An Array of Pillows? Yes? No?

So often throw pillows are thought of as a mix and match way of bringing color and pattern to a room, AND so often, that is exactly what the room needs.  Which is why most people have oodles of extra pillows floating around the house.  Easy to buy, easy to change out, and relatively inexpensive.  However, sometimes a room needs a different direction.  It needs the pillow as an accessory to have a more structured and planned presentation.

For example, take this room from Mia Malcolm, the pillows are displayed in a very structured format, and isn't it perfect?!

Mia Malcolm Design

Would an array of mumbo jumbo pillows work above?  Not as beautifully as the precisely placed gold and white rectangle pillows do.  I love this room.  It is classic yet cozy  -- why is that?  I mean, it is very minimalist and clean.  It's the curves.  Curves have a way of making a room inviting, and this room is a perfect example of that.  There are so many arced angles playing off of each other with the sofa, the cocktail table, the side table, the small glass balls in the table lamp, the soft curves of the glass vases, the round shag rug, and the round marbleized sculpture in the left corner.  Yet with all that, it doesn't feel overwhelmingly "rounded".  Mia did a fabulous job balancing the minimalist style of furnishings with soft, curved lines creating a beautifully, balanced environment.

You ask:  what if my furnishings are more slouchy or traditional and not quite so contemporary?  Use the same principle but make sure the pillows reflect the softness of your furniture.  In the living room below, I used the same concept with four large pillows, but their soft style transitions well to the softness of the sectional style.

Susan E. Brown/Lisa M. Bond Photography

If you like Mia's casual clean California style, check out more of her work by clicking here.

Now that you've got a whole new way to look at pillows and their placement, have fun accessorizing!!

Cheerio!  Susan

Grouping Photos and Artwork

Hi!  So often we all get in a rut with our daily list of endeavors, tasks, and responsibilities, that when it comes time to creativity, we forget to "think outside the box".  Interior design and decorating is no stranger to this habit, particularly in the realm of accessorizing.  I came across this grid on Pinterest and thought it would be a helpful bit of information for everyone.  Let the new and improved groupings begin!

~~~ Susan ~~~

The Sticky Subject of Details

Hola!  Just picked my daughter up from Spanish camp, so I am feeling the whole Espanol vibe!  I am sharing with you a "before and after" project I did in 2004.  I think it is such an incredible example of why "the finishing details" in a room are so important.  We added mainly wall treatments and a few accessories in this project (a couple rooms went beyond that).  The results are amazing!  This home was an absolute stunner even before my changes!  It was a newer home truly built to look like an older home (most of you designers probably know why that is italicized :).  The homeowner had exceptional taste and had selected beautifully upholstered as well as gorgeous casegood pieces.  My initial reaction was "You need me how?".  But once I started looking beyond the beautiful architecture, gorgeous furniture and artwork, I realized the problem that had been bothering her for some time.  She needed the space to feel finished.  Here I come to the rescue!  Below are some of the before photos:

Before

 Sitting Area off Kitchen

Dining Room

 Living Room

Living Room

Living Room sofa

 Powder Room

Powder Room

Master Bedroom sitting area

 Master Bedroom sitting area sofa

After

Sitting Area off Kitchen -- we painted the walls yellow and added a red/gold valance

Dining Room--we painted this nook red and added corner curtains.  The majority of the drape is gold with a top red border, opposite proportions of the valance in the Kitchen.  Typically, I am not a fan of stationary drapes where the rod does not continue the length of the window.  However, in this application, a full rod above all three window walls would have created a very busy feeling particularly with the iron on the chandelier and the size of the space.  We needed something to soften the large expanse of windows which looks out onto wetlands and a pond.  No privacy was needed.

Dining Room going into Living Room--starting with the yellow paint color for the Living Room.  The gorgeous blue draperies were existing.

 Living Room -- in this room we continued the yellow paint around the room and added a Phillip Jeffries blue silk wallpaper on the ceiling in between the moulding.  I also added the blue silk wallpaper in the window seat areas.  At this picture taking time, we still needed to change out the two silver framed art prints on the right to something much more dramatic.

 Living Room window seat nook

 Close up of blue silk wallpaper on ceiling -- What a doozy that was for my installer!

 

Living Room -- on the sofa, I had 3 rectangular pillows made out of a fabulous Pollack Florabundance velvet embroidered and appliqued fabric.  The three identical pillows helps to ground the sofa space.  Our array of unique pillows was kept to the window seat area.

Close up of the sofa accent pillow

 Powder Room -- in the powder room, we wallpapered the walls with a Schumacher dusty rose/taupe, small leopard print which unfortunately is impossible to detect in this pic.

Powder Room -- my client changed out the wall shelf to a small wood/rattan chest.  Excellent choice I must say!

 

 Powder Room

 Master Bedroom sitting area -- we changed the built in bookcases from across to beside the chairs.  Added more Phillip Jeffries wallcovering, but in a rice paper texture/light carmel hue.  I also added Pollack fabric accent pillows to the chairs.

Seriously, Pollack and Phillip Jeffries are two of my favorite manufacturers to use!  Love their stuff!

Close up of Master Bedroom sitting area

 

Master Bedroom sitting area sofa -- we reupholstered the very floral sofa with a, yes you guessed it!, Pollack Body Wave fabric, brush trimmed the large pillows, and added a Pollack fabric accent pillow.

 Closeup of Master Bedroom sitting area chair pillow

 The majority of changes in this home had to do with the walls and a few accent pillows.  Yes, we did add some drapery, and reupholstered a sofa, etc.  But if just the walls and pillows were added, the changes would still have been enormous!  Hope this gives you inspiration for embracing the changes you want to make in your home!  Details are crucial, and the glue that holds it, and brings it all together!

I love to hear from you! ~~ Susan