I’ve been in a bit of a nesting phase lately. I think our apartment is about halfway to being pretty darn awesome, and I’ve been overcome with the urge to push it the rest of the way. I’m trying to take advantage of my enthusiasm and motivation to actually tackle some householding projects, and one of the first is something I’ve had in mind for awhile now: new throw pillows for our couch.

My parents bought this couch for me when I moved to Walla Walla, because my mom couldn’t stand the idea of me not having a place to sit and relax in my little house. And because my parents are unfailingly generous. It’s a lovely little couch upholstered in soft brown microsuede, and it’s very, very comfortable. But it came with two fairly boring, polyester throw pillows.

The pillows just felt lost and sad; their muted colors ensured that they practically disappeared into the couch. And they weren’t very pleasing to the touch, either. I wanted something with a little more style and flair, and finally I decided to bite the bullet and order some new fabric. I bought some matching piping at Britex one afternoon, and as soon as my fabric arrived I got to work. These pillows were actually very easy to make (so why it took me over a week to finally get both pillows done is a mystery), and while I didn’t quite get the piping on the corners right, I’m calling that a design feature.

Isn’t this fabric fun? I love the way this robin’s egg blue pops against the brown, and the colors modernize the otherwise very retro print. These throw pillows make me happy, and I actually have enough fabric left to make a third.

I really like the texture of this fabric, too. It’s a printed cotton, but there is a bit of roughness to it which I think is a good contrast to the smoothness of the couch fabric.

This was such an easy and gratifying first project in my grand apartment-polishing scheme. Both Sean and I want a new rug, and some new art to hang on the walls. And I’m right in the middle of an epic 30 Day De-cluttering Project (which I will definitely be sharing soon). It feels good to purge some of the stuff I’ve accumulated, and to make our apartment feel a little more pulled together. It’s a small space, and I’m trying to make better use of it than we have been over the last two years.

Of course, it will be all-too-predictable, in my peripatetic life, that as soon as I get our apartment all fixed up and perfect, we’ll have to move… (Did I just jinx myself? Doh.)