Footstools and Ottomans With Storage

So now when you do happen across a bit of divine fabric, you will know what to do in order to make the most of it. They simply exist beneath it and make it look better than it would if left hanging on a rack. The small furnishings are models for the fabric, allowing it to take the limelight and draw the admiration of the viewer.

Think of them as the thin, pale-faced models on the high-fashion runway whose job it is to make the clothes look good. Why do footstools, pillows and runners display fabric so beautifully? Table runners do well in almost any fine fabric, also. I have pillows done in hand-embroidered silk that are almost too pretty to lay your head upon. Why not?

I could, of course, have opted for using the fabric for throw pillows. The result was a footstool of unsurpassed elegance. Instead, I took the fabric and a plain, rectangular ottoman to my upholsterer with strict instructions to let the fabric rule. I did not. I could have chosen to have it framed as art and few would have questioned my decision.

The remnant was old, but well preserved and exquisite in its detail. I recently found a couple of yards of excellent vintage brocade fabric at a designer's sale.