Pillow Talk

I've been really excited to write this post since the minute I thought of the title. Have you seen movie, Pillow Talk, with Rock Hundson and Doris Day? Doris's character, Jan Morrow, is also an interior designer. How fitting, right?

I'm a big fan of old movies. If you are as well, you"ll love it.

Accent pillows, are one of my favorite ways to accessorize almost any space in a house. They just add life and feeling, "you are home".

The are a fun way to welcome different seasons, to bring color, mood and style into your home. Changing accent pillows is the easiest and most cost-efficient way to refresh a room.

But not all pillows are the same. There is a little trick to make them pretty so that your room looks more "designer" than "frumpy".

Fabric

Make sure that your pillow fabric is designed for upholstery-grade. It will hold up better and last longer. Most fabric stores have upholstery fabrics, although they may not always have good selection.

On line stores like Etsy have tons of accounts that sell beautiful fabrics as well as ready-made pillow covers.

Of course, if you are local to UT, then you must check out my gal Katie at The Sewing Nerd. She creates beautiful pillows.

Isn't she a doll?!

(She will probably tell you, that I am her favorite client, because, I do buy LOTS of pillows from her. Right, Katie ?!

Inserts

OH. MY. GOSH....Do NOT skip this part! Using the right pillow insert is like having strong, fit body.

(Hope, I'm not offending anyone here)

Even with a beautiful fabric, if you have a cotton-poly pillow insert or the wrong size insert, the pillow will still look frumpy!

So, when choosing a pillow insert, choose a size bigger then the pillow case. For a traditional-size sofa 20x20-inch pillows usually look best. If your sofa is deep go for 22x22-inch pillows. Then choose inserts a size bigger than pillow cases. So, 22x22-inserts for 20x20-inch pillow cases, etc. Your pillows will look much fuller and have better stability.

Next, buy only down/feather inserts. This is crucial for that "designer touch" look. Down pillows are not only comfy to take a nap, they are also very forgiving of wear and tear. Just fluff them, and they will be back looking like brand new. In contrast, synthetic pillow inserts look like sad, flat pancakes over time.

Also, I personally have never had this problem, but some inserts will require an insert protector, so your feathers don't try to escape.

Ikea has very affordable feather inserts. They work well, despite the low price tug.

Now that we've talked about the bones of this darling things, let's go over how to set them pretty.

Technique

Look at this two pictures....which one is more pleasing to look at?

The second one, right?

Im going to teach you a quick trick for how to get the second look. But remember, this trick won't work if your insert isn't down-filled.

Ok, for those who aren’t familiar with the term “pillow chopping,” it's a way to shape pillows. You chop a pillow by fluffing a feather- or down-filled pillow and using a karate chop motion to create an indentation in the top.

Here are the steps:

1. Fluff it.

2. Find a zipper or bottom seam of the pillow case and use it as the "tush" of the pillow.

3. Set the pillow upright on its tush.

4. Pretend you are marshal art pro--now karate chop that baby!

Hope this was of help to you. Please let me know what else you would like to see on the blog, and I'll get my busy self to it!

XO, Anya