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Selecting the Right Throw Pillows

September 2, 2015 Callie Cagney
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My initial vision for my living room back in our first apartment, involved a color palette of navy blue, white, gray, beige, gold and orange…yes ORANGE.  I was attempting to be daring by using pops of orange for my bit of fun color.  While it did seem to work OK in my first living room, the orange did not translate to my new living room at all (note…orange is an extremely difficult color to decorate with).  

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Realizing that orange wasn't going to work, I knew that I needed to replace the throw pillows.  This was news that my husband was less than thrilled about because if you have ever purchased throw pillows from a store other than Target or Home Goods equivalent, you know that they are quite the investment.  Regardless, it had to be done, so I immediately got to work researching fabrics and perusing both stores and catalogues for pillow inspiration.  Below is a breakdown of how I went about selecting the various throw pillows for my new living room.  While picking pillows for a space is certainly challenging, tackling the project in the following order made much easier.    

Main Attraction

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While perusing an interior design store in North Carolina last summer, I came across a fabric that I was OBSESSED with.  It was the Schumacher Chiang Mai in Aquamarine, gorgeous, bold, great colors and very expensive.  I had to pass on purchasing the pillows from that store, but never forgot that fabric.  It wasn't until April that I started getting into Etsy (if you haven't checked out this site, it's a must!).  I searched for Schumacher Chaing Mai throw pillows and voila!  There were a number of vendors who made the throw pillows I had been wanting, for a fraction of the price I had been quoted in retail stores.  Sold and sold!  

**Just as a side note, most Etsy pillows are made to order, meaning you cannot return them, so I would suggest purchasing a swatch of the fabric first or taking time to think it over because pillows are an investment and you want to make sure you are buying something that you absolutely LOVE. 

Solid Color Accent Pillows

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Originally I had purchased a pair of navy blue studded velvet pillows from West Elm to frame my orange patterned throw pillows on the couch in my old apartment.  While they were fine at the time, the size was always a little off and with the purchase of the Schumacher Chiang Mai pillows, it became obvious that they were just too small.  Fortunately I was able to successfully re-home these pillows in our master bedroom and finally give our bed a chic, updated and finished look.

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For the new living room solid color framing pillows, I knew that I wanted to tie in the texture of our new living room chairs (vintage velvet).  At the same time I wanted to avoid going with the chair color (mocha), because it would have created a sea of brown in our living room (way too matchy matchy for me).  I purchased a variety of color swatches from Restoration Hardware to see which color would look best and to my surprise it ended up being the Slate Blue (aka- a fancy name for Teal).  The Restoration Hardware Slate Blue Vintage Velvet pillows tie in beautifully with the teal in the Schumacher pattern and the texture of the chairs.  

**Tip- When purchasing pillow inserts for square throw pillows, buy inserts that are a size larger than the pillow cover to achieve a fuller/more voluptuous aesthetic.  

Lumbar Accent Pillows

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My discovery of Etsy for designer fabric throw pillows didn't stop with my Schumachers. To complete the living room pillow collection, I needed to find a pair of lumbar pillows for my accent chairs.   I wanted to find a fun print, but more monotone since my main attraction pillows were so bold and multicolored.  I ended up finding the most perfect fabric option, Kelly Wearstler Bengal Bazaar Ikat Print pillows in both Indigo and Teal, from one of my favorite Etsy Vendors, Little Design Co.  Betsy Little is the owner of this shop and I absolutely adore her and her taste!  Her style is fun, fresh and very chic, and the craftsmanship in her pillows is top-notch (all qualities important qualities when looking for a great pillow vendor).

 Naturally, even with samples of both the indigo and teal, I couldn't decide on which color to use in my living room.  I ended up getting a pair of both the teal and the indigo because I realized that both colors would work well in either the living room and/or the bedroom (and fortunately both rooms were in need of lumbar pillows).  Once the pillows arrived, I engaged in an exhaustive game of musical pillows and finally landed on having the teal lumbar pillows in the living room and the indigo pillows in the bedroom. 

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I am over-the-moon ecstatic with the way both spaces have come together and even happier to finally be done with my throw pillow search…well at least for the time being!  

In Decorate Tags Little Design Co., Etsy, Schumacher Chiang Mai, Kelly Wearstler, Restoration Hardware
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