Cushions are like jewelry to a well-dressed lady: the right amount goes a long way, and the quickest way to spice your decor.
I don’t like over-pillowfied spaces, instead of projecting comfort it actually becomes uncomfortable. Is there anything worse than sitting upright in a sofa with too many cushions? And if you are a guest at someone’s home you won’t dare move them around. If it’s the bed then the cushions have to be shifted around come bed time.
What’s the fun in that?
In our home we have a rule: if  it’s uncomfortable, or too much work it has to go. so I have to make the cushions we do have stand out. And with my usual combination of craftiness and frugality it won’t be a surprise to most people that we have only bought one cushion in our whole home.
Take these two cushions in our living room, for example. They are made out of a scrap of very thick linen that I had kept. I machine-embroidered several fern leaves on each. The raised stitch really stands out on the light-colored fabric. The pillows are rather small and soft so people can sit on the chairs without having to move them.
On the sofa two more cushions I made. The one on front is linen with eight large shells I machine-embroidered. It’s one of my favorites. In the back a simple cover with striped fabric.
In the terrace, on the sectional, a pillow made with the same fabric I used to make a cushion that turned a table into a large ottoman.
In the other corner two cushions made from weatherproof fabric and a scrap of the Sunbrella fabric shown in the photo above. The green and white one is the only one I have bought. I got it on sale at a local shop.
On the sectional in our family room my newest favorite, Â a pillow made from scrap fabric leftover from re-doing the bookcase next to the sectional.
In the entry, the bench got a cushion and three pillows. The smaller one is linen with brown linen piping and hand-embroidered sealife made of wooden beads.
In Nadia’s bedroom two small pillows made out colorful blue and red fabric. She actually uses them to sleep.
So, what’s your style? A cloud of fluffy pillows, or just enough?
Aunt Clara
I love all your cushions Clara (as you probably know by now!)I have made almost all of ours too incidentally.. and yes – they are all functional as well as decorative, I'm with you on that.
While I am writing this all the colour drains from my face because I suddenly realize that most of our friends do not have pillows on their sofas …. (gulp… is that normal??).I like when the aestetics is preserved and the sofas don't look suffocating and the sitter feels comfortable. So I guess I second Chiri by confirming that less is always and unmistakenly more…
It's true – how many times have we been to houses with perfectly good sofas that are overloaded with cushions that leave the sitter with less than two inches of butt-space. As ever, less is more.
As long as the cushions make for a comfortable & attractive seat, that's what I like!!!