Have you ever walked into some one's home and thought, "Jeez, they have way too many fabulous throw pillows?" No? Me neither!!!!!
I have to put my hand to God and admit that I'm obsessed. My home is filled with at least 100 pillows at any given time. We live in a modest bungalow, so you can imagine how lounge-y our home has become. Isn't that the goal, though? To create a vibrant, comfortable environment? A place that we can't wait to get to at the end of the day? Stuffy has never been my aesthetic or goal.
This is not to say that I don't enjoy a very well put together minimalist environment. But if it's not comfortable, I truly feel the designer has failed. Frank Lloyd Wright was the master of minimalist comfort. When visiting Falling Water in Pennsylvania several years ago, I just wanted to sit back and take a nap surrounded by the landscape. Take a look:
Look at all of those pillows! I believe if Frank were alive today, he'd be sitting there binging on Netflix. That man, albeit cray cray, knew the human condition. He knew that above all things a home should be comfortable. He knew the power of the pillow.
Phew. You still with me? Good. Let's get started. I want to share with you my secret to a home full of beautiful pillows for an itty bitty fraction of what it normally costs. This secret doesn't involve sewing(thank God) and it doesn't involve some crazy website from China that takes a month to deliver.
Since day one I have shopped at thrift stores for everything...except underpants. Our home is clad in thrift store wares. This is not limited to our pillows. But, it's not what you think. I don't just scour the thrift stores for perfect pillows and call it a day. No way. Most of them are too worn or dirty. No thanks (although, it's hard for me to pass up a vintage handmade gem).
What I do, instead, is look for the inserts. And not just any inserts, but the down feather inserts. I don't much care for poly-fill pillows and try to avoid them (again, there are exceptions). They usually fall flat after a year and there's no repair. Down pillows, on the other hand, can last you forever. Plus, when it falls flat, you get to beat the crap out of it. Poof. Good as new.
Finding the down-filled pillows (in a pillow haystack) is very easy. I have perfected a massage technique that tells me whether it is down or poly-filled. It is a quick process and I can usually cover the entire pillow section in about 30 seconds. This strange act comes with great cost benefits. I have paid as little as $.50 for a pillow and up to $3. But most of the time I find them at Goodwill and they cost $1.50. Supes cheap.
Down feather throw pillows are almost always sold with a removable cover. This is handy for many reasons, including (but not limited to) cleaning. With three dogs and a five year old I need something that can be washed. My guess is that you do, too.
Also, the covers can be changed! You can change them with the seasons. You can change your covers for a party. You can even change your pillows to match your mood. Isn't that fabulous? You can change the whole look of a room with just changing the covers on your throw pillows.
So, thrift store down feather-filled inserts. Check.
The next step is to find your covers. I have researched heavily and the place with the best/cheapest covers is Hobby Lobby. Their covers usually go on a 50% off sale once a month. The original prices range from $3.99-14.99. That means that you can get a pillow cover for just two buckeroonies!!!!
Check out their selection here.
So, let's review. Go to your local Goodwill and massage all of the pillows until you find a down-filled one (you'll get funny looks when you get really quick at this). You pay $1.50 for that and head to Hobby Lobby where you find yourself a fabulous cover for $3. Done. Now you have a brand new pillow for $4.50. Let's compare this to the typical $25-50 you could spend per pillow and raise a glass to the companies that will no longer be making money off of your comfort-seeking desires.
Isn't that exciting?! Ok. Now stop drinking, we have more to cover.
After I replace my covers I throw the old ones in a tote and revisit them the next time. If you get bored with your decor often, this is a handy way to face lift on a budget. It might take a minute to build up a pillow inventory. But once you do, you'll be so happy with the ease and cost-effectiveness of the process.
Below are some pics of the pillows around our place. No "before" pics because, much like a goldfish, I think in 5 second bursts. Now go make your home a palace!!!
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| The four square pillows were covered in Hobby Lobby's selection. The one in the middle is a knit number I couldn't pass up at Goodwill. |
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| Here are two vintage pillows picked up somewhere for very little money. |
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| The chevron pillow is the one and only pillow I've ever paid full price for. I justified the purchase because it was made in the USA. I think I found it at TJ Maxx. The other is a H.L. cover. |
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| Here is our attic sofa!!! The colorful one is a thrift store find that I loved. The owl came from Earthbound Trading Company(deep clearance, of course). The circles are H.L. And the stripe is my one and only attempt at showing you my sewing skills. |
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