Am I too picky? Furniture related

[TechWife]

We ordered two chairs back in April that arrived yesterday. Am I being unrealistic to think that the print should line up? Both chairs look like this. This is from a high end furniture retailer. 

[Lawana]

IMO, it’s about as good as you are going to get. I sew and am particular about matching. Given the constraints of curved surfaced juxtaposed with flat ones, I don’t see how to realistically get much better. 

[math teacher]

Very pretty chairs!! I agree with the pp that it's probably not going to get any better than that.

[happi duck]

I normally notice things that aren't lined up and I genuinely can't spot what could be wrong.  I'm sure once I saw it I wouldn't be able to unsee it so I understand!

I think my brain factors in the constraints of lining up across so many surfaces.

[73349]

It looks fine to me.

[Katy]

The seat cushion is lined up.  It’s impossible for the back to be lined up because it’s at an angle. 

[Pawz4me]

I don't see anything wrong with it?

[fraidycat]

4 minutes ago, Katy said:

The seat cushion is lined up.  It’s impossible for the back to be lined up because it’s at an angle. 

Until I read this, I could not even see what was not lined up. And I looked for it!! My brain and eyes did not even register the inside of the sides of the back at all.

So, to answer @TechWife's original question... Yes, I believe you are being too picky. I don't believe it is possible to line those up without a LOT of piecing and sewing. There would be a hundred seams in that area that we be prone to failure.

[EKS]

Was it lined up in the picture online or in the floor model in the store?  

[TechWife]

9 minutes ago, EKS said:

Was it lined up in the picture online or in the floor model in the store?  

The floor model didn’t have the same fabric. This is a custom order. 

[TechWife]

15 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

I don't see anything wrong with it?

Really? Interesting. The fabric on the back of the chair doesn’t line up with the inside of the arm wing. 

[WildflowerMom]

Not quite on topic, but Techwife, is that a rocker?   

[Pawz4me]

3 minutes ago, TechWife said:

Really? Interesting. The fabric on the back of the chair doesn’t line up with the inside of the arm wing. 

I don't think it would ever have occurred to me that it was supposed to. I just look at the whole thing and it looks fine. I'm very much a "forest" versus a "tree" person, if that makes a difference for stuff like this. Plus I know nothing of sewing/upholstery or lining things up. It just looks like a nice chair to me.

[mmasc]

If the vertical lines weren’t lined up, it would bother me. But I don’t think the horizontal ones look “off”, even though they aren’t lined up. The chairs are really pretty and look lovely with what I can see of the rest of your house!

[marbel]

18 minutes ago, TechWife said:

Really? Interesting. The fabric on the back of the chair doesn’t line up with the inside of the arm wing. 

Hm, like others I could not see anything wrong with the chair, till you said this.  I see what you mean now, but I still don't see anything wrong with the chair. Maybe if it was in my house it would bug me. But what I see, even after you pointed it out, is a very nice looking chair.  As a PP said, it would take a huge amount of extra work and piecing to get those curves to line up. 

Edited November 21, 2021 by marbel

[EKS]

I suspect that it can't line up in the way that you want it to. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

What’s wrong with it?  Unless they did some awkward piecing, which in my opinion would look choppy and much worse, there is no way that they could line up that section. They lined up the major areas of the pattern. 

[*****]

Very nice choice, I like it!

[Moonhawk]

So see how on the top side wings of the chair it has a little bit of white at top, then the inside of the wing is grey-no-white, and then the back cushion is grey, but the grey is a half-step higher than the side wing? To me the progression of the grey stripe moving "up" as you look gives the chair a proportionate sense of depth. I would say that is great lining up because the pattern of the strip moving upwards was consistent and in pleasing intervals.

I think how they lined up the colors makes the chair feel proportional on the top instead of cut off, which other stripe-line ups may have done.

[TechWife]

3 hours ago, WildflowerMom said:

Not quite on topic, but Techwife, is that a rocker?   

