They’re scattered everywhere, and at our house if you get up in the middle of the night as I occasionally do, you really need to watch your step.
I’m quite partial to the décor choices of interior designer Candice Olson. Until her television program, ‘Divine Design’, moved to a channel we don’t get, I watched it faithfully. I also ‘like’ her Facebook page. On it today was a post about a bedroom she decorated, with an explanation of its features:
“To add warmth and personality to this bedroom, we snuggled a settee between two cabinets. Not only did this settee allow us to introduce interesting fabrics and visual warmth in the space, but it serves as that perfectly placed bed pillow catcher!”
That’s when it struck me. Why have we fallen into the decorating trap of piling pillows everywhere?
Before my hubby and I can crawl into bed each night, we must first remove seven pillows. Seven! There’s a pair with quilted shams that match our duvet, another colour-matched sleep-sized pair, two smaller hand stitched matelassé ones plus a square accent cushion.
Cushions on our living room and family room couches look nice, but every time I sit down I first have to re-arrange them to make room. Often as not they end up on the floor.
So what purpose do they serve? Other than adding a pretty splash of colour, I’m not convinced of their value, but I can’t imagine tossing them out. They may be a nuisance, but I’m used to them. They’re part of the décor.
In some ways it’s a little like useless passages in our writing – bits of description, mundane dialogue, interesting but unimportant scenes – all inconsequential and irrelevant as far as moving the story forward. They’re of no value but we like writing them and they can be hard to cut. We’ve all heard the saying, “Kill your darlings.” So, should we be ruthless in eliminating them, or does it really matter?
~ ~ ~
MUSINGS 
you should see my smile… pillows here, pillows there, pillows everywhere. But why not have foolish touches of colour — in our writing too!
A matter of personal preference. 🙂
I’ve never put extra pillows or cushions anywhere in my house. It never even occurred to me.
The funny thing is, I am not only minimalist with furniture, but also with my writing!
We say our homes should reflect our personalities and interests, so why shouldn’t our writing reflect our preferences, too? It sounds like you make your ‘voice’ evident in both.
My back wouldn’t survive without our 101 pillows scattered through the house. I have a pile on the bed that have a spot on the rocky or the blanket chest overnight. But for those rainy days, collapsing into a soft mountain of pillow is … too wonderful for words.
I guess there’s something to be said for their cushy comfort. 🙂