apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I don't know about their on-line catalogs, but maybe if you sent them a pic of your cute cat, they could send you fabric swatches. Try these guys:

Beckenstein Fabrics and Interiors
4 W. 20th St., New York, NY 10011
212-366-5142

or

http://www.moodfabrics.com/

I would also check out maharam.com. Unfortunately their fabrics are incredibly expensive, but they offer a broad range of solid colors in commercial-quality fabrics, I would think they HAVE to have a gray like the one you are looking for. Note that Maharam does not sell to the public, but their fabric can easily be ordered from many online retailers - or your upholsterer can perhaps get a "to the trade" discount from them.

I would check out mid-c fabrics on Ebay. In fact, you can get maharam fabrics by the yard at a huge discount.

How much do you think you need? This is only 5.5 yds but it's Rufus colored: http://www.fabricguru.com/cart/index.php?target=products&product_id=18353

Kitty! What a cute little face.

Sorry, that's all I've got. I've occasionally had good luck on eBay, but it's very hit and miss.

I've always had good luck with Fashion Fabrics Club. I've ordered upholstery fabric from the company before, as well as a silk suiting. I found the online pictures accurately depicted what I was purchasing, and my fabric arrived quite quickly. You can search within the upholstery fabrics using "gray" as your keyword and see if anything grabs you. And I hope your adorable kitty had nothing to do with why you need to reupholster.

I realize you're not looking for patterns, but this gray George Nelson fabric is pretty subtle and would be so amazing on a mid-c couch. It's expensive, but since you only have to do the cushions, it might not be so bad.

http://www.eamesfabric.com/pavement_003.html

The color of Rufus reminds me of heather gray flannel sheets- I'm not really sure how flannel would work out as upholstery, but if you wanted to try DIY you could order a set of flannel sheets online from a place like Garnet Hill, LLBean, or Lands End and sew those into cushion covers...?

good luck-

My little boy Malkin could be Rufus's littermate, and I've wanted to cover a sofa in velvet that matches his fur since he was a kitten.

At $107/yd. it's absurdly expensive, and probably not the least bit practical either, but the best match I ever found was a mohair velvet by Sina Pearson called Dunes in the color "Feather Grass".

http://www.sinapearson.com/products/specifications/dunes3.html

Good luck

I'd recommend the Thickett Flannel fabric as seen on Room and Board's stunning "Grace" chair.

http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/collection.do?method=get&id=377753&cat=26

As of a few years ago they sold all of their upholstery fabrics by the yard and I think this one was about $25/yard. You can even order swatches online.

Good luck with the sofa & be sure to post a pic when it's done.

Well of course you want your couch to match your cat!

But seriously, try Hancocks of Paducah:
www.hancocks-paducah.com/

When I bought my sofa from Room and Board, I wanted a window seat installed. I wanted the same fabric on the sofa as the window seat. Turns out you can purchase their fabrics by the yard as well. I remember thinking that the prices they quotes me weren't outrageous either.

Thanks to all who have given us suggestions! Yes, I know that finding a fabric that matches the color of your cat is a bit unusual, but you have to find inspiration where you can, right?

We didn't actually intend to match Rufus, we just thought a gray would look great with the rest of the room. We hit Home Depot for paint samples to get an idea of the gray we were looking for. We found one fabric online that we thought would be close, ordered a yard and it was darker than we were hoping. As we were looking at the fabric, Rufus climbed up on top of it and that's when we realized he was more the color we were looking for. So, no, we're not weird, obsessive cat "parents", he just happen to be in the right place at the right time (for once).

Thanks again and if we find what we're looking for, we'll be sure to send a picture of the finished product!

SpaceMonkeyX, check out http://www.fabricmatcher.com.au/ it's linked to Hancock's of Paducah as Szig mentioned.

You can match fabrics to just about anything through them.