Pillow Heaven

I’ve been on the outdoor pillow hunt for some time now and what always stops me is the price tag (the same goes for indoor pillows). $20-30 EACH? No thank you. My first solution was to just try and make one on my own (there are a bunch of tutorials out there for “easy” and sometimes even “no sew” pillows). I grabbed a few pillow inserts from the clearance bin at Ikea, a clear plastic shower curtain liner (to use as the “first”, waterproof layer), and another patterned curtain for the decorative “outer” pillow case.

And then I got to check out and decided that I didn’t love the patterned curtain enough to make a bunch of pillows out of it, so I opted out of buying it, thinking I’ll just find some other fabric along the way. Fast forward a few weeks- I still didn’t have a patterned fabric I loved and I only had a vague idea of how I would turn a shower liner and a few inserts into nice outdoor pillows (oh, and add in some anxiety about sewing machine issues and broken needles).

This is about the time that I stumbled on this post from YoungHouseLove and this pillow caught my eye:I really liked the pattern and colors (even though I’m not normally a red person) and figured that I could at least go and see it in the store and if I ended up liking it just as much there, then I’d be willing to shell out $14 a pop for a few. After all, we’re nearing the end of the outdoor season and as much as I’d love to try and craft a few pillows on my own, I’d rather have some already-made to enjoy before it’s time to put all of the outdoor things away for good.

According to the Lowes website, the pillows were out of stock everywhere (and not available online) except for a store about 30 mins away so I took a road trip out there just to see what they actually looked like. #committedtothecause I was really hoping that the light blue from the online picture (above) was more teal than baby blue in person and fortunately enough, it was! I had taken a seat cushion from our house to see if they would go together, so here’s the combo back at home.Here’s what sealed the deal: all of their outdoor pillows and accessories were marked down from $14 to $7 each! That was all it took for me to go pillow crazy… I grabbed the two medallion pillows they had left, as well as two navy/floral patterned ones, and two darker teal striped ones. After seeing them back at home on our patio, I could not be more pleased with the outcome… here they are in action.

Recently, I bought super wipeable (aka. outdoor friendly), woven navy placemats so I am thrilled to have some pillows that will tie in with those too!

Let’s zoom in on those wide striped ones in the back…And just for kicks, I put up the umbrella for big-picture purposes. 🙂

I think it’s safe to say… we’ll be keeping the pillows. Definite pros (if you’re hunting for some yourself): outdoor proof, cheeeaaaaap, they go really well together, and they’re a good size (not to big and bulky, but not too puny either). I think my favorite part is how they layer into the colors and patterns that we already have going on out here. You can see in the photo above that we’ve got a bunch of different patterns already- some small and tight (like the circles on the seat cushions) and some larger (like the floral in the navy pillows). But they all tie nicely together because they are in the same color family- the teal accents in the medallions relate to the seat cushions, while the navy mimics the color of the florals. The striped darker teal acts as a good foundation for everything and the whites in everything brings in the bright white of the table and bench.

So this is how our patio/backyard is looking these days and we’re lovin’ it (buh-da-ba-ba-ba). It’s all set for you to come on over for a picnic or a campfire…

So go ahead- make yourself at home! We’d love to have you. 🙂

-Leslie