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The Cutting Table · a checklist answer

The cushion I received looks a different color from the listing. Was the wrong fabric used?

Also asked as:The color is much more vibrant than the picture.I thought I ordered pale blue linen.

Usually not, but it is always checked. Here is what happens on the workshop's side, and what to do on yours before you write.

Answered by

The Colorist of New Orleans · · Updated

Zebra-print piped bench cushion on a white hallway bench with a wicker basket below, round mirror and amber lamp aboveSave
Late sun, an amber lamp and a zebra cushion give a narrow hallway a proper place to sit and tie laces.

The quick answer

Usually the ordered fabric was used, and the workshop checks it: your order's fabric code is matched against what production used, and your photo is compared with the shop's close-up and pre-shipping photo. Lighting, cameras and screens shift color, so compare in daylight. If a shade truly misses the chart, covers have been remade in a closer color.

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Key facts

  • The fabric code on your order is checked against the fabric production used.
  • Your photo is compared with the shop's own close-up and pre-shipping photo.
  • Vibrant tones, blue-grays, oranges and pinks shift most between a screen and real fabric.
  • Listing photos taken in bright light can make a fabric look paler than it is.
  • L-41 is the palest blue linen; lighter blues are on other charts.
  • Natural daylight gives the most accurate comparison.
  • When a color truly missed its chart photo, covers were remade in a closer shade.
  • One replacement cover took about 1-2 weeks, including sourcing and delivery.
  • Before a remake, swatches of about 4 x 4 to 6 x 6 in can settle the shade in your own daylight.

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Have Élodie’s workshop cut this for you

Describe the room at four in the afternoon: the floor, the wall, the one color you love. That is where a good fabric choice begins. — 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
Vibrant tones, blue-grays, oranges and pinks shift most between a screen and real fabric.
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

Before you write to the workshop

  • Take the cushion to a window in daylight, not under a warm lamp.
  • Walk around velvet: its pile reads lighter or darker from each angle.
  • Photograph the cushion in daylight and send that photo with your order.
  • Name the code you ordered, so it can be checked against production.
  • Say what you'd like: you'll be asked for your preferred solution either way.
A real project

Pink stripes that turned orange

A buyer got in touch that the stripes on a new cushion looked orange, not the pinkish shade in the listing. The production code matched the order. The buyer was still unhappy, so the shop sent side-by-side photos of the listing fabric and the fabric used, then made a new cover in a color of the buyer's choice, with contrast piping. No return was needed.

What it taught
A correct fabric code still earns a conversation about what would make it right.

Why pinks and blue-grays travel badly

Daylight never lies; your screen sometimes does. Oranges, pinks and blue-grays are the tones that change most between a camera, a monitor and your living room. Leather-look fabric is slightly shiny, so strong light lifts it paler. The name for a color that changes with its light is metamerism.

Blues deserve a note. L-41 is already the palest blue linen; paler blues live on other charts. Read screen versus daylight before your next order. Which light were you in when the color first felt wrong?

When a cushion arrives looking the wrong color, the fabric code on the order is checked against the fabric production actually used.

Élodie
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Buyer questions

  1. A common question

    The linen I got looks darker blue than the listing photo. Is it the wrong fabric?

    The workshop's answer

    Listing photos are taken in bright light, so some fabrics look paler online. L-41 is the palest blue in the linen range, and lighter blues are on other charts. Close-ups, finished-cushion photos or swatches are the safest way to judge before ordering.

  2. A common question

    My fabric looks more blue-gray and darker than I expected. Was the wrong one used?

    The workshop's answer

    The shop checks the fabric code on the order against what was produced and compares your photo with its own close-up. Vibrant tones and blue-grays read differently under different light, cameras and screens, so compare the cushion with the close-up in natural daylight.

  3. A common question

    Why does my color look different from the color chart?

    The workshop's answer

    Color changes with daylight or warm indoor light and with screen settings. Studio photos can make tones look deeper, velvet pile reads differently from each angle, and leather-look fabric looks lighter in strong light. When a color really was off, the shop found a closer shade and made new covers.

Questions buyers ask next

Which fabric number gives a true white cushion?

On the floor-cushion linen chart, 19 is a cream close to white and 1 reads white-cream; both look darker on the chart than in person. For a true white, choose velvet 11.

Why does olive velvet look lime under some bulbs?

Olive velvet 123 is a muted, earthy olive that reads yellow-lime under white light and calmer under warm light. L24 is the linen alternative. Check close-ups or samples in your own room first.

How do I get exactly the color shown in a listing photo?

Ask which number matches the photo and select that one. Similar shades carry different numbers: in the floor-cushion photos, burnt orange velvet is 14 and blue velvet is 38. Confirm the code before you order.