our first design lesson!

We are introducing something new on SimpleThingsBlog today, we are going to periodically offer up some free design advice! Today we are going to highlight some of the options that Lee Industries has for slipcovered and upholstered furniture, more specifically we are going to talk about bands.

Lee Industries has mastered the art of the band. They offer more options for banding than one could ever hope to take advantage of.  So let’s get started.

Banding with Nailhead

First, we have some lovely little chairs that have contrast banding around their bases with spaced nailheads on top of the banding. This is a really nice detail that can be added to any upholstered piece of furniture. It is a little bit more special than just having nailhead and makes the upholstered piece look like you added your personal touch to it, not like you just picked it out of a catalog at random. Adding a bold contrasting fabric can give the piece a pop of color or a subtle neutral, like the chair pictured below, can just add a little more sophistication to the piece.

There are many options when it comes to banding with nailhead (as can be seen in the examples above) you can used small spaced nailheads on 5/8″ banding, jumbo spaced nailheads on 1″ banding, staggered nailheads on 1″ banding, a single row of tack trim nails on 5/8″ banding, or a double row of track trim nails on 1″ banding.

The chair pictured is the Lee Industries 3700-01, a classic in white.

The chair pictured is the Lee Industries 1248-01, beautiful neutrals!

The chair pictured is the Lee Industries 1844-01 and it shows two rows of tack trim nails and a mauve 1″ band. Very stylish!

Skirt Banding

You can band a skirt on either an upholstered or slipcovered piece of furniture and there are tons of options with Lee Industries in how you can go about this. Lee offers 1″, 4″, and 9″ bands in any fabric. They also offer 1″ inverted bands that can be done at the top of a skirt. Another new banding option is to have a double layer band (as seen in the 1st chair pictured below). If your band is going to be a ticking stripe you can also have it done on the bias (as seen in the 4th picture below) or you can have the ticking horizontal instead of vertical (as seen in the 5th picture below).

Here is a breakdown of all the options Lee offers for skirt banding. They also offer sheer flax banding and underskirts on selected styles. Lee offers cablestitching as well, but we will talk about that another day.

This is a Lee 5203-01 Chair that has two contrasting bands or a double layer band. There is a 1.5″ band on top of a 4″ band. It is really nice how the two fabrics are about the same color but have very different textures and sheens. It would also be interesting to have a double layer band that used a print and a solid or two high contrast solids.

This is a Lee 1906-01 chair and the contrasting 1″ band at the bottom of the skirt matches the contrasting back pillow in the chair.  This is a nice way to add a solid bright color that coordinates with a bold print.

This is a Lee 1717-01 chair and here the 4″ contrasting band matches the contrasting mini-flange that is on the  seat cushion. This is a nice subtle way to add in a contrasting color and make your piece look a little more unique.

This is a Lee C3752-01 slipcovered chair that has a 4″ band in the same ticking fabric as the rest of the chair, but the band and corner block are both on the bias. A great way to use one fabric but add some interest.

This is a Lee 3907-01 chair that has a 9″ band in the same ticking as the rest of the chair, but the ticking on the band and corner block are going in the opposite direction as the ticking on the rest of the chair. This, like the chair above, is another great way to use the same fabric but in a different, more special way.

Collage Mixes using banding

Now that is a mouth full. This is a new spin on the idea of mixing fabrics on one piece of furniture, as seen in the chair below. A great way to have a modern mix of print and/or solid fabrics! Currently Lee is only offering this type of fabric application on this specific chair style (C3794-01) and in the fabrics show below (fabrics are also available in a green color way). The fabrics available for this are Luci Green or Blue, Lacy Green or Blue, and Lizzie Green or Blue.

Luci Blue

Lacy Blue

Lizzie Blue

Luci Green

Lacy Green

Lizzie Green

This is a Lee C3794-01 chair slipcovered in multiple fabrics. Contrast banding is used here on the cushions as well as the skirt to divide between different print fabric applications. The neutral bands give the eye a nice break between the contrasting prints. This is a good way to mix coordinating prints in a more updated way for those of you who like a lot going on with your furniture!

Banded Panels

Lee is now offering banded panels on the square and rectangular back cushions of chairs and sofas. We unfortunately only have one example of this, which is shown below. I personally LOVE this new option and hope to employ it the next time I order a pair of chairs for my own home! It is a very sophisticated, polished look.  You could also pair banded panels with a banded skirt in the same fabric to add a little more interest to the sofa or chair.

All images via LeeIndustries.com