Pillows I Have Purchased

Except for a couple narrow nightstands and a bed frame for our guest room, we did not buy any new furniture when we moved here. While some furniture and lamps had been bought during the 13 years we lived in our prior house, most of what came with us to New Mexico -- rugs, sofas, dining room set and more -- is actually 30 to 40 years old, pre-dating our marriage and the last house we lived in.

Not antiques, mind you. Just old furniture.

How do you refresh old familiar furnishings cheaply? Throw pillows! I've been buying lots of pillows. The first were two supports for my red chairs on the deck so I could lie back comfortably in the sun. I found Walmart pillows that did the trick.


The rustic dark blue western couches in my living room that so distress Pam needed some ooomph for sure. I've had them for 30 years and they spent all of that time in a basement rec room or on the porch until they were elevated in this house to full-on living room furniture.

The answer of course was to get two leather throw pillows.


They are made from furry hide strips in a chevron pattern that is a perfect freshener. They are a little stiff, so not the best napping pillows. But if you are going for rustic in your living room, how can you forgo hide pillows?


I also got turquoise cushions for the glider and other outdoor chairs, because it's Santa Fe and turquoise is a thing.


What did not work out at all were outdoor lumbar pillows in red and turquoise bold stripes that I thought would go well with the chair pads. They are too "Florida cabana" style. They don't look right here, and they were uncomfortable, so that was a purchase I regret.


But I do love the outdoor pillows I bought for the patio chairs that have a beautiful skeletonized aspen leaf printed on them.


The only new furniture we did buy here was for outside. We got two new teak outdoor chairs and a table for the patio, and we bought a metal side table at Lowe's when we first moved in.

The chairs are not high end, and they are a little uncomfortable. The seat is too deep and the fabric is a bit slippery, so a big pillow is needed just so you can sit there without sliding back prone. The aspen pillow alone wasn't enough, so I added tan butterfly pillows that I already had.


The red butterfly picks up the red aspen leaf color, so that's good. I'm not sure about having both pillows together there, but as I proceed with my pillow purchasing program, it's clear that you really can't have too many throw pillows about the place.

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