DIY Pillow Duvet

So a few minutes ago, I tackled a little DIY project that I think will be aesthetically pleasing for our living room AND highly functional for our lifestyle.  Win-win. 

I've been wanting some new pillows for our couch forever.  But pillows run anywhere between $9.99 and upwards of $30 a pop.  And I'm way too cheap for that.  And, I'm seriously picky about what I want.  And, we have two dogs who are allllll over our couches on any given day.  And....I just didn't want to spend that much on something that will be transformed into a dog bed in less than a week.   

I had considered (and thought I was going to) just make a few new pillows with some inexpensive fabric and pillow forms.  But.....pillow forms are expensive too.  And between those and the fabric, I could have just bought them readimade.

So, that got me thinking.

I really only wanted new pillows to use as an accent to the green curtains that I hung up last week.  And honestly, we only have the accent pillows ON the couches when we have company over (or when I'm taking pictures for the blog....guilty as charged).  Otherwise, they're usually in a sloppy neat pile on the floor.   So it seemed silly to spend that much for something we don't really use every day. 

And then it hit me.  I didn't need to actually buy new pillows....I just needed to transform the old!

I made a quick trip to Hancock Fabrics and picked up a yard and a half of fabric, came home and got down my sewing machine, and set to work.  Our pillows started out looking like this:

Yuck.


But by the end, they looked like this. 

Much better.

What did I do? I just slip-covered them!  Think a duvet, but for pillows.  Took about 10 minutes per pillow, and when all was said and done, I was able to recover four of my existing pillows with a yard and a half of fabric that cost me a total of $12.00.  I may or may not have done a little happy dance around the living room.

I'm especially thrilled with this solution for two reasons:
1. The slipcovers are removable and can be easily washed.  This is wonderful news for a household with two dogs, a cat, and a new baby on the way.
2. On an ordinary day at home, or on a day when we won't be home and the couches will be overtaken by two lazy, dirty dogs...we can just opt to take the covers off and let them lounge all over the old pillows.  Then, if we are having guests over or entertaining later in the evening, we can slip them back on for a more finished, refined look.

I'm in love!  I still have about four more pillows to cover, but since my little experiment turned out so well....that will be tomorrow's project!