Teach Me Tuesday: Easy Additional Seating

If you would like to be featured in an upcoming edition of Teach Me Tuesday, please email me at LivingWithLindsay@gmail.com and we’ll chat!

This week’s edition of Teach Me Tuesday features Kelly from Tearing Up Houses. A smart gal with a degree in Architecture, Kelly and her husband spend their time renovating and renting houses. Her blog is about their life, their remodels, and all of the craziness in between – it’s definitely a fun read.

One of my favorite things about Kelly’s blog is her running series on Smart Design. She says that the series highlights “easy, creative solutions that make your pad comfier and aren’t terribly time consuming or expensive.” You know I love that.

As we approach the Holiday season, I was particularly drawn to her entry on floor pillows. Additional seating is usually necessary when friends and families gather to celebrate being together, and I think this is a cheap and easy option you should consider if you need some options.

Kelly writes:

Who doesn’t love a soft, cozy pillow adorned with a lush vintage pattern, or warm velvet fabric? Even better when it’s a large, snuggly floor pillow that you can pile on your rug and dive on top of for a movie night.

Frankly, I can’t live without floor pillows. To me they’re a staple like a dining room table or a decent work space. I even designed a window seat around some floor pillows that I fell in love with a few years back. Not only do they add another visual dimension, but floor pillows provide much more merciful spare seating than, say, crunchy decorative pillows (which I detest) housed on stiff, pointy side chairs. Plus, they’re easy to store, work great in tight spaces, and make sense as temporary seating. Apartment Therapy has a great article on chair alternatives (including floor pillows) that’s especially helpful if you’re on a budget. Yes, give me a choice between a well constructed sofa or a load of stylish pillows spewed across a thick rug and you’ll find me sprawled out on the floor every time.

I’ve primarily purchased my floor pillows from West Elm and Pottery Barn in the past, but you can even find large, durable ones at Walmart or Kmart. I’ve seen pretty patterns at Ikea, too, but I can’t vouch for the quality. I had been a huge customer of West Elm for a long time (really, I should have purchased their stock), however, I’ve had several issues with their customer service, delivery and return policies the last few years so I’d be hard-pressed to recommend their products at all.

If you want something completely original check out Etsy. I’m a big fan of handmade products, and I guarantee if you buy something there your friends won’t have the same thing. ErnstandThistle has a crazy cool 18 inch woven jute pillow on Etsy that I’m salivating over for just $98. Who wants to buy me an early Christmas present? (Note from Lindsay: It looks like they have sold the gorgeous pillow, but they have some other cool items in their shop, so it’s worth taking a look.)

Below is our most recent use of some of our old floor pillows. I apologize in advance for the terrible quality of the pictures. Anyway, the pillows are a neutral color in a corduroy fabric. Also, notice how we use the coffee table to store them:

By the way, Re-Nest has a great article about how to clean pillows.

Thanks for this idea, Kelly! How easy to store the pillows as you do, or even in an unused corner of the room. They would be perfect for playing board games around the fireplace or snuggling in with cousins to watch a movie.

Looking to make your own? Apartment Therapy has a great tutorial on sewing your own. For you more seasoned sewers, check out BHG’s version.

Please visit Kelly at Tearing Up Houses to check out some of her other great solutions!

Tagged as: Teach me Tuesday