuity between the two rooms (like the orange rug and chair did).

One armchair is still blue because Mabel’s always sleeping on it and she looks so content I don’t want to move her. Kili is on another chair in that photo – in fact, there’s a cat on at least one of the chairs approximately 82% of the time.

I’ve been looking into upholstery weight fabric, and I’ve found some great options. I love Amy Butler’s Primrose Lime from her Nigella line:

Maybe with a table runner made out of her coordinating Ritzy Stripe?

Anna Maria Horner also has some great fabric that will be coming out soon:

Then of course, there’s Tantsu and Satula, both by Marimekko. Oh, how I love them. I wrote a haiku about them last year.

Tantsu:

Satula:

I ordered a yard of Satula, and I love it even more in person. So… I’m thinking of using paint and fabric instead of wallpaper for the dining room.

The chevron wallpaper from Romo would have been “the one”, had I decided to keep the west elm table. The chunky, squared off lines of the parsons table offset the graphic zing of the zigzags. The new table and chairs are beautiful, but not with that wallpaper.

I thinking of putting the large (huge!) scale Satula fabric in the back of the hutch. I could cover some luaun, or maybe just use little thumbtacks. I’d paint the walls a somewhat dark olivey/brown color, and then make curtains out of Tantsu. I can always use the curtains in another room if the right wallpaper comes along.

Of course, this would also work with any of the other fabrics too. And I don’t mind recovering the seats if the green doesn’t work out.

Thoughts?