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The Cutting Table · a common question

If I send a photo, can you tell me which of your colors matches best?

Also asked as:Do you have colors like terracotta clay?Which color is the best match to this picture?

Yes, and it's one of the loveliest questions a cushion maker gets. A photo is where the search begins; a swatch in your own window light is the finish line.

Answered by

The Colorist of New Orleans · · Updated

The quick answer

Yes, a cushion color can be matched from a photo: send a picture of the color you want, your sofa or your room, and the workshop compares it with its fabric charts, names the closest codes, checks stock in your fabric type and sends the options photographed side by side. Screens vary, so for a large piece, order swatches of your shortlist before committing.

Sage green and cream velvet floor sofa under hanging planters and pothos, with wicker baskets, palms and a jute rugSave
An indoor jungle of hanging planters, palms and pothos frames a sage-edged floor sofa.

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Key facts

  • The workshop matches customer photos to fabric chart codes.
  • Stock is checked in the fabric type you prefer.
  • Side-by-side fabric photos are sent for comparison.
  • Velvet 924 was the closest dark olive, and L-24 the closest green linen, to real photos.
  • Velvet 34 was the closest match for a green couch; velvet #35 matched a pea green.
  • Bench-cushion codes and floor-cushion numbers come from different charts.
  • Swatches of shortlisted colors can be ordered to confirm a match.
  • Fabric swatches are palm-sized, about 4 x 4 to 6 x 6 in, and usually reach the US in 3-5 days.
  • The outdoor range alone has about 150-200 colors on its own charts.

Have it made

Have Élodie’s workshop cut this for you

Color is easier to settle in a conversation than on a screen. Tell the workshop about the room and the light it gets, and the fabric choice follows. — Élodie

Leave your details and the workshop will call you to confirm measurements, fabric, foam and piping. No prices, dates or payment on this page: it is a request, not an order.

Fabric · Foam · Pipingwhat the workshop will confirm with you

Fabric
The workshop matches customer photos to fabric chart codes.
Foam
The core: its density and thickness set the feel.
Piping
The corded seam edge: matching, contrast or none.
Only for this request: no marketing calls or texts. Outside the US, add the country code.
In inches: length × depth × thickness, plus any angles or cut corners.

* Required. A member of the workshop team will call you to talk it through; nothing is charged and nothing is made until you have agreed on every detail with them.

We use these details only to answer this request and make your cushion: your name and contact details, the cushion details and photos you send, the page you came from and the ad or link that brought you, if any. The workshop that makes the cushions receives them. We don't sell them or share them for advertising, and we delete requests after 24 months. Privacy notice for requests.

Nothing is made or charged until you approve the details.

Want to pick the shape and add photos? Use the full quote form

What happens to the photo you send

The eye sits down first. So send the thing your eye already loves: a sofa, a painting, a paint chip, a corner of the room. The workshop lays it beside the fabric charts, names the nearest codes, checks they're in stock in the fabric you want, and sends photos of the options side by side.

Past matches read like a paint box: L-24 for a green floor cushion, velvet 924 for a dark olive nook, velvet 34 for a green couch, #35 for a pea green, Tobacco for a warm orange-brown, mint for the same tone as a canopy. For a room with warm beige walls and dark wood, the suggestion was dark olive velvet to echo the sofa. The codes live on different charts, so bench-cushion codes and floor-cushion numbers aren't interchangeable.

The Pattern on matching a cushion to your sofa, paint or wallpaper goes further, and screen color versus daylight explains why the swatch has the final word. What are you matching, my friends: a sofa, a painting, or a color you remember?

Sending a photo that can be matched

  1. Shoot in daylight

    Near a window, flash off, so the color isn't tinted by a bulb.

  2. Show the neighbors

    Include the sofa, rug or wall the cushion will sit against.

  3. Name the fabric type

    Velvet, linen or corduroy, so stock is checked in the right one.

  4. Shortlist, then swatch

    For a large piece, order swatches of the closest codes before you commit.

A real project

Copper tones in a curtain print

A buyer in the US sent photos of a green couch and of curtains with copper tones in the print. For the couch, the workshop pointed to velvet 34. For the copper, the buyer shortlisted four codes, 12, 37, 14 and 21, and ordered swatches of each to hold against the curtains themselves. That is the whole method in one home: photo, shortlist, swatch, decide.

Send a photo of the sofa, painting or wall, and the workshop names the closest fabric codes; a swatch in daylight makes the final call.

Élodie Marchand
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Buyer questions

  1. A common question

    Which of your colors best matches my photo or my room?

    The workshop's answer

    Send a photo and the workshop suggests the closest codes with photos to compare: L-24 for a green floor cushion, velvet 924 for a dark olive nook, L-02 with 914 piping from a reference picture. For a living room with warm beige walls and dark wood, it suggested dark olive velvet to match the sofa.

  2. A common question

    Can you suggest the closest fabric color to my furniture?

    The workshop's answer

    Yes. Send a photo of the color or the furniture and the workshop compares it with its charts. Real suggestions include corduroy 913 or 932, linen K8 as a close match, and 931 to match a bed frame.

  3. A common question

    Will your mint match the green canopy in my photo?

    The workshop's answer

    The workshop compared the photo and said mint is the same tone. White or salmon were other options for the same room.

  4. A common question

    Can you match a color from a painting or my existing chairs?

    The workshop's answer

    Yes. Tobacco or blue were suggested for a painting and color 4 gray to match chairs. Stock is checked in the fabric type you want, and the options are photographed side by side.

  5. A common question

    Can you find a pea green from a photo?

    The workshop's answer

    Yes. Compared with the velvet chart, the pea green matched velvet #35; another buyer was steered to Tobacco for a warm orange-brown.

Questions buyers ask next

Is a photo match enough before ordering a large cushion?

Use it to narrow the field, not to decide. Screens vary, so order swatches of your shortlist and compare them in the room, in daylight, before committing to a large piece.

Do fabric codes carry over between cushion types?

Not always. Bench-cushion charts and floor-cushion charts use different numbering, so name the product you're ordering when you ask for a match, and the answer comes from the right chart.

Can the workshop suggest piping from the same photo?

Yes. From one reference picture it suggested linen L-02 with 914 piping. Ask for the body and piping fabrics photographed side by side before you decide.