Cosiness galore.
Following on from the post on Fires, and how to choose them, this post will add to the warms and cosiness factor by talking about Blankets /Throws and Cushions. These accessories can make or break a room and make them feel cosy and welcoming as opposed to bland and chily. No matter how neutral the rest of your colour scheme is, you can always add colour using these textiles. They can also be changed regularly, so you could even change your room with the seasons.
Textiles such as these can pick up small hints of colour and highlight them, or bring a splash of colour in an otherwise neutral space. Choose wisely though, otherwise you could end up only seeing these items or create a clash of colours which do not work. You also need to make sure that they are appropriately sized, neither too big or too small.
The next two sections will talk about choosing Cushions and choosing Blankets or throws.
Cushions come in all shapes and sizes, small ones, round ones, enormous ones or rectangular ones. The colours and patterns are also endless. Where to start…
What is the purpose of the cushion - functional or decorative?
What is it going to be placed on - bed, sofa, chair or floor?
What is the colour scheme of the room - are there hints of colour in a picture or wallpaper that you love?
Do you have existing cushion pads that you are looking to re-cover or do you need a fully filled cushion? Allergies - feathers v’s synthetic filling.
Are they going to be used outside or be likely to have drinks or food spilled on them (kids/pets etc)
All of these questions feed into the type, size and material used for your cushion. Where spillages are likely, don’t go for silks or other material that is not washable. Outdoor cushions need to have wipeable and waterproof covering and specialist filling,
If you need the cushion to support you when sitting in a deep sofa, the bigger , firmer or more rectangular the better. For pure decoration, round or other shapes could be fun.
It is probably good to invest in great cushion pads in the shape and filling you want, then choose the covers to suit your colour scheme, with options to change it up or when they need to be washed. Pick up a tone from the wall covering and go darker, pick up a fleck from the sofa covering and use that or contrast with the sofa colour if plain. Cushions are much easier to change that other elements in the room and allow you to experiment with bold choices quite inexpensively.
This section will talk about how to choose a throw or blanket for your room. Again, these are movable relatively inexpensive (mostly) items that will allow you to experiment with colour and texture. When choosing a throw as allways there are some questins to ask:
Is this for a bed or a sofa
Is it purely decorative or will it be used
Do you have kids or pets (spillages)
Allergies - wool or other natural fibres may cause them to flare up or keep dust.
Plain or patterned, tassles or not.
To be useful, larger sizes are needed so you can wrap yourself up in them to feel cosy, or double layer over your knees. On beds, they can be used as an extra layer in the winter or only be there for decoration and removed when you sleep. Again, don’t choose delicate fibres like slik for a throw if you have kids or pets, as they are likely to chew them, catch their claws or splil food or drink on them. Choose man-made fibres that an easily be washed. The size also needs to be a consideration for your washing machine, othrwise they will have to go to the Laundrette each time!
Colour - again, as with cushions with a neutral palette, you can take a tone from the walls or furnishings and go darker, add in a stripe or check or if your room is patterned, go plain in neutral. Again, you can have different weights and colours and change them with the seasons or when you want to wash them.
Cushions and blankets/throws are a great fashion accessory for your rooms. They can add cosiness and warmth and colour to any room, and allow you to change up your decor inexpensively. Go experiment and see how bold you can go!