In-Home Fabric Selection,
Judged in Your Own Light
and Measured the Same Visit

North-facing rooms receive cool, steady light that mutes warm colours and can make a grey read blue. Warm-toned fabrics and textured weaves generally do more work there than flat cool colours.

South and west-facing rooms receive strong, changing light, which flatters warm and mid tones but is also where fading is a real risk, so lining and fabric light-fastness matter as much as colour choice.

East-facing rooms are bright early and flat later, which is why a bedroom sample is best judged in the morning. In every case we look at both transmitted light through the fabric and reflected light on its surface, since a fabric can be one colour lit from behind and another lit from the front.

Face fabric samples in the relevant colour families, plus lining and interlining samples so you can see how each changes the weight, drape and light transmission of the fabric you like.

Trims, borders and leading-edge options, which are frequently the cheapest way to lift a plain fabric, and hardware finishes so pole or track material can be judged against your joinery and ironmongery rather than in isolation.

We look at how the fabric gathers by hand, what the repeat does across a width, whether the weave shows a directional sheen, and how it sits against skirting, cornice and flooring at the height it will actually hang.

Linens and linen blends drape softly and crease as part of their character, which suits relaxed rooms and looks right in period houses. Wools and wool blends hold weight and hang beautifully on long drops. Cottons and cotton satins take print crisply and suit tailored schemes and Roman blinds.

Velvets add depth, absorb sound and suit sitting rooms and bedrooms with hard floors. Silks and faux silks carry sheen for formal rooms but need lining and interlining to protect them from strong sun. Voiles and sheers are for filtered light and daytime privacy rather than cover.

Every one of those decisions interacts with lining: cotton sateen for general use, blackout for bedrooms and nurseries, dim-out where blackout would be too flat, and thermal where a window is single glazed and cold. Interlining changes drape, insulation and hardware loading, so it is chosen at the same time.

For private clients the visit is the whole decision made comfortably at home, usually with the whole room's soft elements considered together, which overlaps with our soft furnishings consultations.

For designers we work to a scheme already set and bring options within it, providing the technical specification and measurements to sit alongside their drawings.

For contract projects the same visit becomes a sample-approval exercise against a window-type schedule, with availability across the programme checked before sign-off.

Room light varies more than people expect across the areas we cover. North-facing front rooms in Victorian terraces around Pinner and Rickmansworth receive steady, cool light all day, and fabrics chosen there need warmth in the undertone or the room reads grey whatever the paint colour. Rear extensions in Northwood and Chalfont often have very high light levels through roof glazing, so fade resistance and lining choice matter more than colour subtlety.

Tall sash windows in Kensington, Chelsea and Belgravia throw a lot of light deep into a room, which flatters textured weaves and shows every detail of a heading. Garden-facing rooms in Hampstead and Primrose Hill change character completely between summer and winter as foliage comes and goes, and it is worth knowing that when judging a fabric in July for a room you mainly use in December. We will raise it rather than let the sample flatter itself.

After the visit you receive the selections and measurements in writing: face fabric and reference, lining or interlining, heading, fullness, hardware and finish, fitting position and finished drop per window, with the price attached. Where a decision is finely balanced we can leave samples with you so the fabric can be seen over several days and different weather rather than in one appointment. Nothing is ordered until you confirm, and once you do the same specification carries straight through to making and fitting without being re-interpreted.