Spruce News

The Truth About Heavyweight Tartan for Upholstery: Weight Doesn't Always Mean Durability When selecting tartan fabric for furniture upholstery, many people instinctively reach for heavyweight options, assuming that more weight equals better durability. After all, upholstery needs to withstand constant use, friction, and wear. However, the relationship between tartan weight and upholstery performance is more [...]

Why Fine Wool Marl Deserves a Place in Your Home When choosing fabrics for clothing and interiors, linen often tops the list for its natural appeal and breathability. But there's another natural fiber that quietly outperforms linen in several crucial areas: fine wool marl. While linen has earned its reputation as a summer staple, wool [...]

What is a Fabric Rub Test At Spruce London we have a section in each product called Abrasion Test (Martindale Rub Test), this refers to a result obtained by testing the fabric with The Martindale Abrasion and Pilling Tester, this test is performed by our weavers the result is commonly known as a Rub Test, [...]

Why Use Tweed for Upholstery? Tweed, like tartan, is a fabric with deep roots in traditional Scottish craftsmanship, and it has long been valued for its durability, texture, and timeless appeal. When applied to upholstery, tweed offers a number of benefits that make it a popular choice for both classic and contemporary interiors.

Yes, herringbone fabric is definitely experiencing a strong resurgence in popularity. While it's always maintained a certain timeless appeal in traditional design, we're now seeing herringbone embraced more broadly across different design styles. Several factors are contributing to herringbone's comeback: The renewed interest in textural elements and patterns in interior design A shift toward classic [...]

When deciding on the best fabric for curtains, the fabric you choose will dictate how your curtains perform and last, as well as how they look. Textured fabrics such as wool give a more luxury quality and natural feel, and will last longer, and there are lots of designs to choose from such as checks, plains, tartans, and herringbones, whereas synthetics or the current trend for prints have a more trendy, short term appeal.

What is the best fabric for a sofa or chair?

At Spruce London we have a section in each product called Abrasion Test (Martindale Rub Test), this refers to a result obtained by testing the fabric with The Martindale Abrasion and Pilling Tester, this test is performed by our weavers the result is commonly known as a Rub Test, Abrasion Test or a Martindale Rub [...]

Boucle Home Decor Fabric 2021   Popularised by Coco Chanel the desire and demand for Boucle swings in and out of fashion in 2020.  Today it is the hottest trending furnishing fabric. Her use of the now legendary fabric was not only inspired by menswear, but by a man—and a Duke no less. After borrowing [...]

Renee was the architect for this beautiful house in Colorado and came to Spruce for the fabric and the curtains, the brief was precise as the curtains had to be inserted on the hidden track.  Read the full story below Renée del Gaudio builds Colorado home on land devastated by forest fire  

For centuries flax has been grown and transformed into linen throughout Belgium. The unique climate and the expertise of the Belgian artisans, explains the superior quality of their linen. Linen has a unique combination of properties; lasting durability, unrivalled comfort and rich color absorption. The more it is used, the more beautifully it ages and [...]

How to design a headboard article by Elle Decoration UK. Fabric advice by Spruce London. What is the optimum size for a headboard? What are the best materials to upholster a headboard with? How should it be mounted?  

British tweed is famous all over the world but not many people know that it has nothing to do with the River Tweed. The name was as a result of a mere slip of a pen.

The word “tweed” is believed to come from when Watsons of Hawick invoiced James Locke of Regent Street London in 1841 for some “tweel” (the Scottish name for the cloth at the time because of its twilled appearance). However, the word was carelessly written down and was read as “tweed”. The common belief of its link to the Tweed River was a natural one and so the name stuck.
British Estate Tweeds can be said to be a distant relative of the Clan Tartans, as they both identify a group of people:

Design Show London 2016

About Tweed, tweed, any of several fabrics of medium-to-heavy weight, rough in surface texture, and produced in a great variety of colour and weave effects largely determined by the place of manufacture. The descriptions “Scottish,” “Welsh,” “Cheviot,” “Saxony,” “Harris,” “Yorkshire,” “Donegal,” and “West of England,” for example, cover an extremely wide range of woolen and mixture cloths. Most tweeds are made entirely of wool; but an increasing number consist of blends of wool and cotton, wool and rayon, or wool and man-made fibres, each of which imparts a special property.

