Slipcovered Pillows

Sometimes I just need a bit of a change.  I've always liked the throw pillows that came with my sofa.  They were sort of an added bonus when I got the second-hand barge napping-spot sofa several years ago.  I searched high and low for a new one for the new house I was moving into.  I would go into furniture stores, thrift stores, and second-hand furniture stores and plop down on sofas and stretch out on them to see how they fit me.  I'm sure the sales personnel were smiling behind my back but I knew what I wanted. 

I had the space and placement mapped out in my mind and just knew it was going to be elegant and beautiful.  Then, my son, Bryan, and my dad picked it up and hauled it into my new den and it was much longer than I had anticipated and wouldn't fit where I had thought I'd put it.  I still loved the shape and style and the big old roominess of it, though, and I still do.  I had thought to put it just in front of but in the space between the column and the wall at its right.

Since it didn't work out there, I simply placed it along the longest wall in the room. 

It looks like almost everybody in the family thought it was a pretty good choice that first night, huh?  Of course, if you wanted to sit - that was the only place to sit in the den at the time!  Those of you who know me, know well that didn't last for long, though.  If you look back up at the previous photo, you can see how I filled up the room.

Mama, Bridgette, and Bryan testing out the new couch.

 

Then, when I moved to here to Mike's house with a much larger den, I thought I had the perfect spot for it at last.  Again, I wanted to put it jutting out from the wall toward the fireplace just as one entered the front door to create sort of a foyer area there. 

Again, it turned out to be much too large for that area and left no walking space to get into the rest of the room.  So, I compromised and angled it to make it work. 

Recently, I decided it was time for a little change - just to spice things up a wee bit.  So, after seeing a tutorial on Pinterest (and please forgive me but I cannot find the source right now), I decided to make some pillow covers.  Here is how my throw pillows looked in the before shot:

Notice the two-tone floral ones...this is the after shot:

The fabric is some that I have had for about twenty years or so - no joke!  Mom and I made some cushions for my porch rocker out of this fabric years and years and two houses ago.  This was a scrap left from that.  (There is still a bit left for another project, too!)  Here is a closer look at one of the pillows while I was testing it in one of the chairs in the den:

 (See my 'new' lamp? You can read about it HERE. You can also see a Frame Makeover HERE.)

 

I like how it continues to draw in my reds and blues scattered throughout this room.  For one of the pillows, I did a little detail on the back that I had noticed in another Pinterest pin.  I added ribbon loops and wooden buttons to hold it closed.

I like the look and may make this a feature on some other pillow covers yawning in the future...

I shopped for pillow forms at some of my favorite sewing and craft stores and found the least expensive ones listed for about eight dollars.  Then, I had the brainstorm of looking at discount stores and Goodwill for pillows that are a nice size and shape and making pillow covers to fit those.  Is that a genius idea or what?

For now, I'm just glad to have a little change and a project completed!