I've been itching to redo the throw pillows on my couches recently, as I have been living in my apartment for about a year, I’m getting restless…change is necessary. There are right now 13 20x20 pillows, and as the backs of the couches are even larger pillows, I’m not sure if I want to keep that many. My friends, mainly the males are always giving me a hard time about the over abundance of pillows, so I know I could stand to loose a few. I do however, like that when only a few people are sitting on the massive couch, that the pillows kind of fill some of the negative space.
In checking out the apartment, I have realized how much turquoise there is, with a dash of sunflower yellow creeping its way in. All of the paintings in the living room are turquoise/aqua…I swear I paint with more then this palette, it just somehow ended up that all of these went on the wall. I’ve started wondering how bright spring colors would work on pillows and am getting more and more intrigued.
I want to keep three of the current pillows, the two ivory and one taupe velvety ones, I heart them, but all the rest can go. I would prefer to stick with all in 20x20, but now I’m thinking a few 26x26 tossed in and I could drastically reduce the numbers of pillows. I also prefer hidden zippers for easily removable inserts, as I have a dog. I started looking at Pottery Barn, Anthropologie, Restoration Hardware, Ballard Designs and finally Etsy for what was out there right now and I made a little mock up of the big couch with mainly yellow designs. I LOVE that coffee bag pillow in the corner, it’s 26 x26 and so awesome, that I already ordered it on Etsy from New Zealand. Not sure how it will really look, so I think I may wait until I get it before I shop for anything else.
I like the yellow pillows, but not sure about them with the rest of the decor. Truthfully, I went through this a few years ago with the idea of using vintage silk scarves as covers, but I never could make up my mind. I also didn't want 10 different designs with the scarves, and the thought of a hodge pogde of patterns is still overwhelming to me. I think I'm nervous to abandon how neutral it is right now, but I am still craving bright color. While thinking about this today, I did become a tad bit obsessed with the stashes of both vintage table clothes (some have stains and holes so they are perfect to cut up for pillows) and my pile of tapestries from college. I actually think the tapestries would be gorgeous, but I am hesitant to cut them up, I would have to sew them, and as pillows they may look a bit too Urban Outfitters for me.
In going through my textiles stash, I did come across a beautiful robins egg blue embroidered table cloth, that I believe once ironed will be great on the table. I am concerned about the rug and tablecloth clashing, so still on the fence about that. I LOVE the rug, I actually gaze lovingly at it often, so that will stay. If the pillows can pick up some of the hues from the rug, I think it would be more successful. Many of the yellow pillows I found have gray, and at first I thought I would need to have brown and taupe as the neutral but maybe gray will draw in the rug? This is quickly becoming an obsessive endeavor.
By the way, I am totally enjoying the green tapestry on the pillows, it looks great with the paintings...not as much into the navy blue one. Oh and there are new pillows on Etsy every 5 minutes…not helping.
Any advice, wise words or opinions on this?