Yes - a “swivel glider.” It turns 360 degrees in addition to rocking. 

[WildflowerMom]

2 minutes ago, TechWife said:

Sorry about the blank box...   would you mind sharing the company?  Or PM'ing me?   I am looking for a chair like that for our extra bedroom.  

Edited November 21, 2021 by WildflowerMom

[Drama Llama]

3 hours ago, TechWife said:

Really? Interesting. The fabric on the back of the chair doesn’t line up with the inside of the arm wing. 

I think if that lined up then the area in the front under the cushion wouldn’t line up and that would look worse? 

[Frances]

3 hours ago, TechWife said:

The floor model didn’t have the same fabric. This is a custom order. 

Were they able to use computer imaging to show you the fabric on the chair before you purchased? One fabric my husband really liked (but I didn’t), showed a similar issue when they used their computer program. Lucky for me, he agreed then that it was a no go. We looked at so many computer modeled images before ultimately choosing chair fabric. Since ours won’t likely arrive until at least Spring, who knows how our fabric choice will actually look when we receive them.

Edited November 21, 2021 by Frances

[Catwoman]

I'll be the lone dissenter and say that I noticed what @TechWife was talking about immediately, and it would bug me, too. 

If nothing else, I think they should have matched the fabric pattern of the inner wings of the sides of the chair to each other, even if they couldn't exactly match them with the cushions.  

But yeah, I can see several areas that aren't even, and it would annoy me. I'm not sure whether or not it would annoy me enough to return the chairs, but I kind of can't un-see it at this point, so I can definitely sympathize. Also, I'm sure the chairs weren't cheap, so if she decides to keep them, it might be worth asking for a partial refund in exchange for not returning them due to the pattern matching issue.

Do the chairs match each other, or are the pattern issues different on both chairs? If they match each other, that would actually be a good thing, IMO.

[Tap]

I saw what you meant, but really, unless they custom weave the fabric for the differnt sections, it isn't going to get much better. I suppose it could be a little better, but honestly unless this is a several thousand dollar chair, I would just go with it. 

The inside of the wing is one piece of fabric. The front edge of the wings has a seem where the arm bends and the stipe with the seam in it, is proportionate to the other stripes. 

The front of the seat cushion lines up well (it will crush down a bit, and when it does, it will match up). 

If you go to the top of the seat back, there is a narrow black stripe, that closely lines up with the inside of the arm. The bottoms of the back cushion, has a full stripe showing. If they moved the black piece to align, the stripe completely with the inside of the arm,  it would have not been lined up when it got to the bottom. And if you did this, you would have a half stripe at the top and a half stripe at the bottom, which would also be distracting (out of proportion to the full stripes).  To me, it looks like they were trying to leave a full stripe in one section, instead of cutting off the pattern on both ends. 

 

[Idalou]

I looked at images online until my eyes went all googley, but most seemed the same as yours, from Wayfair types to fancy place ones.

[gardenmom5]

I worked in a higher end furniture store before I got married.

Depends upon the brand.  Did they have photo examples of how a plaid would look on the chair?   Did you work with a salesman or order online?  High end - absolutely they should be able to make you satisfied.  Was it delivered directly to your house?

if you worked with a salesman (assuming they still work there), call them and let them know you are not happy with the finished product.  (give them at least a week considering it's a major holiday week.)  If online - contact the company. You need to know what your options are.

[Forget-Me-Not]

A. Those chairs are adorable, and 

B. I see what you mean but it doesn’t bother me. As others have said, I’m not sure they could have done any better without some weird piecing. In fact, it’s “off” (for lack of a better word) the same way on both sides, so the whole thing is symmetrical.  I think it looks great  

[gardenmom5]

25 minutes ago, Forget-Me-Not said:

A. Those chairs are adorable, and 

B. I see what you mean but it doesn’t bother me. As others have said, I’m not sure they could have done any better without some weird piecing. In fact, it’s “off” (for lack of a better word) the same way on both sides, so the whole thing is symmetrical.  I think it looks great  

I see the left side of the cushion 'falling' and the gray stripe rising. they do not match side to side.  That would bug me.

