Red Cushions

So many people are looking for ways to give their home a new look without investing too much money.  If you are like most people who lack the funds to invest in all new furniture sets and hire an interior designer, there are a number of things that you can do to give your home an updated look that cost only a few dollars.  With the addition of a few well placed accent pieces, even the most outdated couch will look as good as new.  Introducing a few red cushions to the dining room is a great way to change decor from looking tired to being throughly modern.

As many interior designers will attest, the fastest way to add interest to any room is through accent pieces.  Accent pieces are small, bold touches that will introduce a new color, pattern or shape to your existing decor.  Just this small change can transform the look of the entire room, giving it a new focal point and bringing out touches and colors that may have been receding into the background.  Red is one of the best colors for accents, as it will blend well with almost any color palette and is always in style.

If you are hoping to add an accent to the living room, just placing a new red cushion on the couch will brighten the room and make it feel more luxe.  Even if you feel like red may be too bold a choice, there are a number of great shades that range from in your face to more subdued.  Adding red to a primarily white room will immediately punch up the look, and make it feel more modern and cutting edge.  Alternatively, when added to a room with rich browns and saturated neutrals, red can make it feel more clubby and sophisticated.

Another huge trend right now is introducing a red chair cushion to the dining room.  These cushions can easily be placed over your existing chairs, and will make any dinner party more chic and comfortable.  This is a great way to update your dining room table and chairs without spending a lot.  In addition to looking great, most of the chair cushions that are currently on the market can simply be thrown in the wash to be cleaned.  This means that the errant wine glass will no longer leave you scrubbing your upholstery.

If you are shopping for a new look for your home, consider red cushions in your living and dining rooms.

If you plan to purchase some plain red cushions, do not make your way to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. A large number of the residents of Lancaster County are Amish; they frown on using any red cushions in their home.  Due to the low demand for such items, few stores carry them. By the same token, because the demand for red colored cushions remains low, the price on each red cushion is quite high.

Moreover, Amish women like to sew. In fact, if any single one of them ever wanted a red colored cushion, she could easily use needle and thread to create one. That fact reinforces the ongoing absence of any great demand for red objects--objects that can add a bold splash to rather ordinary home furnishings.

An economics professor could use the price of bold colored cushions as evidence that the supply and demand curve work does indeed determine the asking price for retail products. Moving across the continent, from Pennsylvania to California, one finds yet another place where just about every red pillow has a hefty price tag.

While most people think of the expensive shops in Beverly Hills, whenever they hear the words "southern California," retail stores throughout the region have trouble holding onto red colored cushions. That is because so many Iranian Americans live in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. They have created a huge demand for all sorts of red colored decorative pieces.

Home arts teachers in the schools of Los Angeles County might want to encourage their students to bypass the high prices that the retail stores place on their limited amount of red cushions. Those instructors could urge any home arts students in one of the local middle schools to sew up a red, homemade cushion.

Such creations could be used to offer a lesson on supplementary and complementary colors. Students could be shown how a red cushion looks on an orange or violet surface. Those students could then compare that look with the contrast created when plain red cushions are used next to a green object.

An especially patriotic instructor might want to take advantage of the presence of red in the American flag. That instructor might want to create a display of red, white, and blue. The students would then see how even a spot of red can send a bold and meaningful message. Consequently, those students might start getting ideas for a future dormitory room.