Pillows!

I love it when I can finish a project in an evening after the kids go to bed.  Then I can sit and admire my handiwork while watching random stuff on TV (coincidentally, as I watched "Clean House" on the style network tonight, there was an appearance by this tunic, the very same one that I refashioned into a pretty little dress for Little Sister!)

In any case, these pillows (an example of a one-evening project) are one step in the ongoing project that is our basement.  We knew when we moved in that this basement would be a project eventually, but we are now most of the way through a saga that started innocently enough with renting a steam cleaner for the carpet, included spending a Friday night spontaneously ripping out carpet (after said steam-cleaning dredged up all kinds of gross old cat pee smells), and will end (for now) with five out-of-town guests staying in our house in a little over a week.

New rug, old pillows.  Sorry the new painted floor is not visible in this pic.  Same old baby.

So, after sealing and painting our concrete basement floor (another fun way to spend your weekend evenings after the children go to bed), we bought a great big new rug for the sitting/TV room area.  I have been wanting new pillows for ages, and this overhaul is the perfect excuse, since the sad old ones don't go with the new rug at all.

Bought on clearance at Cost Plus, I don't know, 8 years ago?  

I got to dig through the outdoor clearance section as well as the home decor 50% off racks at Fabric Depot, the best fabric store ever, until I found the combination that I wanted.  I was pleased to find three fabrics that coordinated with each other AND the rug, all on sale for at least 50% off (including the rug, thanks Tuesday Morning!)

The fabrics (on the completed pillows, as you can see)

Little Sister woke up from her nap before I finished cutting the fabric, so
she was eager to help/hinder the process.

In addition to recovering the saggy throw pillows that we have, I also decided to turn our poor man's sofa with a chaise into a poor man's sectional by making my old body pillow into a backrest for the chaise section. This pillow was not-so-affectionately nicknamed "the surrogate" by the hubby because I used it to make myself comfortable while sleeping when pregnant.  We kept it around as floor padding when The Boy transitioned to a big-boy-bed, and even though it has spent the last few months tucked underneath his bed since the falling-out risk has all but disappeared, he was very nervous when he saw me taking it  to the basement.  "What if I have a hard fall?"  he asked me.  Well, I'm sure he'll live to tell about it.

Little Sister was also reluctant to give up the old body pillow.

Now what you've all been waiting for...the transformation!

Our same old basement with the new pillows/backrest:

Ta da!  I think the new pillows lighten things up.

Now, even with the clearance fabrics, this project wasn't as cheap as I wanted it to be.  I spent $36 on fabrics, and while I do have enough left over to make about four more pillows, I don't actually need four more pillows, so that's kind of a wash.  Although I think I'll make a rectangular pillow for the recliner, and probably a seat cushion for my crafting chair, so that's making it go a little further.  I know that there are places where you can spend north of $36 for only ONE pillow, but I don't shop at those places, and I know that I could probably have gotten 3 or 4 pillows for that amount of money at my favorite haunts Marshalls/TJMaxx/Ross/Tuesday Morning, but honestly driving around to find enough coordinating pillows probably would have been more work than making these myself!  Plus, you can't buy a "backrest" just anywhere--that baby is custom.

So all in all, I'm pleased with the way it turned out--and I'll post more about our basement transformation as it progresses!