Like fashion accessories — jewelry, scarf, belt or shoes — decorative pillows are instant pick-me-ups. They’re “styling” for a sofa, chaise, chair, bed or even outdoor furniture. Square or rectangular and even round pillows or bolsters can add electricity to a sedate interior — a spark that can visually ignite by repeating an especially vibrant color on rugs, artwork in the vicinity or flowers in a vase elsewhere in the room.
In recent years, as home furnishings have forged a formidable connection with fashion, pillows have become home front-runners for fashion cues. They signal color and decorating trends — classic, luxe, retro, ethnic or seaside.
At the biannual Maison et Objets, a home style exhibition in Paris, pillows have been exciting eye candy for the last few years. It was there that we first saw extraordinary dressmaker details — edging with beautiful “passementerie,” along with beads, buttons, feathers and appliques on linen, velvet, wool, felt, leather, cashmere and silk. Companies known for fine fabrics displayed couture-worthy pillows begging to be touched.
Two American companies have since distinguished themselves with confectionery pillow designs. New York-based Ankasa was launched by a husband-wife team who formerly designed embroidered textiles for Oscar de la Renta and Vera Wang. Their signature opulent pillows are described as “couture for the home.” Bliss Studio, a Costa Mesa, Calif., firm, creates designs in dozens of color palettes from contemporary to rococo.
Today, amazingly stylish pillows are available in retail stores from Pier 1 Imports to Anthropologie to Neiman Marcus in prices ranging from less than $20 to thousands of dollars. At the high end is the lavish shimmery gold metallic embroidery on silk by Jean-Francois Lesage in a tradition carried on since the days of Napoleon III in 1868. These pillows have been selling for $1,950 apiece at Bergdorf Goodman.
Interior designers long have appreciated the impact that a wonderful pillow can make, and often they custom-design pieces to reflect something special. Pillows, after all, are a most effective way to dress up an otherwise plain interior.
“Pillows create a focal point in a room,” says Massachusetts-based designer Annie Selke, who recently launched her own home furnishings line, Annie Selke Home, with Vanguard Furniture. She designs for other companies as well and has a new fabric collection for Calico Corners.
“A white sofa with an incredible bold-patterned pillow has been a trick from time immemorial,” Selke says. “Most upholstered pieces are solid colors. It’s through patterned pillows — like artwork — that you add personality. They’re small elements that pop.”
Then, too, the economic climate is one that’s perfect for the acquisition of a pillow to dress up an older piece of furniture. Compared with the cost of a new sofa, pillows are affordable. Plus, they can update a room’s look seasonally, with darker tones in winter and brighter shades in summer.
“I think these times mean we are going back to a nesting period. We are spending more time in our homes,” says Los Angeles interior designer Barclay Butera. His eponymous company, Barclay Butera Home, features pillow designs.
“We want to freshen up our homes without spending a bundle. So simple, inexpensive things like trading out a new lampshade or buying new pillows can always freshen up a home and add pops of color,” Butera says. “I love to mix — patterns, textures, colors. Pillows change a room and they truly add comfort along with that decorative element.”
Butera, who also is author of “Barclay Butera: Living in Style” (Assouline, $65) recommends a little DIY. He advises homeowners to look for fabrics beyond conventional sources to create their own design.
“It’s a fun time right now to go flea- market shopping and antiquing. Remnant shopping is an inexpensive way to find fabric to create fresh window coverings or a new pillow cover.”
Annie Selke says she combined five patterns — rug, curtain, sofa and two pillows — in her own living room. “Color is the common thread,” she says.
