For us, living small has a lot to do with living green. So we don't mind the size of our apartment ... except when we have company over and there's no place for them to sit.
And, since we don't exactly have room for armchairs, we're trying to think outside the box when it comes to seating. That's how we found Mythic Yarns' zafus.
Technically they're meant to be used for meditation, but we think they'd work nicely as a soft place for us to sit while guests occupy the couch. Plus, we like their funky, sort of bohemian look.
And, we really like Mythic Yarns because all of their products are made from what they call "castaway" clothes -- recycled cotton and wool; even recycled zippers. Their meditation products are filled with either kapok fiber or buckwheat hulls -- both, according to their site, are naturally pest and germ resistant.
At $78 a piece, the zafu we'd like for our place (from the Subway Collection) is a little pricey. We think we'll save up.
Do you have a small space? Where do your guests sit?
Images: Via www.mythicyarns.com
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I think it was this month's Adorn magazine that showed a DIY version of this. I'm sure the pattern calls for new fabrics, but you could easily use recycled or vintage fabrics and achieve a very similar affect.
Amy Butler also has a pattern for a similar pillow, and in an environmentally friendly effort, she's printed them on recycled paper. The pattern can't be more than 15 bucks, and even with the small time investment you'd need to make the poufs, it would not only be less expensive, but I'm sure there'd be a great sense of satisfaction with the end product.
I'm going to making a couple of these to tuck under my coffee table for when I have company. I think they're great.
view lostinprojection's profile
I was just wondering what to do with the many, many pairs of just-barely-worn-out jeans (for some reason the inner thigh wears out while the rest is still in great shape, and the inner thigh is near impossible to mend well) -- they'd make a perfect zafu, via that Adorn DIY...
view the opoponax's profile
My guests either pull kitchen chairs or folding chairs (from behind a dresser) to sit on if they don't want to sit on the other seating. My Ottoman works well as seating (a tray works well to set things on when it is not), and a small couch, computer chair, and another chair in front of my room round up the seating. Otherwise, they can sit on my floor.
My only worry about these cushions would be how they would stack and where you would store them, and that if maybe folding chairs stored under a bed etc. might be a better solution.
view midnightskyfibers's profile
In my apartment, I've switched around the areas that are supposed to be used for the living room and dining room, so my living room is actually in the smaller part of the room. Consequently, seating feels somewhat limited. I have a wicker couch that will seat two comfortably and three if they really like each other, plus two easy chairs in my living room.
If I need more seating, I have a upholstered third chair that I use at my dropleaf desk and a wicker chair (matches my couch but lives in my kitchen), plus an upholstered ottoman, another low footstool, a wooden chest topped with a cushion, and wooden chairs I use with my dining room table. Occasionally someone will pull up the piano bench, though I prefer to use that as a makeshift coffee table.
Incidentally, I love seeing how Mythic Yarns "castaway clothes" since that's what I'm using for covering my sofa cushion and for making throw pillows as part of the Green Cure.
view bohemiangirlpdx's profile