Cushions for a new look

I've been a bit bored with my living room for a while.  In particular, I was rapidly growing to dislike my sofa cover.  I bought a custom cover some years ago to replace the navy cotton ones the sofa came with.  I hadn't been able to get quite the fabric I wanted and settled for something I wasn't sure about, which was a huge mistake.  The custom covers were not a success chiefly because the heavier fabric made the sofa uncomfortable.  The feather cushions couldn't spring back properly and I was always dragging these really heavy cushions out onto the floor to beat them into submission before I could sit down comfortably.   So I took them off and put the old navy ones back on, but then the sofa was just this navy thing in a sea of neutral beiges.  The custom cover was a lovely shade of milky coffee.  It was supposed to be very grown up and smart, but it wasn't really achieving its aim. 

So last week I trotted off to Ikea and TK Maxx, in Leeds to see what I could achieve. I managed to get quite a smart dark pink silk orchid in its own pot which is now sat on the hearth, and a silk flower arrangement of cream lilies and twigs which I put in an existing (99p from Ikea) clear glass vase, making the arrangement stand up by wedging gold sprayed pine cones into the vase.  I also got a turquoise pillar candle which is also on the hearth.  Finally, I got a large cushion with a pattern in turquoise and dark cerise pink on the front and a plain raspberry pink back, but it looked rather lonely on the sofa on its own.  I felt I'd made a small difference and the orchid and the pink in the cushion went reasonably well with a burgundy beanbag that forms my seating if more than one person comes to visit as my sofa is only a two seater.  But it needed more colour to draw it all together so I raided my stash and found some left over turquoise drill, a piece of raspberry needlecord and a bit of denim so small I had to wonder why I'd kept it at all.  And this morning I turned them into these cushions.  Reversible cushions so I can emphasise either the pink or the turquoise, depending on mood.  The large cushion pad is feather filled and quite large so its lovely and squashy to sit against and I now have enough cushions to make a fabulous nest and spend the evening curled up with the dog and some knitting.  As you can see, the dog likes the new sofa cushions and refused to move out of shot when I took the photos.