Printed fabric for rooms that need a clearer plan
Home décor work usually starts with a room that feels unfinished. The curtains may be too plain, the cushions may not match the paint, or the fabric on an occasional chair has faded after years of sun and coastal humidity. At our Ndabeni base in Cape Town, we help clients choose fabric that suits the room, the light and the way the space is actually used.
For homes in Cape Town, Durban, Gqeberha and other coastal areas, fabric choice matters because salt air and sunlight can show up quickly in the wrong material. If you are ordering for a lounge, bedroom or holiday flat, we normally look at how much wear the item will take, how often it will be washed, and whether the design needs to repeat neatly across wide curtain drops or smaller scatter covers.
- Curtains for living rooms, bedrooms and sliding doors
- Scatter cushions and bolster covers
- Feature wall pieces and framed textile panels
- Upholstery for light to medium use furniture
- Table runners, headboard panels and matching soft furnishings
The best results come from a clear room plan, not from choosing a fabric in isolation. If you are working with a decorator or making items yourself, send through measurements early so repeat sizes, seam allowances and print layout can be checked before production starts.
What we usually print for home décor clients
Most home décor orders fall into a few common categories. Curtains are often printed in longer runs with a matching repeat so the design sits properly across each panel. Cushions need smaller, cleaner repeats because the front faces are cut into squares or rectangles. Upholstery needs a more practical fabric choice with enough body for daily use, while wall pieces often work best with sharper image detail and a flatter finish.
Our print process suits both one-off rooms and larger decorating jobs. For example, a single apartment in Century City may only need 8 to 15 metres for cushions and scatter backs, while a guest house refurbishment can need 40 to 120 metres across curtains, dining chairs and feature pieces. We also handle strike-off sampling, which is worth doing if you are matching existing paint, timber or tile colours.
- Custom curtains in plain, patterned or branded fabric
- Cushion sets with matching or contrast prints
- Upholstery fabric for chairs, ottomans and headboards
- Printed panels for wall decor and framed pieces
- Fabric by the metre for local makers and interior teams
If you are unsure what to order, start with the room’s biggest item first. For most homes that is the curtain or sofa, then build the smaller items around it. This avoids the common mistake of buying scatter cushions before the main fabric has been approved.
Layout and repeat planning before you print
Good planning saves time and money. A pattern that looks lovely on a screen can shift badly once it is cut into curtain drops or wrapped around cushions. Before print approval, check the scale of the repeat, where the focal point sits, and whether the design needs to be mirrored or matched from panel to panel. That is especially important for formal living rooms, long passage curtains and wide sliding door installations.
We check files, repeat structure and colour values before a run begins. If a design is being used for both curtains and cushions, the layout may need two versions so the scale feels right on each item. Large motifs can look strong on a feature cushion but too heavy on a narrow scatter cover. Small repeats may be better for upholstery and bedroom work where you want a calmer result.
- Confirm finished sizes before artwork is signed off
- Allow extra fabric for hems, joins and shrinkage
- Check if the print must match across left and right curtain panels
- Ask for a strike-off when colour accuracy matters
- Keep a note of the room light, north-facing rooms can shift colour more than you expect
Rooms with strong afternoon sun often need slightly deeper colours than clients first choose. Soft neutrals can also read differently in shadow, so it helps to view samples in the actual room before placing a bigger order.
Typical budget ranges for décor orders in Rand
Home décor budgets vary a lot depending on fabric type, print volume and finishing. A simple small-batch order for cushions and sample pieces may start around R850 to R2 500. Printed curtain fabric for one room often sits between R2 500 and R8 500, depending on length and whether hemming is included. Larger interior projects, guest accommodation and multi-room refreshes can move into the R10 000 to R35 000 range fairly quickly.
Fabric by the metre is usually the most flexible starting point if you are testing a scheme. It lets you buy only what you need for one room, which is helpful when you are working around municipal approvals, rental limits or staged renovations. For example, a client in Woodstock may begin with 6 metres for cushions and a bench seat, then come back for curtains once the first room is settled.
Courier nationwide is available from our Cape Town base, so clients outside the city can still order smaller test runs before committing to a full décor package. It is often cheaper to do one accurate print run than to replace poorly matched offcuts later.
Finishing details that make the room feel complete
Finishing matters as much as print quality. A fabric can be beautifully printed and still look untidy if the hems are uneven, the seams are placed badly, or the wrong allowance was used for a cushion zip. We offer hemming and finishing for clients who need ready-to-use fabric pieces, and packing for orders going out to homes, decorators and interior makers.
For curtains, think about drop length, fullness and whether the rails are standard or custom. For cushions, think about insert size and whether you want a snug fit or a softer fuller look. For wall pieces, think about mounting method and whether the fabric needs extra support. Small details like these matter in homes that get daily use. one loose hem in a sunny room can become a problem fast.
- Choose the fabric weight to suit the item, not just the print
- Match cushion sizes to standard inner sizes where possible
- Keep extra metres aside for repairs or future additions
- Use colour matching when replacing old décor pieces
- Ask for packing that keeps folds clean for courier delivery
Our team in Ndabeni handles the production flow from file checking to dispatch, so orders do not get lost between the artwork stage and the final box. That helps when you are working to a move-in date, a guest opening, or a room refresh before visitors arrive.
When your décor order is likely to go wrong
The most common mistakes are simple. People order too little fabric, choose a scale that is too busy for the room, or forget that a patterned curtain needs extra fabric for matching. Another issue is using a fabric that looks fine in a cool showroom but feels too flat or too heavy once it is in a warm, bright room. In coastal homes, cheaper fabrics can also pick up moisture and smell damp after a few weeks.
If you are decorating several rooms at once, keep one master list with each item, size, repeat preference and finish. That avoids duplicated ordering and helps if your project is being handled by more than one person. It also makes it easier for us to quote properly when the order includes curtains, cushions, wall pieces and upholstery in the same batch.
For practical home décor work, clear communication saves money. Give measurements in metres and centimetres, not estimates, and send colour references where possible. If you are not sure, ask for help before printing rather than after. It is always cheaper to fix a layout on paper than to reprint ten metres of fabric.
