Darling Details! Pretty pillows are the perfect accent to enhance any room. (I am wearing the “Holden Dress” from Jude Connally, which transitions brilliantly and easily from summer into fall with a pink and pumpkin orange design! I adore the little ruffle on the sleeves, don’t you?)
It is that time of year when children are going back to school and summer is slowly slipping away, so now is a clever time to think about ”zhuzhing” your house for the holidays if you are planning on creating any bespoke decorative elements because workrooms and designers are now filling their calendars for Thanksgiving and Christmas deadlines. Sometimes, adding a few diminutive accessories like pretty pillows to a room can make it feel layered in a quietly sophisticated way… adding to its inviting ambiance.
Here are a few darling details for creating well-appointed decorative pillows that will enhance ANY chair or sofa:
Take a needlepoint eyeglass case and have it featured on a pillow. A talented seamstress can insert it into a complementary silk (or any type of fabric) to create something sweet that tells a story.
Mummy’s needlepoint eyeglass case is now encased in this pretty Scalamandré silk striped fabric and serves to grace a chair in our living room. It is a subtle reminder to me every time I see it of how grateful I am to her for her sense of design and style. A neutrally colored 1” brushed fringe was added to the outside edges.
Add a piece of gimp to frame a design on a pillow. As an alternative to sewing the gimp on, it can also be “carefully” glued on with a scant amount of fabric glue. I would only recommend this for a pillow that is rarely sat upon!
With a leftover piece of Brunschwig & Fils documentary fabric from the swag and jabot curtains that hang in the foyer at Fox Hall, I created two throw pillows for our Chippendale loveseat. A decorative gimp was added to frame the flower design, and complement the cobalt blue Chinese carpet that graces the floor beneath.
Have an exquisite trim sewn on a striped fabric to add to the wow-factor on a silk pillow! The outside pillow edge has a ¼” self-welt, cut on the bias.
With some leftover Scalamandre trim from another project, I designed a small rectangular pillow using the trim as an added accent to the silk fabric, mirroring the shape of the pillow.
Picot-edged ribbon is one of my favorite trims, along with grosgrain ribbon; both are old-school classic trims!
Simply adding picot-edged ribbon to create a square frame on top of this elegant striped silk fabric adds an understated element of texture, while also delighting the eye.
I could go on and on about creating pretty pillows! And remember, a “down-filled” pillow is a must! My first book, The Pretty and Proper Living Room, offers more glimpses of pillows that I have designed for clients and at Fox Hall. Let me know if you are inspired to create a few too; I would love to see them!
Xx
Holly
PS: Please be a dear and inspire one friend to subscribe by forwarding this letter to them! Thank you! An Instagram video of the above-featured pillows at Fox Hall is available to view HERE.