Pillows that take your House from Summer to Fall

Hands down, the EASIEST way to bring a season into your living space is through textiles - most specifically, throw pillows.  You don't have to make a ton of big changes to make your home feel like summer, or Christmas, or in this case fall, and they are the easiest, and cheapest way to do so on a budget.

Obviously, there are certain fabrics and pillows that easily run into the hundreds, but there are so many affordable options.  Some of my favorite sources... Etsy, Target, and Homegoods.

A few of my favorites out there right now??

BOTANIC PRINTS:

I love a good floral print - combine a large scale floral with the colors we associate with fall and bam, we're in business.  I ALMOST bought the top pillow here from Target, but could only find one.  Sad day friends.  It's so luscious in person, and a sweet deal too!

I also love the look of the branches and leaves, and the more understated print of the lumbar pillow here.  It could really be used in any season, but the rust red and mustard yellow say "fall" to me.

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ETHNIC TEXTILES:
In a different color, any of these pillows could be perfect for other seasons, but something about the texture (especially in the Kilm pillow) along with the colors, these would be perfect for the season.  In colder months, I especially like thicker fabrics.

They just say, it's cold outside, so come snuggle on the couch. 

Am I right, or am I RIGHT??

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IKAT PRINTS:
Again, it's all in the colors that make up the ikat print, but I'm loving the soft melon colors with lots of white.  These are kind of perfect for those that live in more temperate climates, so your house doesn't feel bizarre on those random warm days.

Mixed with neutral pillows, these are lovely and warm for fall, but mixed with fun blues, you could re-use them again in summer!

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Any good ones you've seen recently?  I missed the boat for the blue and white pillows I have yet to make - I have a few months to stitch those up, and we can use them after the holidays are over, but for now, I'm on the hunt for some good autumnal pillows!

xo

Hotel Bedding DIY

Our bed got a mini update last week - nothing earth shattering, but a definite improvement...

It's probably not very noticeable to most people, but we FINALLY got some euro shams for our bed, and I did a little hotel bedding DIY on them.

I've been wanting actual hotel bedding pretty much since we moved in here a few years ago, but its SO expensive.  Even just 3 euro shams from Restoration Hardware run several hundred dollars, and I was not about to pay that for just a few decorative pillow cases.  Thanks, but no thanks.

I'd been digging on Overstock, eBay, and Amazon for other options... I looked at a few at Macys, Bloomingdales (yep, they sell bedding online!), and Lands End, but either the options were still really pricey, poor quality, or the wrong colors.  I wanted either navy, or a dark grey (black seemed more limiting since we have a lot of navy going on in here)...

So I decided to experiment with a little project.

I'd seen projects online where people had used grosgrain ribbon to trim out curtains, so I figured the same could be done with pillow cases.

I started by ordering some fairly inexpensive plain white euro sham pillow cases off of Overstock.  I ordered these ones in case you're interested. They look nice, but aren't the best quality to be honest. I don't really care since we're not sleeping on them, but I wouldn't recommend them for anything other than a decorative euro sham.

Once I got the shams in the mail, I went to the fabric store and bought 10 yards of their 1" cotton grosgrain ribbon.  Our euro pillows are 26", so I needed a minimum of 8 2/3 yards, and in case I messed up a bit, I wanted extra yardage.

A word of warning - do not go with a synthetic grosgrain ribbon.  When you iron it, it crinkles up, so be sure you pay the extra few dollars for the 100% cotton (learned that the hard way folks).

Anyway, the project was really simple - once I had the ribbon and the pillow shams, I got out my stitch witchery (iron on adhesive tape) and went to work ironing the pieces of ribbon on.

If I were to go back in time and do this again, I'd also invest in a REALLY sharp straight edge, and something to measure a perfect 45 degree angle for the angled cuts for each corner, but live and learn. I found that my sewing scissors weren't quite as sharp as I would have liked, so it was more difficult to get a perfectly clean cut on a 45 degree angle. A few of the corners aren't perfect, but its not that noticeable.

