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Annie Elliott Design, Washington DC

Annie Elliott Design

Greater Washington DC

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How big are YOUR pillows?

Annie Elliott | May 21, 2013

They’re getting bigger. Throw pillows, I mean. Time was, accent pillows were discreet. Small, modest, tucked away…never taller than the back of the sofa or chair in which they nestled.

Big throw pillows on sofa

Those days are over: throw pillows are GIGANTIC now! Check out the ones below at Century Furniture! I don’t think I’ve specified a 16″ square accent pillow in a year. Even 18″ square can feel small to me.

Century Furniture sofa with 3 huge accent pillows

I just ordered 22″ throw pillows from Sparkmodern via Etsy for our family room sofa. Granted, the sofa itself is 37″H, but still. Two 22″ pillows, two 20″ pillows, and one long lumbar. That’s a lot of fluff.

Large purple accent pillows on sofa and chairs

Layering patterned pillows is still a white-hot trend, especially if your taste runs to the eclectic. (The fact that these pillows are in matching pairs saves the room from becoming a crazy mess.)

Large patterned accent pillows in NYC apartment

The sofa in this Thom Filicia-decorated living room is so long it NEEDS the bigger pillows. Again, using pillows in matching pairs is a plus. (Am I the only one who still refers to him as Thhhom, as I did when Queer Eye for the Straight Guy reigned? Yes? Ah, well. God, I miss that show.)

Thom Filicia's oversized accent pillows on blue sofaDon’t these pillows look skimpy to you now?

Screen Shot 2013-05-21 at 10.22.28 PM

As opposed to, say, these by my hero, Jamie Drake?

Screen Shot 2013-05-21 at 10.37.23 PM

If not, give it time. Soon you’ll be turning your nose up at anything smaller than 24″ square. It’s happening, people.

Large black and white accent pillows on outdoor furniture

Cococozy, you saved my bacon this post with your excellent pictures — thank you! Quoted in publications from The New York Times to The Washington Post to Real Simple magazine, Annie Elliott is an interior designer in Washington, D.C. Her firm, bossy color, delivers distinctive, curated interiors with professional precision.

Category: Art + accessoriesTag: Century Furniture, Jamie Drake, large accent pillow, large throw pillow, matching accent pillows, oversize pillow, Thom Filicia, throw pillows on sofa

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It’s Wallpaper Wednesday! This week, feast your eyes on @timorous_beasties Fruit Looters. TB claims that William Morris’s Strawberry Thief pattern inspired Fruit Looters, but only the name indicates the connection: Strawberry Thief, Fruit Looters…get it? Whereas Morris’s iconic pattern is medium-scale, rhythmic, 2-D, cartoon-like, and muted, Fruit Looters is the opposite in every way but subject matter. The scale is huge, with the foliage “stripes” providing a geometric order, and it oozes TB’s trademark edginess. The crisp pattern is finely drawn; pull it apart, and each element — a flower, a bird — could be in an English botanical print. Fruit Looters comes in vivid, saturated colorways, some with a metallic sheen, and dramatic black is present in all.Recently, a client (who originally introduced me to Timorous Beasties!) and I used Fruit Looters wallpaper in her stairwell, in the Alabaster colorway. The drama. Oh, the drama!

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All of a sudden, novelty accent lamps are EVERYWHERE! Some are cute, some are…inadvisable ;) If you just can’t resist a lamp in the shape of a snail, my latest blog post has recommendations for proceeding responsibly💡
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