I bought a higher end sofa earlier this year  - and had to wait months for it to arrive.  There is a "pucker" in the front corner of one of the cushions (near a seam) - I had to decide, how much is this going to bug me?  And how much is dealing with all the back and forth with the furniture store/vendor going to bug me  . . 

Edited November 21, 2021 by gardenmom5

[Katy]

If you take graph paper or draw a grid (using a ruler) on some paper or cardboard and try to line a vertical piece up with an angled piece it might help you to see why they did an amazing job and why the thing that’s bothering you literally cannot be matched up any better. 

I think they’re beautiful.

[Clarita]

Depends on how much was paid for the chair. If it's a somewhat mass-produced chair, then I think it's probably as good as it gets. It's OK if it bothers you, I may go with a solid color next time instead of a pattern. (One reason I usually go with solid color furniture.)

On the other hand if I paid thousands of dollars for a custom crafted piece then I'd probably be super picky too and demand perfection.

[catz]

I saw what you were talking about right away.  I did design/architecture stuff for a while at college so I definitely notice stuff like that more than the rest of my family and folks around me.  That said, I don't think it looks bad and it doesn't particularly bother me.  I think they picked where it would line up most prominently and followed their pattern and pieced it from there.  

We tend to order custom furniture too and I think this is one of the downsides of picking something very different than the example.  I've also done a little simple upholstery work.  I would expect pricing to include piecing and shaping as shown on the sample and I've kicked myself for not thinking through how particular fabrics will work as upholstery.  A really upscale place may offer like custom piecing above and beyond what is on the sample.  I've gotten better at eye balling how fabric will work on furniture over the years.  

Anyway, I don't think you are too picky for noticing it but I also personally wouldn't be comfortable returning it for a refund the way it is done here unless they actually skimped on piecing from the sample you selected it from.  It's a very cute chair though!  ❤️  

[KungFuPanda]

I think it lines up where it matters most, but I can’t figure out how it’s even possible to line up the top without adding extra seams in several places. If the floor model had x number of fabric pieces, then that’s the pattern for every fabric choice. 

[TechWife]

On 11/21/2021 at 5:07 PM, gardenmom5 said:

I worked in a higher end furniture store before I got married.

Depends upon the brand.  Did they have photo examples of how a plaid would look on the chair?   Did you work with a salesman or order online?  High end - absolutely they should be able to make you satisfied.  Was it delivered directly to your house?

if you worked with a salesman (assuming they still work there), call them and let them know you are not happy with the finished product.  (give them at least a week considering it's a major holiday week.)  If online - contact the company. You need to know what your options are.

Some answers:

They didn't have any photo examples - I picked the fabric from the gazillion they had available. I did see the chair, but it had generic fabric on it like all of the floor samples do.

I did work with a salesperson in a brick & mortar store. This salesperson also visited our home to see the space.

Yes, it was delivered directly to our home.

I'll post another update in just a minute.

Thank you!

 

[TechWife]

The sections at the top are what bother me the most - where the front of the chair back, the side of the chair arm (the wing?) and the front of the chair arm meet - none of the three meet each other, pattern wise.

I consulted a pro interior designer who thinks they did a great job overall. By the time he comes in and does the finishing touches w/blanket, pillow & lighting, he thinks it won't be very noticeable. 

He advised me to take a picture in of that arm/back area that's bothering me and see if they think there's a way to re-work that and what would be involved. That way I'll know what my options are, if I have any.

It will be next week before I can address it due to the holiday, although I may get to it on Saturday.

 

[Splash1]

I like the chairs a lot.  I had to search for where it didn't line up for a bit so I guess it didn't bother me.