Help me with my upolstery
 

Hey the time has come for me to do something with my 18 year Boat interior. She has lasted well but the seems are starting to split the vinyl is breaking down & its one of those projects that when you look at every piece they all are not perfect so why not just do everything. So here are some of my options:

Get some new skins from C&S (They are the Official Nautique) Upholstery supplier. The Benefits are you get the embroidery Logos, And it would be a factory replacement, But with that said My drivers seat is custom & I have other a few other pieces that wood need custom work. So the C&S option is less attractive. If I wanted to duplicate a stock interior I think they would be a great option

I was thinking of switching thing's up & changing the complete color scheme, This is where I was asking for help/suggestions, I was thinking of doing a tan interior, I wanted to do Update the look by doing away with all the swoops & highlight pieces the stock interior has. Anyone with photo shop help would be great, Here are some pics of my stock interior'

Photo 1

Photo 2

Man I don't know Grant how I feel about tan colors with you boat... I know it's what is popular right now, but I can't say I've seen any boats that I really like with tan/brown interiors. With your flooring I almost think it would be too much. The white is classic and timeless IMHO... I get where you're coming from, but I really have to think in 10 years these boats with tan interiors will be dated and undesirable... I've been wrong before though! White is difficult to keep clean looking though I understand that. I'm slowly moving to more grey as my interior needs work, but ultimately would like black. Again might date the boat so grey is my compromise. Wish I could help with the PS.

From what it looks like did you cut down the left side of the driver's seat? What was your reasoning for that?

I still can't fathom how you got 2 - 12s to fit under the driver's dash! I'm working on just a single ported 12 now and it sure is tight under there! I've made it work, but had to move a bunch for that.

Yes the drivers seat is customized/cut so the driver can sit sideways, pretty common these days Bucket drivers seats are as old as direct drives :)

This is the “SimTex” Upholstery I was talking about. The Tan is referred to as “BEIGE” and it’s in the wheel house of tan or brown.

This is “Kris’s Craft” #Hyde #gatorstep I like the single color option with just a small bit of black accent

Tan upholstery would look sweet on that boat. If the non-skid was grey I would say red on red with black accents because the carpet and dash colors. I hate the simtex textures personally and would go with a modern vinyl like the current nautique cetacea as it has a nice leather feel. Nice boat btw.

get a new or newer boat?

Bret: This is wake world not Grinder please refresh your browser

BTW I sent in a Price request to Christines, typically how long does it take to get a quote back?

Spoiler alert: I don’t like dark tan interiors. My first boat had it and it looked so hideous, the first thing I did was yank it. You could imagine my horror when I discovered 20 years later that people were actually ordering this color ON PURPOSE now.

If you can’t stand white, my vote is for the French vanilla Simtex. That would be super classy and tie in nicely with the floor without looking dated in 5 years. I agree about doing away with the swirls. Maybe consider a contrasting piping that ties in the floors and makes it look more stock? It would certainly give your boat more of a timeless, yacht feel. That MC interior was a big mistake that will be regretted soon like all of the other baby poop interiors. Just my .02

The most important thing to remember is the further you take it away from stock, the more it’ll look out of place. Like an 80 year old lady with bolt-on boobs.

I do personally like the peanut butter interiors but I do also agree they will date themselves again. Mid 2000's we went through a tan stretch for a bit. Although those were typically done with a maroon or forest green accent color.

The darker tan would go very well with your boat. That being said you may want to stay in the grey's. I am a fan of the different colors being done all the time but unless I had the option of upgrading boats every couple of years I'd stay with the safe standard colors so it remains more timeless. Same reason I would always recommend white cabinets and chrome for your house.

Stick with the original. IMO there's something special about a boat that's getting older and looks unmolested.

Kind of like a classic car.

Yes the Idea of a stock looking Upolstry was on my radar yesterday. The use of the SimTex in White was appealing!

always liked CC upholstery. go with that. even if you have to modify a couple skins.

