From Dining Table to Couch

Husband is a big fan of brown/neutrals so pretty much everything was plain brown when I moved in with him. Except his dining room, which is bright red. Slowly but surely, I’ve been introducing more color and pattern into our home. Don’t get me wrong, I love neutrals and I loved the way Husband had his condo decorated when we were dating. It was a big selling point in marrying him. Sad but true. As my Mom would say, he’s got good taste; he married me. However, I like a little color and reading blogs has opened my eyes to the wonder of patterns and textures.

One area in desperate need of some more pizazz was (ok still is) the living room, specifically the couch. It is a big brown sectional, aka a big brown spot in our living room. Ok, that sounded wrong. It made the living room feel even more plain.

I added a couple of soft red pillows. I also made a pillow from some leftover fabric from my folding chair makeover. I did a simple no-sew pillow cover from this tutorial from Budget Wise Home.  

Better but still lacking. Sarah from Thrifty Décor Chick made some couch pillows from placemats and that got my mind working, which explains the burning wire smell. I had seen these really cool placemats at World Market. Every time I went to the store, I found myself drawn to these placemats. I loved the pattern but I couldn’t justify getting them when I knew I would rarely use them. I’m too short on storage to buy things just ‘cuz. I mean, I do buy things just because but I’m not supposed to do that. Sarah’s repurposed pillows were the perfect way to have my placemats and eat them too! Wait, that doesn’t make sense. 

The placemats are reversible but my favorite side is the one on the table runner. Source here.

The placemats are sold individually in the store for about $4.00. I also found a cool red, white, and blue patterned placemat in the clearance section for $2.00. That one isn’t available online any longer. Probably why it was on clearance.

 I ended up not turning the blue one into a pillow. It wasn’t double layered like the others, so it wasn’t as easy. Forget that.

I used a seam ripper to rip out the seams on one side of each placemat.

Then I stuffed a travel sized pillow and a little extra stuffing into the placemat. The extra stuffing may not have been necessary but I didn’t want wimpy/saggy pillows. I only added about two small handfuls, to fill in the corners mainly.

From Wally World for $3.00.

 I went to my mom’s house to borrow her sewing machine, because I don’t sew enough to get one. I just use hem tape. I thought about using hem tape with the pillows but, why not try my hand at the sewing machine? To my surprise, when my mom saw what I needed to do, she swore that it would be easier to stitch the pillow by hand. I thought she was crazy but, momma knows best. As it turns out, she was right! It was easy!

We used a blind stitch, because it can’t be seen. I thought it meant I was going to go blind because OMG I’M SEWING BY HAND. HAVE I GONE BACK IN TIME?!?! Ok, it wasn’t that dramatic. I don’t have any pictures of the process because I forgot to take my camera. Bad blogger! Here are some up close shots of the finished stitch.

This is how it should look. The seam should be invisible. This is the pillow Mom sewed. Thanks Mom!

This is my pillow. Yeah. . . I had some issues at first but I eventually go the hang of it. I sew like I iron, which is terribly. Sorry Mom. I know you tried.

  

Here’s the finished product on the couch!

The red, white, and blue pillow has already found a new home in the office. Husband took my desk chair pillow so I needed a new one. It might be relocated again. The batik pillow is definitely staying here though. Even Husband digs the pattern. Hurray for progress!

This is how it normally looks, with the blankets on the back of the couch. I get cold very easily and need to have blankets  within easy reach at all times.

The living room still needs some more pizazz but, we’re getting there. I know my home isn’t “magazine worthy” but I’m ok with that. I’m building a home with my family that we feel comfortable in and love. And I’m having a blast getting there. I sometimes get swept up in thoughts of having a “finished” or perfect home but I have to remind myself that it isn’t about that. Home is about creating and sharing memories with loved ones, having a sanctuary for yourself, and surrounding yourself with people and things that keep you happy. And that’s what I think I have here. In reality, our home will never be truly finished until we’re done living in it. And by that I mean when we’re dead. Yeah, I can’t get too mushy for too long. It’s just not how I roll. Word, yo.

Did you hear that? That was the sound of Husband (and maybe my mom) rolling their eyes because I said word, yo on the Internet.