Velvet sofa in a dark colour, yes or no

[Talia99]

I need to replace my sofa and I’ve not been able to colour match my other furniture so I’m thinking of going for a statement colour in the same design. However, the only colour that would go with the room (including some very expensive made to measure curtains that I don’t want to replace) only comes in velvet.

Has anyone got a velvet sofa and if do, what did you think of it? If it makes a difference, I don’t have children at home so hopefully the risk of damage is less. However, I worry about how hard wearing it may be.

Also, I currently have a beige twill sofa that hides dust particles etc. pretty well. I hoover it once every couple of weeks and that’s enough. I noticed that the sample of the velvet seems to pick up debris when I left it out. Is that a general problem with this sort of sofa? I have attached a picture of the various possibilities for the fabric. The large cushion is the colour of the furniture I want to keep.

What does anyone think?

Most velvet is pretty hard wearing but yes, it attracts and retains fluff and lint like nobody’s business.

The red looks lovely and I’d probably choose it anyway despite the fluff issue. However from this thread and the fact you hoover your sofa every two weeks I’m guessing you’re a lot more bothered by fluff than I am!

I just couldn't be bothered with the constant hoovering but I'm slovenly. They do REALLY pick up dust and oose and hair and unless you're brushing/hoovering all the time they look a bit manky. BUT they look so gorgeous the rest of the time. I love old school green velvet sofas.

There...I'm sure that helped a lot!

I just automatically run the hoover over the sofa when I do the living room rather than pulling off cushions etc (I’m all about the visible dirt). I’m not actually that fussed by dust so long as it doesn’t look awful. I might get a hand held DustBuster type to run over it if I do go with velvet and it’s going to have noticeable lint.

It’s a polyester velvet so hopefully not too fragile.

My mum says definitely the velvet as she has velvet for a sofa in her open plan kitchen / diner but she’s retired and hoovers her entire 4 bedroom house including all furniture every two days (as in it takes her two days to do it and then she starts again at the beginning). Basically, I’ve learnt that her idea of ‘it’s really easy to care for’ isn’t most people’s so I tend to be wary.

I really like the burgundy and I suspect the slight mismatch in colours with the other furniture would really irritate me. I just wish it came in another type of fabric.

We have a navy velvet sofa and it’s beautiful. We also have two dogs. They come in with muddy paws and you would never know, the sofa seems to absorb and then hide any dirt! It does pick up fluff but I just get a damp cloth and run it over to quickly collect any strays. It’s worth it for how much it hides dirt. As I said, it’s very beautiful and classic.

I have a lovely dark blue one but the dust and hair is annoying and the water marks from DD sitting on it with wet hair.

I have a secret love of velvet which I have to hide from my DH, a tasteful minimalist. But I wouldn't go for polyester velvet, honestly - it looks quite cheap and it will deffo attract more dust/stuff. Heavy cotton velvet all the way - so luxurious. It's one of those things that the eye 'reads' without you even being aware of it.

Can you show a pic of the curtain fabric? I bet we can find you something slightly more adventurous/stylish/now than wine colour. For eg - there are some really beautiful grey/brown/mauves around - a mid neutral, but (as the young people say ;-) elevated.

A bit like this but a little more subtle - something a little Edwardian, William Morris stroke Art Nouveau-ish?

The curtain fabric in a side window

I have the navy blue snug sofa cloud …. one day it’s going on eBay, it drives me insane trying to pick the hairs off from the dog and the child and the cat.

Oh interesting - I would be tempted by the mauve-mouse -sludge colour I posted, it will tone with the paler/less dense bits of the ludge-colour of the curtains but not look too matchy-matchy (much better not to have 'a colour scheme'.)

Or take the same sludge but push it towards a subtle khaki green grey?

Or even go for a dirty pink, to pick up on the less dense parts of the burgundy (towards the outer edge of each stripe, where it actually reads as pink because the burgundy is interspersed with the cream-ish background colour).

And then a couple of green-sludge lampshades, maybe a dirty mustard vase, a faded Persian/Indian rug and so on? So that although none of it matches in a straightforward way, overall the effect is harmonious.

We’ve just ordered a massive statement sofa in dark teal velvet. We got all the sample swatches and rubbed them over the floor and all the animals, then picked the one that had the least amount of dirt and fluff on it at the end!😁 we hope our quality control experiment works!

If you do go for it, the bet for getting fluff and hair off velvet is a damp cloth or hand, or one of those sticky lint rollers. Hoover may not work that well as the stuff seems to cling on.

quite a nice dark dirty pink.

The best thing I ever learned in terms of colour was to half-shut my eyes and squint at any patterned fabric to actually see the half-tones, rather than looking simply at the dominant colours.

Velvet sofas feel so luxurious and I always think look like a classic, I'd do it in a heartbeat and happily hoover it loads because it would look so nice 🤣

I have This French Connection sofa and I love it. Dust and lint not an issue at all. Cleaner does hoover it every fortnight but even without a hoover I don't notice any mess as such.

Those other colours certainly give me something to think about. I’m no good at colour matching - I wouldn’t have thought of them. Thanks for all the help.

this is what I use to keep my velvet sofa like new - works like a dream

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255314677926?hash=item3b71f0d0a6:g:JJ0AAOSw0CtiPEDb

I’ve a velvet sofa and I also have four cats and I am also very glad I have a hand held Shark hoover because omg the hair.

if you don’t have cats or small children you’ll be OK and I do love my sofa but it takes some upkeep!

I have velvet and it's much more practical. Wouldn't hesitate, in fact I'm having a vintage one reupholstered in sage green velvet as soon as the fabric shipment is in.

Wovens show stains and grub more.

Agree; spend the extra for cotton.

No cats, no small children

I have a pale velvet sofa that I’ve had for 20 years. Never had to hoover it, apart from under the cushions occasionally. I didn’t think it would look as good as it does for so long and fully expected to regret the impulsive purchase but I still love it.

I love velvet sofas and also love red tones.