New Pillows!

It really is the little things that make a differnence, isn't it. I've been meaning to get new throw pillows for a while and earlier this week, I finally got around to it when T.J. Maxx happened be right next door the the restaurant Craig took us to for Mother's Day. And T.J. Maxx is the place to go for pillows.

First up is the bedroom. I scored this guy on sale for $13.00.!

I know, I can hear you all now "It's so you, MacKenzie, you love polyester so much and that pattern just contains all the bright colors and geometric patterns you are so fond of." Okay, not so much. But I know the secret to good pillow and that's feathers. A feather pillow is a plump and squishy ball of wonderfulness. Once you're used to it, a fiber pillow is worthless. Try it but beware, you'll never go back. Unless you're allergic to feathers and then well, I'm sorry, that stinks. So to repeat:

In this case I already had the fabric picked out (it had actually been sitting on my dresser since I made those curtains - both fabrics are Amy Butler) so I found the cheapest one that was the shape I wanted. And boy was it ugly. So ugly I wanted to tell the cashier that I was only buying it for the insides, I had better taste than that but I didn't because that seemed weird.

 But 10 seconds later I had zipped off that cover and trashed it. And 15 minutes later, my bed looked like this

 except darker and sans horse because I did this 9pm when the kids (and horsey) were safely tucked in bed but took the pictures this morning when they were awake.

I also picked up pillows for our couch. I had two pillows on it originally that had come as hand me downs with the couch. They were nice pottery barn covers and they actually matched the room fairly well but I happen to know that they were one of Kip's (you know, that dog) favorite spots to rest. He would jump up on the couch then sit on them and wiggle his butt on them until he was comfortable, then spin around and rest his head on them. I had washed them several times but the memories lingered and nothing inspires me to relax like lying down on a butt pillow. They had to go.

I took one form to use for the dark blue pillow above and was thinking I would just find another one the same size and make new covers for the couch but I found really cute ones, down filled of course, so I didn't even have to bother.

 The teal and tan pillows are from T.J. Maxx and the other is original left over. I was determined to use it so I rummaged around in my fabric bin and found a burlap sack from my brother's wedding. It happened to be just the width of the pillow so I stuck in in there and tucked the extra flap inside. No sewing necessary! I've seen a lot of people use a sharpie to embellish their burlap pillow but I would only be allowed to do that if I could come up with something Craig would approve of. Nothing cute or sentimental like "Live Laugh Love" or "L Established 2007" would pass muster.

The couch ended up matching the red in our rug pretty well and I'm glad to be rid of the $50 saggy striped monstrosity we had been living with but the red leather is a bit dark. I think the pillows help cover that up a bit, more so in real life than in the picture.

Of course, seeing this picture reminds me that the new couch is also quite a bit longer than the old one so I really need to add something to the wall. Luckily, I just read through handmade walls and have found the perfect project to go on either side of the shelves. Just don't tell Craig it requires a saw. He's still working on another project for me and I might have a mutiny on my hands if that gets out ;-)

All together the three pillows and fabric cost just over $50 which I think is pretty good for 5 non-butt feather pillows.