Cheap Striped Euro Pillows and a Simple Bedroom Refresh

I have a pillow problem. Guilty. So when John came back from HomeGoods holding two boldly striped 26″ x 26″ euro pillows for nine dollars each, I didn’t even hesitate. Ninety-nine percent cotton, oversized, and only $18 for both? Sold. In our home pillows migrate around the house, so these could end up in the guest room, the playroom, the sunroom, or the living room. For now they’re on our bed, where they play nicely with the twig-and-berry prints we hung a few weeks ago.

The big striped pillows feel like a temporary, no-commitment headboard for only $18. No fuss, no installation, and they work with a lot of existing elements: garage-sale botanical art, the pale green-gold curtains, the potted plant across the room, and even the oversized ram head above the bed. The smaller greeny-gold pillow we already had still pairs well with the new stripes and ties into the curtains when layered, but it’s easy to move elsewhere if we want a different look.

The side of the bedroom is a work in progress, so we sketched some changes to guide future updates:

Planned adjustments include:

1. Raising artwork and lamps once we replace the short living-room side tables with taller nightstands that offer hidden storage.
2. Replacing the chunky, dark ottoman that Burger uses to get into bed with something longer and lighter in fabric, possibly with darker legs to match other accents.
3. Refreshing the wheat-colored lampshades so they don’t read as dingy against the very white bedding, trim, and doors.
4. Installing a large, chunky cabinet to the left of the bed to add function and balance to that odd little nook.

Small additions often inspire other tweaks. When we brought in the matching framed botanicals and the new striped pillows, the horse art over the dresser felt too symmetrical—one of many paired items—so we experimented with a less formal arrangement using what we already had.

Here’s what we did:

1. We removed the horse prints above the dresser and moved them to the playroom for now.
2. We hung two mismatched Ikea frames that had been waiting in the playroom for months.

The asymmetry felt fresher, but the frame colors clashed—one was reddish-brown and the other white—so I gave them a few thin coats of leftover oil-rubbed bronze spray paint to help them integrate with the darker accents across the room.

Once the frames were bronzed, I needed art to fill them. I dug out an old green dandelion print from Ikea and decided to make a simple “paint chip” piece using leftover Ralph Lauren swatches I keep in a basket. I grouped tones that repeat in the room—browns, grays, blue-grays, greeny-yellows, soft sands, creams, and whites—and arranged them from darkest to lightest to create a subtle gradient that ties into the botanicals without competing for attention.

The paint-chip pieces were attached to card stock with small loops of tape and four sheets taped together to form a 16 x 20″ backing for one frame. The result is a pixelated, neutral-toned piece that complements the bronzed frames and the other wall art.

We liked how the new arrangement reduced the overly matched, mirror-image feel while still keeping visual balance. It’s not perfect—more tweaks are on the list—but the mix of sizes and finishes reads more intentional and collected than a wall of twins.

The white mirror in the nook connects to the glossy window trim, and the darker art on either side keeps the area grounded without matching exactly. That slight imbalance is what makes the corner feel layered instead of staged. It also helps that the mirror reflects a lot of natural light and the chandelier floats overhead, pairing nicely with the neutral curtains and the moody leather chair.

All in all, two inexpensive pillows and a couple of quick, free art swaps made the space more interesting and softened the rigid symmetry that had crept in as we added matching pieces. We love the results—and Clara’s favorite detail is definitely the pig, which she happily squeals about every time she runs into the room.

Have you refreshed a room with inexpensive pillows or DIY art lately? Do you prefer matching pairs or a more collected, mixed look? We’re big supporters of experimenting and learning as we go—trial, error, and a few sketchy doodles are part of the process. At least this time nothing broke.