I remember when you started the flooring project a few years back. It was pretty ground-breaking at the time. You were a pioneer. That was a ton of work you did and it looks spectacular like most of your projects. The conflict you had and still have is mixing the floor color with the grey carpet on the dog house, seat bottom and seats. If you can either put tan carpet or some other material there instead of the grey, that will help things look better. Another thing to consider is the fact that greys are more sporty and tans are generally most classic or “grown-up” if you will so maybe consider going with more of a less is more when it comes to the upholstery seams and stripes, number of colors and patterns because the floor is pretty bold already and really draws a lot of attention to itself. You could even do stock seams and stripes, but go full monochromatic white or cream on the vinyl. Just trying to help brainstorm this. Glad someone here is doing a fun project. The potential for this to turn out awesome is really high.

I remember the 70's (a bit) when everything was brown. I thought I'd hate the brown/peanut butter interiors when they started making a comeback but I actually really like them. Personally, I'm sick to death of white and gray. At this point I think white or gray are boring and stark looking. The peanut butter interiors look very classy and look even better in person. After way too many years of white or gray, I don't think these "new" colors are just a fad. Look at boat colors. They were all white forever. You rarely had a choice of hull color other than white. Now we have all sorts of colors. Does that mean only white boats will sell in the future? I don't think so. Your projects are always fantastic. I saw go for it! Do something different. Get rid of the boring, stark, and safe white.

???????

Between the floor and seats, that's too much brown/tan for my taste - to each their own though.

I kind of think a black cool-feel vinyl with red accents/piping would be pretty sharp on your boat (but maybe too hot?)

Maybe something like the attached pic

Man that looks good ^^^^^^

i never thought that black would EVER be a option but that looks pretty cool

That pic you posted looks fantastic Grant. I also have to admit I'm partial to the black red above. I'm torn between the peanut butter and the black red though I'd be a bit worried if the new "cool feel" black seats are cool enough. I don't have any experience with them yet.

As of Right now!!!! I’m thinking a “All Black interior” with red and or white stitching. I never thought a black interior would EVER be on my radar but that Malibu has me twisted

Here's the Malibu boat builder w/ all black and red or white piping (nautique's builder doesn't allow black as a primary vinyl color....). Red stitching/piping/logos may be enough contrast, but I don't think it shows in the builder as well as it would in person. Just make sure you get the cool feel vinyl, otherwise, it might be too hot.

I think a few select red panels will make it pop a little better

Hey thanks for he Tip to go to other Boat Builder’s website to spitball interior colors and styles . Wonder why the image looks so dark with the Black Interior.

Wow

I think the dark color / black looks great -- but I would certainly get a sample from the specific vendor you'd buy from to try out. See how hot it gets; the temperature of black would definitely depend on the manufacturer and type of material.

Also if you go with embroidered logos on the vinyl, I'd choose colors wisely as well. The threads don't last in the sun like vinyl. At least that's my experience. I did a complete rebuild on a classic Malibu (stringers on up) with modernized interior. Looked incredible. But the one thing that bothered me was the red stitched "malibu" on the back seat faded to a light red/orange. In retrospect I'd have done a vinyl cut out logo or just used the aluminum modern logos. So be careful if do the embroidery you mentioned with the skins.

Great advice: I’m not gonna embroider the factory logos back in. I think Christine's (C&S) is the only company to be authorized to do so. BTW (C&S) never got back with me on a price. Owell!

Miguel brought up a good point on the threads. He said if your gonna do a contrasting color on the seam the seam work has to be “on point” meaning very straight or it will stand out. So that might just add a level of complication that might not be worth it. Example if I go black I would use a black seem or thread to avoid a few things.

I may just take some pictures of my interior and do some old school coloring to get a better idea

So after years with that floor... would you do it again? Yours is the only wakeboat I've seen with it. Thought about doing that a while back.

This pic came straight out of the 2020 catalogue

I hated the my 230's interior becasue of a few tan accents now I find out I am in style!

If it was me I would stick to classic white if for no other reason coolness in the sun. I had dark blue accents on my Malibu and you could not sit on it on a hot day and my friends black piping would also burn. These browns will not be in style for long.