Blue Velvet

via elementsofstyleblog.com. 

I've had a bit of an obsession with blue velvet couches recently. It's not that I hate my Ikea couch. Actually, it's unbelievably comfy—many people, including myself (repeatedly) have passed out in it's sunken embrace. But a looker it is not. The brown slipcovers, which I thought would be so warm and neutral, just look cheap. You know what looks cheap on clothes but never looks cheap on furniture? Blue velvet.

Wabam! Blue velvet all up in your business. I'm trying to think of ways to ways to recreate a velvety look until I have some serious skrilla to fork over for a new couch (Dom will be a hard sell on blue velvet anyway, methinks).

via lateafternoonblog.com. 

lots of pillows! I mean, let's be real, this apartment is gorgeous anyway, but matching pillows in two different prints certainly classes up the joint. And finally getting my art wall up (it's currently all piled where the floor and wall meet) couldn't hurt.

via stylebyemilyhenderson.com. 

Or tufting! I'll have to dig up an old link to a blog about tufting Ikea pillows, but apparently it's doable and cheap if you can get a reasonable rate from a local upholstery place. The hard part is convincing the Ikea people to part with a fabric swatch. I am too afraid to deal with the Ikea people, so I havent ventured into this option, but someone tell me how it goes...and where a cheap upholstery place is.

Any other ideas for injecting some life into my couch? Making it feel like I have a classy, luxurious thing underneath my body when I fall asleep watching The Voice?

Also, tell me I should buy this pillow from Dwell Studio so I'll feel justified spending $80.

buy it here