Contents

BLANKETS

and

CUSHIONS

Owen Jones

Copyright

Table of Contents

Decorative Bed Pillows

Chenille Throw Blankets

Decorative Sofa Cushions

King Size Duvets

Marriott Bedding

Egg Crate Mattress Pads

Satin Baby Blankets

Handmade Baby Blankets

Personalised Throw Blankets

Crocheted Babies’ Blankets

Woollen Blankets

Beatrix Potter Bedding

How to Make a Quilt

Dorm Room Bedding

The History of the Cushion

Crochet Tips for the Novice

Seasonal Bedding Trends - Elevate Your Home with Style and Comfort

Caring for Your Blankets and Cushions: A Guide to Long-Lasting Comfort

Contact Details

BLANKETS

and

CUSHIONS

The items that comfort!

by

Owen Jones

Copyright

Published by Megan Publishing Services

http://meganthemisconception.com

Copyright Owen Jones 2023 ©

Welcome to the world of comfort and cosiness, where the simplest of items hold the power to transform spaces into havens of warmth and solace. In “Blankets and Cushions - The Items that Comfort!”, we embark on a delightful journey into the heart of interior design, exploring how these unassuming yet essential elements can infuse a space with unparalleled comfort and charm.

Within these pages, we will uncover the art of selecting the perfect blankets and cushions to enhance any interior, transcending mere functionality to become exquisite expressions of style and personality. From luxurious silk throws that whisper of opulence to fluffy down-filled cushions that invite relaxation, we’ll unravel the diverse array of options available and their unique role in creating inviting sanctuaries.

Delving into the historical significance of blankets and cushions, we’ll discover how cultures from around the world have woven their stories into these humble adornments, turning them into symbols of tradition, affection, and hospitality.

Furthermore, this book celebrates the art of harmonizing textures, colours, and patterns to craft inviting spaces that reflect individual taste and preferences. Whether adorning a cosy reading nook or elevating the ambiance of a grand living room, blankets and cushions hold the potential to breathe life into any interior.

As an interior designer, I am thrilled to share my insights, tips, and creative inspirations to guide you in curating spaces that exude warmth and comfort. Let us embark on this design odyssey, discovering the endless possibilities these cherished items offer in transforming houses into homes, offices into sanctuaries, and rooms into delightful cocoons of comfort. “Blankets and Cushions - The Items that Comfort!” promises to be your companion in crafting spaces that embrace you with open arms and envelop you in a gentle embrace of serenity.

Blankets and cushions can be used to great effect as personalised, and personal items. People will keek a personalised baby blanket or cushion, and even leave it to their progeny. Such an item could easily become a family heirloom.

This aspect is easily ignored, but for a few hours work, or a small outlay, a God-parent or close family friend can give a present that will be treasured for generations.

It is a small price to pay for such a lasting gift.

Regards,

Owen Jones

Table of Contents

Decorative Bed Pillows

Chenille Throw Blankets

Decorative Sofa Cushions

King Size Duvets

Marriott Bedding

Egg Crate Mattress Pads

Satin Baby Blankets

Handmade Baby Blankets

Personalised Throw Blankets

Crocheted Babies’ Blankets

Woollen Blankets

Beatrix Potter Bedding

How to Make a Quilt

Dorm Room Bedding

The History of the Cushion

Seasonal Bedding Trends

Caring for Your Blankets and Cushions

Contact Details

Decorative Bed Pillows

Decorative bed pillows usually double as comfort pillows as well. A pillow is considered to be a support for the head in most of the English-speaking world, although in the USA, the words ‘pillow’ and ‘cushion’ seem to be largely interchangeable. So, to define it one way, a pillow would be the thing you sleep on, which would normally be under the duvet when the bed is made and decorative bed pillows would lie on top of the bed for show.

