Trend: Contrast Custom Sofas & Chairs

I'm loving the look of custom furniture more and more lately because fresh designs are popping up to give furniture personality. Gone are the days when you'd reupholster your sofa or chair in a single fabric - lately I'm seeing FUN being brought to design and a lot less stuffy frou frou, starting with the Contrast trend. In fact, while visiting Liberty last week, I noticed several bespoke chairs and sofas in contrasting Liberty prints and my heart went boom! boom! boom! Gorgeous! I love the idea of mixing patterns with solids, especially on sofas and chairs because it really emphasizes the details and differences so you see more of the piece then you may have noticed before had it been in a simple solid or single print.

Also the idea of a solid fabric (velvet for instance) on a sofa with piping that is patterned gets me a bit hot and bothered. Turned on by a sofa - heck yeah! ha ha! Or a sofa with patterns on back cushions and solid seat cushions... Or, or or... Oh my! The possibilities are endless and I think we should all experiment a little the next time we call up the upholstery shop.

Custom pieces add so much charm to a home because they're so unique and precious even... one of a kind is such a special feeling in a world of mass production that values quantity of quality. I'd frankly rather save up for a dream chair over buying something I'm half-hearted about just to have it today. Are you with me?

Violet & George's has a lovely selection of custom furniture and I particularly love how they are keen on supporting up and coming fabric designers. They've recently worked on this sofa (shown above) with prints by surface pattern designer Ayme Fitzgerald. All sofas are made to order and take a few months to create but it is well worth the wait - and fabrics can be chosen from their extensive fabric library, along with sofa style and size. Check them out!

Do you dream of designed and owning special furniture like this too?

(images: Violet & George)