Throw Blankets: Unsung Heroes of the Pandemic : Annie Elliott Design

As I write to you today, Gentle Readers, I am snuggled up in my living room chair, soda AND water close at hand (forever trying to break the soda habit), with a luscious plaid mohair blanket wrapped around my legs. I’m comfortable and toasty warm.

My blanket is more green and yellow, but it’s kind of like this one from Biddy Murphy

I’ve always appreciated a good throw blanket, but the past year has brought a newfound appreciation. In the before times, it wouldn’t have occurred to me to bring a blanket onto the back porch. Now, though, in our covid-induced desperation to socialize, they’re essential. They make it possible to interact with people to whom we are not related.

Lambswool throw in Rose from Wolf and Badger

I didn’t used to have a throw in the living room, but now I keep two in there.

Yep: two tartan/checked blankets in the same room. Because that’s how I roll. This one is from The Scottish Trading Company. (Please don’t ask me the difference between tartan and plaid. There is one, but I never really understood it)

Our family room has a basket of blankets next to the sofa, but because we use them so often, they rarely get folded and returned to their place of rest. There’s a cashmere throw my mom gave me for Christmas one year, a cozy acrylic one that’s a really pretty shade of dark blue, and a fleece throw that John’s camp friend Betsy made for him in 1995.

Basket o’ blankets from Neiman Marcus. Fringed cashmere in gorgeous colors

There’s also a super heavy faux fur throw blanket I may have bought for a client…who changed her mind? Who didn’t ask for it in the first place? I can’t remember. But in addition to being snuggly, it’s been useful, having sneaked into more than one photo shoot.

Our family room with faux fur throw from Zinc Textiles. Photo by Angie Seckinger

The favorite blanket right now — the one Georgie and Ruthie fight over — is a cheap promotional blanket we got for free. I don’t know why that annoys me so much. So many pretty throws and they choose the one with a big corporate logo in the corner? Ah, well. (It is super soft.)

The opposite of a freebie blanket ;) This beautiful thing is a “Novelty Patterned Jacquard Cashmere Throw, Naive Bird, Green.” Way to get those keywords in, Williams-Sonoma!

Are throw blankets the new pillows? Maybe! Anything we can do right now to make it through this final (hopefully) phase of quarantine is ok by me. Anything to change up our houses, make our surroundings prettier, make ourselves more comfortable…anything we can do to achieve those aims is worthwhile. If that means buying another throw blanket or two, so be it. Stay cozy, Gentle Readers.

Annie Elliott Design is based in Washington, DC, with satellite offices on the Eastern Shore and in — wait for it — Vermont!! More on that soon. Annie’s design work and insights have appeared in numerous local and national publications, including HGTV Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Washingtonian Magazine.