Pillow of the Week

Though St. Patrick's day was the inspiration for this pillow, it can stick around long after the kilts are put away.  I love the vibrant greens against the clean ivory background; it adds a great pop of color to this sofa.  And, that large modern floral print is so fun.

Pair this pillow with the textured green pillow in Betwixt fabric and you have an instant room make over.  

This pillow is made with Celerie Kemble's Hothouse Flower fabric in verdance. If you want to see more pillows in these gorgeous fabrics, check out my Etsy shop, ThePillowStudio

How to Add Color And Keep the Peace

This neutral room was welcoming and peaceful but the Client was ready to add some color and interest; we just needed to be sure to do so without losing that serene feeling.  

The key to doing this successfully is to choose one color and then repeat it in varying hues and textures. We chose the blue ikat fabric from Kravet as the jumping off point and then we pulled in other blues, greys and browns to balance it and add interest.

We started by repeating the indigo color we found in the ikat  with Celerie Kemble's textural Betwixt fabric on the ottoman and on a few pillows. And, to keep the room from feeling too dark and heavy, we added lighter blue with pillows in Thom Filicia's Poppyfield and Citysquare fabrics.  

We added enough pillows to the large window seat for it to feel inviting but not so many that they get in the way and the asymmetrical pillow placement makes it more interesting and ensures everyone still has room to relax. 

The small details always matter. These pillows were both piped in the latte-colored fabric to pull in the fabric color on the window seat cushion and the sofa.  

This was the perfect fabric to use as our inspiration because it has a strong pattern in subdued colors; it allows for a bit of fun without overpowering the room. 

The light blue pillows with giant poppy flowers were also added to these ultra-comfy chairs in the front of the room to help the entire room feel cohesive and inviting. 

These pillows were piped with the same fabric as those on the window seat-- a little trick to make sure everything coordinates without matching too much.

This was such a fun project;  I think the room is now filled with color yet ready for relaxation too. What do you think?

If you want to learn more about these pillows or other pillows at The Pillow Studio, visit my Etsy shop.

Enjoy.

Suzi 

Design Dilemma Solved

A friend of mine often rents her home out for commercial shoots. On the most recent occasion they had to repaint her great room and hang new window treatments. The new grey and blue color pallet was gorgeous (and they were going to leave it all for her) but she had a large tan a red sofa in the center of that room. So, we needed to figure out a way to make the warm-colored sofa go with the cool-colored walls and windows. 

It took just a few pillows to pull it all together. We added a few pillows made from a gorgeous, textural grey mohair fabric. It balanced the luxurious feeling of the silk panels with the durable feeling of the cotton sofa. And, adding grey on the sofa pulled in the grey of the window treatments. We also added a  flax-colored linen pillow with grey piping. The linen pillow keeps the sofa feeling relaxed while the colors bring in the tan of the sofa and the grey of the window treatments and mohair pillows.

Just a few pillows helped pull it all together. I love that!

If you want to learn more about the mohair pillows, click here.
Or, to see other pillow designs, just visit my online store on Etsy.

Enjoy!
-Suzi

The Montclair House Tour

As I am taking my holiday decorations down I find that I keep thinking about last month's Holiday House Tour. It was so much fun to be part of this amazing event and it is always so interesting to see how others have decorated their homes. I definitely had a few new ideas... like adding a simple burlap bow on a pillow to make it look a bit more festive. 

Here are a few pictures of the rooms where pillows from The Pillow Studio were featured. I love how they look on those gorgeous chairs! 

We decided to match the color of the chairs with the larger pillow so we could add a bit of color and pattern with the lumbar pillows. I love how these pillows work together.

The black piping on this lumbar pillow makes it look so custom and the burlap bow is such an easy way to make your home feel a bit more festive. (How cute would a red bow look for Valentine's Day?)

The blue textured pillows are made with Betwixt fabric from F Schumacher. They are perfect for this space-- they have an interesting, woven design yet they are subtle enough to remain as the backdrop.

It was so fun to go through all of my fabric samples with everyone who came through! I really could do this all day long. (Wait, I kind of do...)

Just a touch of navy blue piping is such a great way to make this tone-on-tone pillow draw out the other colors in the room. I love that little decorating trick- I use it all the time!

I had such a great time being part of Montclair's Holiday Home Tours- did you go on any great house tours lately? How did they inspire you?

Too see more about my pillows or to learn how to customize your own pillow, check out www.ThePillowStudioSHOP.etsy.com
Enjoy!

Pillows Make the Bed...

We wanted to add some interest to this neutral bedroom- so we just added a few pillows. I love how it turned out-- it is peaceful and fun at the same time. 

Even though there are more than five different fabrics used here, they all work together because none of them compete. The key is balance- we included a mix of large & small patterns, darker and light blues, tighter designs with airy ones and, of course, a fun solid too. Easy, right?

In the adjacent sunroom, we picked up the blue from the bedroom by using the same bold, geometric pillow on the sofa. Then, we added that fun orange bird pillow too- just to mix it up a bit. 

Adding a contrasting color lets this sunroom feel connected to the bedroom yet it still feels like its own, separate room.

To see this pillow (and lots of others) check out The Pillow Studio on Etsy. 
Enjoy!

Pillow Pick of the Week

This Monaco Blue pillow with a silver fretwork is simple yet bold and the coordinating silver piping is the perfect finishing touch. 

It compliments the graphic pattern of this Asian-ispired pillow and adds some color to the neutral sofa.  

And, did you hear that Monaco Blue is predicted to be a key color in home design this spring? Just add a few of these pillows and your room is up to date and ready for the New Year!

To see this pillow (and lots of others) check out The Pillow Studio on Etsy. 
Enjoy!

Its so Easy (that I Forget)...

Pillows are such an easy thing to change that it is easy to forget what a huge difference they can make. 

Before

After          

I updated my foyer this fall with a few pillows (and a chair!).  Okay, okay, so I painted the fireplace too... but I do think the pillows had the most impact.  They incorporate the orange, grey and green on the fireplace- I love when I finally find the prefect fabric that completely pulls the room together.

My faithful, old bench has been by the front door for years and it is perfectly functional but it was only recently that I decided to add a pillow. I can't believe it took me this long-- I love it!  It actually makes me want to sit on the bench and relax. I think I need to take a look around to see where else I could do the same...