Barbara Couple specialises in vintage-inspired cushions and textiles. For the “Sorry Not in Service” Cushion, her inspiration has come from vintage destination blinds from buses.
The cushion is black linen/cotton mix with the words embroidered on the front in cream, to accurately recreate that most frustrating of bus signs. A tad pricey, the cushion costs £85 which includes a feather pad for UK customers, but doesn’t for overseas buyers.
Buy it online at Barbara Coupe’s website.
Add a touch of 50s panache to a sofa with this Day at the Races cushion from John Lewis.
The feather-filled cushion is decorated with an appliqued scene of spectators – dressed in their elegant period fashions – watching a horse race. Though firmly situated within the Fifties, this design was actually apparently inspired by an original piece in the John Lewis archive dating back to the 1700s.
This piece of timeless style costs £28.
Buy it online
Christine Berrie is a freelance illustrator based in Glasgow whose work has appeared in various publications. Now some of her designs, including the Vintage Camera Drawings, have been recreated on tote bags and cushions.
The design features a selection of her vintage camera drawings, taken from her piece 28 Camera Drawings, which was selected for inclusion in the very first Creative Review Illustration Annual. For vintage camera enthusiasts, you can spend some time naming the cameras and wondering jealously if the artist actually owns all of these herself.
The tote bag costs just over 19 Euros, whilst square cushion covers are available in three sizes (40cm, 50cm or 60cm) priced between 20 and 25 Euros. The Vintage Camera products are available to buy from Envelop.
We're never short of retro-inspired cushions to feature on this site and here's some more to throw onto that overcrowded sofa with some new designs from Three Sheets 2 the Wind.
If that name sounds familiar, it's because we've previously featured some of their naturally inspired wall art. These new fabric designs are along the same line. Clearly influenced by some of the skeletal plant forms that appeared in 50s fabric designs, choose from the Fugi design or Windflower and Prairie Grass which are both pictured above. Each pattern is printed onto Irish linen in subtle colour combinations in keeping with the mid-century look.
You can buy the designs as a 18 x 18 inch piece of wall art for $80, or as a cushion of the same size for $90.
See the range online
More retro holiday inspired homewares, with these seaside memento cushions from RE.
The cushions are inspired by vintage silk scarves and each feature a pretty 1950s-style illustration of either Blackpool, the Isle of Wight and a more general British seaside scene. The cushions are backed with silk fabric. Each cushion is of a different size, so they'd look good displayed as a group as well as individually.
The varying sizes lead to various prices too. The Blackpool cushion is the cheapest at £35 going up to £53 for the beach scene.
Buy them online
Textile designer Diane Goode has created a beautiful series of hand painted London Cushions.
The cushions are made of silk, onto which the design has been painted, taking up to seven hours to complete. There are five designs to choose from, each one taking its name from a well-known London street and featuring a nostalgic image of London with red pillar boxes and phone booths. Pictured here is the Old Street design, a 50cm square cushion with a turquoise silk reverse and a design where a moped (could it be a Vespa?) sits by an old post box. Park Lane and Berkley Square are also square cushions with electric blue and black reverses respectively. The Kensington and Brick Lane designs are rectangular cushions (60cm by 40cm) and feature exquisite floral designs alongside the retro street scenes.
All of the London cushions are priced £83 and can be bought online from My Deco.
