--- title: "How to order cushion fabric color: write the code, not a name" url: "https://cushionguide.com/answers/how-to-choose-fabric-color-code-when-ordering/" section: "The Cutting Table" author: "Élodie Marchand, The Colorist of New Orleans" author_url: "https://cushionguide.com/masters/elodie/" published: "2026-04-15" updated: "2026-09-24" keywords: "how to order cushion fabric colour, how to order cushion fabric color, cushion fabric color code, fabric chart custom cushion, bench cushion fabric color" --- # How do I choose my fabric color when ordering? Is a color name enough? *“Green” is a family, my friends, not a color. The chart gives every member of that family its own number.* Also asked as: Where's the fabric chart?; Is writing the color name enough? > **The quick answer:** A color name isn't enough to order a custom cushion: write the exact fabric code from the charts in the listing photos, because each color comes in several shades and the shop holds the order until it has a code. On the bench cushion listing the charts are the 3rd, 4th and 5th photos. For a color seen in a listing photo, say so in the order notes. ![Navy and white wide-stripe cushion on an oak box window seat with books, a mug and a plant on the sill](https://cushionguide.com/media/window-seat-cushions/navy-wide-stripe-oak-window-seat-cushion-1600.webp "Navy stripes on a wall-to-wall oak window seat, with books and a mug marking the reading end.") ## Key facts - Fabric charts are in the listing photos; on the bench cushion listing they are the 3rd, 4th and 5th photos. - Indoor and outdoor listings have separate charts. - Orders need an exact fabric code, not a color name. - The shop holds the order until it has a code. - A color from a listing photo can be requested in the order notes. - The green in the window-seat main photo is Khaki. - Fabric can be switched after ordering if production hasn't started. - Each main indoor chart (linen, velvet, soft fabric) runs to about 40 colors. - Swatches of the codes you shortlist are about 4 x 4 to 6 x 6 in (10 x 10 to 15 x 15 cm). - Piping takes its own code from any chart; roughly 50% of orders choose matching piping and 50% contrast. ## From a photo you love to a code on the order 1. **Open the charts**: They sit in the listing photos: the 3rd, 4th and 5th on the bench cushion listing. Outdoor listings carry their own chart. 2. **Read the prefix**: The prefix before the shade names the fabric family, so a linen and a velvet in the same green can't be confused. 3. **Copy the code into the note**: The exact code, not 'sage' or 'navy'. Without it, the order waits. 4. **Check the fabric in the photo**: A cushion that looks like velvet may be linen. Want the photo color? Say so in the order notes. ## Why a color name is only a neighborhood Say 'navy' to ten people and you get ten blues: ink, Prussian, a washed denim that has seen summer. Each color on the charts comes in several shades, and a name only tells the workshop which street you live on, not which house. The code is the house number. Let one color speak and the others listen, then write that one down exactly. The [personalization note Pattern](https://cushionguide.com/guides/custom-cushion-personalization-note/) shows where the code goes, the [swatch Pattern](https://cushionguide.com/guides/fabric-swatches-before-ordering/) helps when two shades are close, and finished pieces live in [bench cushions](https://cushionguide.com/cushions/bench-cushions/) and [window seat cushions](https://cushionguide.com/cushions/window-seat-cushions/). Which photo made you fall for the color? ## The velvet that turned out to be linen A buyer in the US wrote to the workshop about a floor cushion that looked like velvet in the photos, while the description said linen. It was linen. The same design can be made in velvet, and the buyer switched the order to velvet color 03 the day after buying, before production began. > **Tailor's margin:** A cushion fabric order needs the exact code from the chart, not a color name: each color, from green to gray, comes in several shades. > The green window seat cushion in the main listing photo is the chart color Khaki; write Khaki, or 'green like the listing picture', in the order note. > > — Élodie ## Buyer questions **A common question:** Where are the fabric charts, and can I just write a color name? **The workshop's answer:** The charts are in the listing photos, the 3rd, 4th and 5th on the bench cushion listing, with separate charts on indoor and outdoor listings. Write the exact code rather than a name, because each color has several shades; the shop holds the order until it has the code. **A common question:** Can I get a window seat cushion in the green from the main photo if I can't find it on the chart? **The workshop's answer:** Yes. Choose Khaki, or write 'green like the listing picture' in the notes, and you receive the color in the photo. An interior designer's client ordered it that way. **A common question:** How do I tell which fabric a color code belongs to? **The workshop's answer:** The prefix names the fabric: L is linen, K is acrylic-linen, N is cotton stripes, the 100s are velvet, the 900s are soft fabric, COR is corduroy, M and T are outdoor, DRM is duck canvas and 0- is bouclé. Two palettes of one fabric are identical. ## Questions buyers ask next ### Can I change my fabric after I've paid for the cushion? Yes, as long as production hasn't started. Message the new fabric code and the order is updated; one buyer moved from linen to velvet the day after buying. ### Are the indoor and outdoor fabric charts the same? No. Indoor and outdoor listings carry separate charts, so take the code from the chart on the listing you're ordering from. The outdoor range is the one to use anywhere a cushion may get wet. ### Does leaving out the fabric code slow the order down? Yes. The shop holds the order until it has an exact code, so production can't start on a color name alone. Put the code in the note at checkout and nothing waits. ## Related at the atelier - [The listing photo and the color chart look different. Which one is accurate?](https://cushionguide.com/answers/listing-photo-vs-color-chart-accuracy/): Usually both are accurate: they show the same fabric under different light, and on the bench-cushion ranges the color chart is the better guide. - [Are the fabrics on the listing my only options?](https://cushionguide.com/answers/more-fabric-options-beyond-listing/): The fabrics on a listing are not your only options; they are the most-ordered ones, usually shown as a single color chart. - [Is soft fabric more like velvet or more like linen?](https://cushionguide.com/answers/soft-fabric-vs-velvet-vs-linen-texture/): Soft fabric is neither velvet nor linen: it looks close to linen but has a smoother, more uniform texture without linen's slubs, and it has no pile, so it isn't velvet. - [Bench Cushion for a Study: Blue Honeycomb, Firm Enough to Write](https://cushionguide.com/readings/blue-honeycomb-jacquard-cushion-oak-study-bench/): A custom bench cushion for a study or reading bench should be medium-firm, so a notebook lies flat and you can sit upright for an hour. - [Charcoal Bench Cushion for Terracotta Walls, a Buyer's Project](https://cushionguide.com/readings/charcoal-bench-cushion-oak-terracotta-walls/): In a terracotta-walled room, choose a bench cushion in the darkest tone of your rug, often charcoal, so the room does not turn into one color. - [Entryway Bench Cushion in Yellow Stripe, Ordered Right](https://cushionguide.com/readings/yellow-stripe-cushion-white-cube-entry-bench/): To get a custom bench cushion right the first time, measure the bench top yourself and write the exact size, the fabric code and the piping code in the order note. - [What to write in a custom cushion order note: sizes, codes and extras](https://cushionguide.com/guides/custom-cushion-personalization-note/) - [How to order fabric swatches that actually settle the decision](https://cushionguide.com/guides/fabric-swatches-before-ordering/) *With color and care — Élodie* --- Written by Élodie Marchand (https://cushionguide.com/masters/elodie/) for CushionGuide (https://cushionguide.com/about/). The site explains made-to-measure cushions and the partner workshop makes them; measurements are in inches first. This Markdown mirrors the page at https://cushionguide.com/answers/how-to-choose-fabric-color-code-when-ordering/