The Musée des Confluences, Lyon, France is situated on the confluence of the Rhone and the Saône.  With ground breaking architectural engineering, it is an absolute "must-see" in Lyon. Set in the heart of a monumental structure of metal and glass, the Musée des Confluences presents a journey through time and across continents to observe [...]

Buttermere, cable knit fabric. 100% wool. Explore our New Cumbrian Collection. Inspired by the colours of the flora and fauna of the beautiful district of Cumbria and the Lake District in the UK.
Very hard-wearing. High rub test. Suitable for furniture, curtains/drapes, soft furnishings. Perfect for the home, hotels, and contract applications. Fire retardant (Crib 5).

Tweed fabric is trending in the Spring of 2016

CHOOSING FABRIC FOR UPHOLSTERY   All upholstery fabrics are suitable for fixed covers. Find a style of fabric most likely to complement the look and scale of your room as well as the type of wear it will receive. Pale colours and smooth plains will show everyday marks quicker than textured fabrics or small pattern [...]

FARROW & BALL Farrow & Ball paint is widely used by the interior design industry the colour swatch is a useful tool  Farrow & Ball Web Site 

Useful links about monitor calibration. MAC WORLD IPAD CALIBRATION NORMAN KORAN

ESTATE TWEEDS - A HISTORY During the nineteenth century Johnstons pioneered the creation of many of the tweed designs that were originally associated with individual estates throughout Scotland. Some of these designs are so classic that they have been passed into the history of the tweed making industry in the British Isles and further afield [...]

RAL RAL is a colour matching system used in Europe that is created and administrated by the German RAL gGmbH[1] (RAL non-profit LLC), which is a subsidiary of the German RAL Institute. In colloquial speech RAL refers to the RAL Classic system, mainly used for varnish and powder coating but nowadays there are reference panels […]

The world is full of inspiring colour combinations. With Adobe Color, you can explore colour in a whole new way, using new tools, an active online community, and even the camera on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device. The colour themes you create are automatically saved to Creative Cloud Libraries: to use in your designs, layouts, and illustrations or to share with other designers.

Chanel and Tweed has been in fashion on and off since the 1920s, and there is nothing quite as iconic as a classic Chanel tweed piece. Coco Chanel discovered tweed during her love affair with the Duke of Westminster in the 1920s.  Much of their time was spent in the Sutherland region of the Scottish Highlands on […]

COLOUR

Everyone makes mistakes so the saying goes, and I don’t think there is an interior designer alive who would not admit (well maybe not publicly) to having made many in their career on their route to stardom.   You can cut down on the likelihood by knowing a few tips and tricks, particularly about colour.
Selecting colours that pair well together is much easier once you consult a colour wheel.

Many of our customers are men, looking to create homes with a masculine edge, perhaps also to reflect their success, confidence, and sophistication, and maybe a little sexy too. Which way do you go?  Dark and traditional likes a gentleman’s club, or something relevant, modern and contemporary, maybe sleek and white, how about eclectic? There […]

An interesting fact is that many of Spruce London’s customers are men.   “Men are taking more of an interest in their homes, they love the kind of tailored, stylish look that they see in Savile Row and want that for their homes too. Many of our products are well-suited to the more masculine style, and we also have the added advantage of being on-line, so men can shop anywhere, anytime, even when away on business in another part of the world. Also, curtains have often been a nightmare for men to buy; they just did not know where to start, so they are very happy to know that we have a made to measure curtain and accessory service that they can buy alongside the fabric for recovering a favourite piece of furniture for example”, Ian says.

What is Tweed Fabric? Tweed is a rough, unfinished woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is made in either plain or twill weave and may have a check or herringbone pattern. Subdued, interesting colour effects (heather mixtures) are obtained by twisting together differently coloured […]