Improving Your Business Cash Flow

When you're looking to change the draperies or upholstery in your home, you don't want to blindly choose the fabric and hope that it suits its surroundings. Instead, visit the retailer at which you expect to make your purchase and obtain a swatch memo sample. This is a small piece of the fabric that you can take home and use to assess whether it might be a good fit or not. If you're on the fence about which fabric will be best, you should ask to take home multiple samples. Here are some necessary ways to evaluate swatch memos.

In Different Lights 

One of the best ways that you can evaluate your swatch sample is to do so in different lights. You might not realize it, but fabrics can look dramatically different in dark and light conditions, and even change in appearance to some degree whether the light is natural or artificial. Position the swatch sample where you want it — for example, taped beside a window — and look at it with the lights on and off, and when it's both light and dark outside. You'll notice some variances in the swatch, which will allow you to evaluate whether the swatch will suit you.

At Different Angles

You should also make a point of evaluating the swatch at a variety of different angles, too. This is especially important if the fabric has a shimmer-like quality to it, as these fabrics can look different whether you're looking at them straight on or from the side. For example, you might love the look of a swatch sample when you glance at it directly, but it may have a sheen that you don't favor when you see it at an angle. Assessing the sample from a variety of vantage points in the room and beyond will help you to pick the right one.

Over A Period Of Time

Don't make the mistake of positioning the swatch sample in your room, looking at it for a bit of them, and then deciding whether or not it will suit you. Instead, leave it up over a period of days. A store will generally ask to have the sample back in a certain amount of time, or it may simply give you the sample. Unless you're in a huge rush to buy your material, evaluating the swatch over time is a good idea. In doing so, you'll be able to see whether you like it or whether you'd rather keep shopping.