design in wood: Pillows - Which Design is Right for You?

Pillows are a wonderful accessory for fine tuning a style in a room and adding comfort and luxury. Neutral upholstery and bedding can be punched up with color and pattern with pillows. They only take a yard or so of fabric and can easily be changed out when styles change or you tire of the look.

The pillows above in my Showhouse bedroom on the ivory bedding make a graphic, colorful statement in the space. I chose a simple knife edge design to keep the focus on the patterns and variation of size and color, rather than the detail of the pillow construction.

Large scale graphic patterns provide a big visual impact and are very popular now. These large designs look great with minimal fuss or trimming. Pillows below are from Ryan Studio.

Solid colors look great with special details. Trim, edging, special added details like buttons all work well with solid color pillows.

I love applied tape trim on pillows.

The tape trim here gives a dimensional quality and pattern to this pillow.

Sometimes a pillow just needs a contrasting edge to make it stand out on the background. I love this flat pipe. The smaller and neater the better.

Tape trim and a flat pipe....nice statement pillow.

I love mini-flanges too. Trim and neat, this mini-flange uses some pleats at the corners to dress it up a bit.

More applied tape trim with a small piping to bring some contrast and interest. Carol at Sofas and Sage has a great tutorial on how to mitre tape trim on pillows.

Monograms are a classic touch, especially in a bedroom.

I'm definitely going bigger with pillows now, 22" square minimum, 24" and 26" sometimes. I always do down unless someone is allergic. They just sit so well on upholstery. I love custom sized pillows too. This large rectangular pillow above was 24" x 46". By contrast, the small velvet pillow is 9" x 14".

If you have pillows like these below, tapestries with tassles, it's time to update. Don't worry, things all come back around so don't toss them out. Just delete a few and throw in some simple textural linen pillows for a cleaner, 2011 look. (BTW, these two are not from Ryan Studio.)

These above are a little heavy and ornate for how we are decorating today.

I love these custom patterned linen pillows that Donna Jarnigan used in our Showouse on the sofa in the game room. The long linear shape accentuates the high back of the sofa and provides just the right amount of contrast.

These raw silk pillows on the guest room bed, done by Pamela Hoffer, benefit from some detail with the edging and buttons. Love these.

Lastly, I sometimes like statement pillows. That one unique pillow that really stands out, a little piece of art. Sukan Handmade Design pillows on Etsy has some beautiful handmade pillows that would be perfect on a bed or upholstered chair.