Bedrooms are much more open places now than they once were. In previous decades, bedrooms were secretive, almost like hide-aways and the bedrooms of people with children were probably piled high with stuff, because living space was precious and families larger. Nowadays, when you go into someone’s house, you are more likely to see the bedroom doors wide open than tightly shut - it is almost as if the owner is inviting you to look into their inner sanctum.

I do not know what came first, either that people started doing their bedrooms up and then wanted to show them off or whether people decided to let more air and light into the bedroom and them had to do it up. Whichever came first, it is a welcome change to the bedrooms that I remember of my youth, which were usually cluttered and dark.

Whatever the reason, bedrooms look better now than ever before. The more widespread use of duvets has helped. I suspect that people used to keep the bedroom door shut if they had not made the bed. It took time to make a bed with sheets, blankets and a quilt, but a duvet can be just shaken and pulled back up.

Duvet covers are beautiful too and they normally co-ordinate with the pillows. However, people go further by adding extra pillows called decorative bed pillows. When the bedroom is pretty like this, people will use it as another room in the house, not just a room to sleep in.

Add to this the fact that many bedrooms contain a computer and it means that people want to make the bedroom attractive, because friends may come round to use the computer as well.

Kids often prefer to do their homework on the bed rather that at a table, so it is a good idea to provide decorative bed pillows on top of the duvet. These pillows are for lounging on and propping books up against, not for sleeping on. Three or four decorative bed pillows on a bed can have quite an effect on the decor and ambiance of the bedroom.

Children tend to prefer bright, primary colours, so you could put three or four decorative bed pillows in yellow, blue, red and green to provide a splash of bright colour to their bedroom, while for your own bedroom, you could use a few beautifully embroidered or tapestry decorative bed pillows to add some more style.

You could turn providing ornamental bed pillows into a new hobby and embroider your own. I am sure that there will be kits or templates (patterns) to follow in handicraft shops, especially those that go in for quilting.

In fact, this approach to decorating or interior design is not new. Decorative bed pillows originated in Asia thousands of years ago when wealthy men used to lounge about on them, much the same as we think that many Arabs in tents do now and in those days everything was handmade. The idea of decorative bed pillows arrived in Egypt during the time of the Pharaohs, which we know because decorative bed pillows have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs.

So, when you lay out some decorative bed pillows for your family to lounge on, you can be proud of the fact that you are continuing a tradition that stretches back several thousand years.

Chenille Throw Blankets

The word ‘chenille’ has several meanings. It can mean a caterpillar, or a flower, but our meaning as in ‘chenille throw blankets’ is a type of fibre. Whereas wool comes from a sheep and mohair from a goat, chenille throw blankets can be made from almost anything from cotton to acrylic.

This is because chenille refers to a process, which makes a spectacularly soft fabric. This softness makes chenille throw blankets one of the most popular for babies and adults alike.

As I said above, the word ‘chenille’ also means ‘caterpillar’ (in French) and chenille yarn resembles a hairy caterpillar. It is this thick, ‘hairy’ yarn, which creates such wonderfully soft chenille fabric, which in turn is used in the production of chenille throw blankets.

Chenille has many uses and can be made from many materials. The most expensive is made from silk and the cheapest is made from acrylic. Some of the uses for chenille are in the manufacture of pipe cleaners, leg warmers, scarves, baby bonnets, curtains, throw blankets and quilts.

Chenille throw blankets and chenille quilts were very popular in the Seventies before people started switching to duvets for convenience. However, chenille throw blankets are much more adaptable than duvets.

A beautiful chenille throw blanket looks equally good thrown over a bed, a couch or a lawn for a picnic, whereas a duvet would look daft anywhere but on a bed.

Chenille is made by weaving short pieces of fluffy yarn between two long strands of yarn. These short pieces stick through the longer pieces giving the appearance of hairs. They are held in place by the long threads of yarn. The ‘hairs’ together with the padded yarn give chenille its characteristically extreme softness.

Because of the way it is woven, chenille can have different reflective properties when viewed from different angles. It can appear lustrous from one angle but dull from another.