Live and learn.

Anyway, I still need to go back with a paintbrush and a dab of glue to all the cut edges to seal them and ensure they don't fray, but the project only took me about 45 minutes to iron everything down, and get it on the bed.  It also cost me maybe $80 total for all three pillows and the ribbon - SO much less than any other option, where the pillows ran close to $50 each.

I'm really happy with how it all turned out (clearly), and our bedroom just feels so much more finished. Like I said - a small change, but it's one more thing to check off the list!

Happy Monday!

Fabulous Find: Fun, Funky Fabric (like the alliteration?)

There is a good thing going on at Lewis and Sheron Textiles with tons - and I mean TONS - of amazing interior fabrics to choose from.  They have a promotion right now for 20% off all fabrics when you use the code LSFABRICS FIRST.  I'm thinking that since I'm doing a little freshening up at our house, it could be a great chance to get a few designer patterns at a discount!

I'm loving the citron colors in these patterns:

Clockwise from top left: Secret Gate, Coral Splendor, Azzuro, Kalita

I'm also really loving this bird print, and dabbling with the idea of ordering a bit of it since it's just so pretty!  What I will do with it, I'm not sure yet, but I have a few ideas in mind...

This set of indigo prints are so pretty - this is one color that I love, but it doesn't exist anywhere in our house.  I'm thinking that this might be really soothing and pretty for the bedding in our bedroom.  The rest of the room is pretty much a neutral palate with light taupe walls, bright white trim, and creme colored silk curtains.  With white fluffy bedding, and an upholstered headboard with nail head trim... a few pillows in these prints could really wake things up.

Clockwise from top left: Cross Section, Casablanca Whtfla, Joy (very aptly named I might add... this linking print in a blue bell color just makes me happy), Bloom Stripe

Finally, I just LOVE this water colored floral print - it's pretty enough to frame!  I'd love to order it, but I don't really have a great spot for it at the moment... 

I've got Throw Pillows on the mind... Again

If you weren't sick of hearing my talk about throw pillows, then you definitely will be now!  Yep... we're back on the topic.  AGAIN!  I'll be brief, but I can't promise this will be the last time you see me agonize over them...

Quite awhile ago, Emily Clark posted photo's of her friend's living room, and after stumbling upon this post, I thought, hmm... that rug is pretty much the same as the rug we have in our living room... and yet... even with all those crazy colors and patterns on the pillows, it looks just right.

And, that's when it hit me... I've been going about it all wrong!  I've been looking at patterns that are too big and mirror the pattern in our rug.  I need to look for smaller, scaled back versions of that pattern, and invert the colors of our rug to avoid feeling like the pillows are competing.  Duh.  Why I had such a hard time with that, I have no idea.  What I do know, is that come this weekend, I'll be hunting down a small grey and white patterned fabric (similar to the two outermost pillows above) to compliment, our lovely trellis rug.



Also, not sure if you noticed, but she's also got the Chiang Mai Dragon Print throw pillows (in china blue).  I'm still holding out for Mocha, but they look pretty fabulous, no?  Perhaps that will be my Autumn splurge once October rolls around....

Ikat Print Pillows

Ok, back to the pillow discussion.  This has been pretty much consuming my thoughts, so I need to start making some decisions!

Unfortunately, my day job has nothing to do with design or decor, so I live vicariously through other bloggers who are invited to fabulous design previews.  Emily of A Well Dressed Home recently posted the below photo from the grand opening of the Bel Air Studio & Design in Dallas, and take a look at those pillows!!  They are SO close to a few I had been looking at last week - I think I should definitely get some, but which ones?!


Ikat Pillows at BelAir Studio & Design - via A Well Dressed Home


Kyoozi via Etsy

Home Living via Etsy


Olive and Garland via Etsy