Summer pillows

Another small accomplishment! We have a neutral cream-coloured couch from IKEA - in the Karlanda style. It has three seats and an add-on at the end so it makes an "L" shape. And until recently it was covered with a real mish-mash of cushions.

I had made a set of four cushions at my old apartment with coordinating fabrics. Two of them had fabric with bamboo, palm trees and monkeys on it, and the other two were striped ones in the same green and yellow and red colours. I think it was a pretty charming set. Then later on I made two red cushions with lots of flowers and leaves in red, golden yellow and olive green colours. These had olive green cord trim. Then recently I made a simplified log cabin pillow that didn't go with anything. So altogether we had seven pillows on the couch. Also, not to be gross but I hadn't made the earlier pillows with removable covers so they hadn't actually had a wash in some time. Now I know how to make the pillow covers with the overlapping gap in the back so you can take them off and wash them easily.

Needless to say this was starting to look messy. Plus when you actually want to sit on the couch you have to move a few pillows around to get settled. Then recently I was browsing through some of my favourite decorating magazines - Canadian House & Home, and Style at Home - and I came across a photo that inspired me. It had a bed covered in neutral linens, I think they were brown and cream or perhaps tan and grey. And at the top were two pillows covered with floral fabric. And I thought it was such a great combination. Florals can be quite busy, but the cushions in the magazine looked so beautiful paired with the neutral linens and the overall look was quite pared down and serene.

I can't remember which issue I saw the picture in now, but I was happy with my own version. I made two plain white cotton cushions, then added the removable covers in the floral fabric. I had found a floral fabric I liked at Fabricland. I used to think (until yesterday I guess) that this kind of fabric was called chintz - but I looked it up and apparently chintz is a coated fabric that has a sheen. This fabric is a linen cotton blend without any sheen. In an effort to do things properly I prewashed the fabric and threw it in the dryer so it could be washed easily later on. I even ironed it. And I sewed the cover with French seams so the fabric won't fray.

And so now we have just two pillows on our couch, and it's quite refreshing. Perfect for summer when it's hot and you don't want any clutter lying around. Ahhh!