Pillow Talk

This has nothing to do with  Marilyn Monroe.

This is about more ideas from last week’s column ” 

Pillows have to be the easiest, most inexpensive way to change the entire look of a room with very little effort, especially if you have neutral colored bedding or furnishings.  And pillows can be a starting point to inspire you to go just a step further with a little bit of paint or art.

For example, imagine a living room that is rather bland, like a typical spec house’s off white walls, light beige carpet, and white woodwork.  Say you’ve added to that an easy-to-work-with oatmeal colored chenille sofa.  Your coffee and end tables are wood.  Your art consists of photos of your wedding day, photos of your kids and perhaps their paintings taped to the front of the fridge.

In a word….BORING!  Get some pillows people!  Get some color in your world!

Here are a few ideas of where to go from there:

All of Oconee County is now a gorgeous shade of spring green, so let’s play off that color scheme.   Stop by Walmart or Bed, Bath, and Beyond and buy yourself a couple of pretty green throw pillows.  Soft and cushy on either corner of your sofa, they will instantly add a feeling of luxury and zap your room with some pizaz.

Now you can see what a little color can do for your room and you want more, more, MORE!  But alas, your decorating budget for art or accessories is tight.   Hit your and invest in a roll of painters tape, a do-it-yourself painting tools kit (which will include a roller, roller pan, roller nap, and a paint brush for about $12), and a single quart of paint.  You can match up the same green as your pillows, or a shade thereof, or a complimentary color, for example, a soft beachy blue.  

With a little measuring and taping off of squares on your wall behind the sofa, you can add color blocks to feature your family photos and in a few hours change the entire look of your room.

Maybe you have a basket or a drawer filled with your grandmother’s vintage fabric scraps, or you’ve outgrown a favorite floral skirt you loved in your twenties, or you are never going to finish that quilt you started several years ago, but you have several squares done. 

With a quick trip to a local fabrics store, and spending less than $50, you can come home with a spool of thread and a bag of stuffing and stitch up your own pillow!  It’s “sew” easy!  Even if you don’t own a sewing machine, a simple stitch by hand around the perimeter of a couple of fabric squares is rewarding busy work while you watch TV at night.

Okay, now lets talk pillows in the bedroom. 

Maybe you’ve grown tired of your patterned comforter set and matching shams.  You’re tired of putting all that stuff on the bed every time you make it up.   Warmer weather means you don’t even need that comforter now so zip it --and it’s matching shams-- into a storage bag,  use a pretty soft blanket instead, fold Granny’s quilt across the bottom of the bed, and throw a few accent pillows in front of your stacked sleeping pillows for a punch of color, and viola!  Your room has a fresh spring look using items you already had, or made yourself.  And the key to making it all work;  pretty pillows.

Soon the kids will be out of school and after the first week of freedom, they’ll be bored.  Hand them a couple of inexpensive yards of muslin, help them mark off 20” squares, then turn them loose with markers and fabric paints and see what they come up with.  Some of the older kids can probably do the sewing part, too.

Many of you are going to turn up your nose at the mere mention of sewing.  I just know it.  So bribe your Mom or your creative neighbor to stitch the pillows up for you in exchange for something you can do for her.  Pull weeds or bake some muffins...bartering works! 

When you see your room transformed by 18” of pillow prettiness, you’ll be glad you made the effort.

So there is another fun and creative challenge for you:  Try two.  Two pillows.  See where it leads you.

Have fun!