Textile Tuesday: Rug Pillows

Have you ever seen a beautiful little rug in the store and thought, “I love that rug but don’t have a place to put it”? I have. Have you ever had a pillow that seemed to get used so much it was hard to keep it looking fresh?  Yup, been there too.  Let’s see…a rug and a pillow.  Why not a “rillow” or a “pug” (wait, there’s already one of those), maybe a “pillug”?  You get the point.  Today’s Textile Tuesday is about rug pillows.  To say I am obsessed with them would be an understatement.  I. must. have. one.

There are some beautiful pillows made out of oriental (kilim)  rugs.  Like this beauty.

That pillow would look stunning sitting on a chair in a traditional home, or, it would look ultra-hip sitting in a downtown loft that mixes sleek style with “found” objects.  However, my house is neither of those things.  Oriental rugs were something I would have jumped at in my old house.  In this house it just feels too heavy.  In fact, I have two oriental rugs rolled up sitting in the garage at this very moment.  This house is going to have a lighter feel.  Martha Stewart created a rug pillow that is on the lighter side, but it speaks more farmhouse to me.

I really like the casualness of them with the fringe hanging off the sides.  It looks like a comfortable spot to lounge the afternoon away.

Then I found this picture on Pinterest of a crafty woman sewing together to rag rugs to create a floor pillow.  That’s a thought.  Maybe something in more coastal colors?

 

The pillow rug is very sturdy and would easily stand up to high use areas like children’s play rooms and family rooms where pillows are squished and abused. After all, it is designed to be walked on so it should stand up to zealous pillow use. I would like to take this same concept and apply it to the body pillow my husband loves. I have a few different requirements though. It must be washable, soft, and have a lighter feel than an oriental rug. The dimensions of a body pillow are 48″ long and 20″ wide so a runner could do the trick.   I immediately thought of the machine washable cotton rugs from Dash and Albert and have found several to consider:

 

The colors in all of these rugs are so pretty and really would lend themselves well to mixing with other textiles.  I really love the first one because it does have some colors I could work with in my coastal feel bedroom, yet, it has some of the more masculine colors of brown and sage green.  For the body pillow option, I could purchase the 2’6″ x 8′ runner and cut it in half making one part the front and one part the back.  If family room floor pillows seem intriguing, the 2′ x 3′ rug would make a great floor pillow.  I have had Dash and Albert cotton rugs before and they do wash up beautifully.  Would you use a rug on a pillow?  Have you done it before?  Leave me a comment, I would love to know how it worked out for you.

Nancy