Inside an Interior Design project
It was all going well, we have a fantastic design, the client loves it, everything has been signed off on and paid for and so we start the process of ordering all the gorgeous furniture. Of course we always expect a few spanners in the works but this was one we probably could have avoided.
We specified this beautiful fabric from Zimmer and Rohde for one of the lounge sofas. It’s beautiful, it brings in a small amount of blue woven through a lovely grey. Absolutely perfect for the comfy feather filled 2 seater sofa that will take pride of place in the main lounge.
Then we hit a snag…
The fire certification for the fabric wasn’t there! Disaster!
The composition is 52% polyester and 48% polypropylene which means that the fabric does not hold any fire certificates. Legally, the fabric would require flameproofing for upholstery use, however it’s not usually possible to flameproof with the composition of polypropylene. So although it is an upholstery fabric… it’s actually not an internal fabric.
So the hunt for a replacement fabric has began, and we face the battle of having one picked by monday we may be in for a bit of a delay. So remember always check your fire certificates for fabrics before specifying them!
Hints to watch out for:
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- Check that the compostitions etc are written on the back of the suppliers samples, if they aren’t grab a business card and jot them down (remember to staple them to the fabric in question)
- If in doubt, ask. Just because it says that it is an upholstery fabric doesn’t mean you can actually use it as one! Ever country has different fire specifications so it’s always best to check and check again
- When you do run in to a project like this, let the showroom staff guide you. They will always have an alternative and a friendly
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