There were no real industrial standards for the production of chenille until the 1990’s although chenille had been in great demand since about the 1930’s.

One of the problems with early chenille throw blankets was the fact that the short strands or hairs could work loose if the blanket was treated roughly. This problem with chenille throw blankets has been resolved to a large extent by melting the hairs into place. That is weaving them in as before, but then using heat to melt them or set them in place more or less permanently.

Chenille throw blankets should still be treated with respect. Many chenille throw blankets may only be dry-cleaned, while others may be washed carefully by hand. If you are allowed to dry your chenille throw blankets by machine, you must use a gentle tumble and a very low heat so as not to ‘unmelt’ the hairs or pile.

One thing you must never do with chenille throw blankets is hang them up to dry. If you are not allowed to use a machine to dry your chenille throw blankets, lay them flat, fold them if you have to, but turn them regularly to speed up evaporation.

If you are careful and treat them with respect, you will get many years of pleasure from your chenille throw blankets

Decorative Sofa Cushions

All sofa cushions should be both decorative and comfortable. Decorative sofa cushions have two roles, which are to be decorative when they are not in use and to be comfortable and supportive when they are being used. There are many styles of decorative sofa cushions and some people like to use sofa cushions or pillows that match the sofa’s style while others like the cushion to contrast the sofa’s style.

In the USA, the terms ‘pillow’ and ‘cushion’ are widely interchangeable, but in the rest of the English-speaking world pillows are large and used to support the head, usually on a bed, and cushions are to support the back and found on chairs and sofas in the living room, and loungers in the garden.

Decorative sofa cushions often have only the function of looking good but the less ornate ones can be used for support as well. These decorative sofa cushions are often called throw pillows, toss pillows or throw cushions. It is generally only the pillow or cushion cover that is decorated.

Cushions or pillows are basically a bag or case made from a soft material stuffed with another soft material. The outer case is often cotton or leather and the stuffing can be anything such as straw, hair, cotton, feathers or synthetic material. Down is the most expensive filling but people have used shredded paper to stuff cushions too. Sometimes, the decoration on a throw cushion can preclude it from being used to support the head, because it is too hard or rough (for example, if sequins or gold braid is used extensively)

The cases of pillows and cushions are often highly decorative, so that decorative sofa pillows can be used to great effect by those with an eye for style. Decorative sofa cushions are a great favourite with many canny interior designers. One of the uses to which you can put decorative sofa cushions is the co-ordination of several different types of furniture in one room.

The first cushions were undoubtedly used by wealthy Asian men to sit and lounge on, but they had spread to Egypt by the time of the Pharaohs as they have been found in ancient tombs there. In those early days, fine fabrics and dyes were very expensive so pillows and cushions were very expensive as well. This led to them becoming an art form, so the use of decorative sofa cushions is far older than most people would guess.

The use of large throw cushions was very popular in the European royal courts of the Middle Ages and they came to replace chairs to a large extent. However, these were not the small decorative sofa cushions that we use today, they were more like large beanie bags, more like a floppy armchair.

Nowadays, decorative sofa cushions are normally 17×17 inches because a roll of cloth is normally 54 inches wide, which cuts into three pieces of 18 inches. When the manufacturer allows for the seam, this produces a 17 inch cushion.

Decorative sofa cushions are not really meant to be used for the purpose of providing comfort. This may sound strange, but some of the really ornate decorative sofa pillows are made of materials that cannot be washed (or rather could not be washed in previous days) so contact with a human body or dusty clothing was discouraged.

These days, embroidery is used to decorate most sofa pillow cases, but we also have dry cleaning so the problem is not what it used to be, no matter how many sequins or pieces of gold braiding your decorative sofa cushions may have.

King Size Duvets

King size duvets are brilliant for showing your style, and setting the theme for the bedroom People who have a king size bed are usually well-off singles or couples in a relationship. The covers that they put on their king size duvets allow people to show off their style or flair, whether it be sexy, affluent, reserved, stylish, modern, or traditional - all of these styles are available