Modern Fabrics: Cutting Floor Remnants for Affordable Green Decor

Modern Fabrics offers green decor fabric options which are Earth and purse friendly.  So, ladies and gents, isn’t it time to spruce up the nest?  Liven up the office decor?  You bet with savings about 50 to 75% off of retail.

Anna, come again.  How can Modern Fabrics offer such deals?

I am not going to kid you.  Green Decor can be expensive.  Some fabrics can cost over $100 per yard which may be a hefty fee to pay for the Earth.  Co-founders James and Ewa Powell took dumpster diving to a refined level.  They source their fabrics from the “floors” of luxury furniture companies.  Left overs, remnants, or castaways that would see the inside of a dumpster if it the Powells didn’t seize this green opportunity.

Anna, what kind of fabrics are we talking about.  Basic and boring?

Um, no.  They carry some of my fabric green lines such as Knoll, Designtex, Mararam, Luna, Kravet and Sina Pearson.  If you are a long time Green Talk reader you will recall that a couple of years ago, I provided a laundry list of green fabrics  for my green decor affecionados which included the above fabrics (and some.)

In addition, the company also carries fabric from Pollack, Momentum, Brentano, HBF Textiles, Jhane Barnes, Arc|Com,  and many more.

To give you an example of the bargains waiting for you at Modern Fabrics,  Sina Pearson’s Bounce striped fabric,  a Cradle to Cradle certified fabric, costs $34.00 a yard.  Are you sitting down?  Ordinarily, this fabric costs $105 per yard to the trade.  A complete steal.

But here is the bad part.

The difference between a regular retail fabric store and Modern Fabrics is you can order the length you want.    Each remnant is a particular size.  So, if you are looking to make curtains, a four yard remnant may not be enough.  In the above example, if your heart was set on the  Sina Pearson fabric, there is only 5 1/4 yards available.

Okay, why so many remnants?

Many people specify certain custom fabrics for their fabrics.  In the design biz, this is called “COM” fabric. (Kind of like bring your own bottle.)  The Company explains,

  “Customers Own Material (COM) fabric is the worst culprit. Upon filling an order, there is no incentive to store or reuse fabrics which have been paid for by a customer. It is not cost effective for manufacturers to return or ship the fabric to the customer. Furthermore, most customers simply have no interest in having excess COM returned. As you can see in our online store, quantities of excess COM can range from 1/2 to 40 yards or more!”

So, beauty does have its cost.

Search by Size, Color, and Patterns

I can’t imagine their store with so many different fabrics to choose from.  The Company has made it easy to shop by textile brand, yardage, eco-friendly fabric, leather, mid-century pattern, and prints to name a few. I did fine quite a few with substantial yardage.

Want to touch, ogle, and swoon?  You absolutely can at their store in Charlotte, North Carolina. In fact, the Company states only 30 to 40% of their fabrics are online. For the rest of us, we can buy online.

LEED Credits for Reclaimed Fabrics

Thinking about obtaining LEED accrediation for your next project?  Modern Fabrics’ remnants can help you get there.  Since all of their fabrics are post-industrial, specifying the fabrics could help you to achieve LEED Materials & Resources Credit 4.1 & 4.2.

Join the Conversation

• How do you feel about purchasing remnants?
• If you are an architect or designer would you buy fabric from Modern Fabrics?
• Which of the patterns are your favorites?
• If you are a designer how much fabrics do you need for re-upholstering a couch or chair?  How about drapes?

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• Rubie Green Fabrics are Gems to Behold
• Upcycle Clothing by Looptworks: Remnant Turn Fab + {Video}