Save- Candy-stripe star
Self piping outlines each tip so the shape holds against the peach wall.
- Dog-print pillow
A simple line drawing keeps the pillows quiet and child-scaled.
- Bookcase with teddy
Placed so a child can reach a book without standing up.
- Wooden rocket
Natural wood toys suit the olive half of the stripe.
- Picture books
Books left out signal that this is where reading happens.
Plate Candy-stripe star pouf beside a low bookcase and a wooden rocket
A candy-stripe star pouf sits beside a low bookcase, so every book is in reach from the seat.
A Reading by HarlanStar Poufs & Giant Star Floor Cushions
A candy-stripe star floor cushion beside a low bookcase
Five points of pink and olive stripe on the floor of a peach room. Every toy and pillow around it was put there on purpose. Let me show you which, and why.
The quick answer
A star floor cushion works best in a kids' room when it sits within reach of a low bookcase, so a child can pull a book without getting up. Keep the pillows quiet and child-sized, pick toys in natural wood, and choose a plain, untufted cushion with a zippered cover, because tufted covers cannot come off for washing.
Every prop in this corner has a job
The old man whose floors I swept as a boy used to say a room tells you where to sit before anybody does. This corner says it plainly.
The star is candy stripe, bubblegum pink and olive green, in a striped cotton. Each of its five points is outlined in self piping, so the shape holds its edge against the peach wall instead of melting into it. A seam is a promise, and piping is the seam you can see. The points do more than look pretty, too: they make armrests and backrests for a small reader.
Now the props, one at a time. The low white bookcase stands right beside the star at a child's reach, with a teddy bear keeping watch on top. Picture books lie on the floor, which tells you this is where reading happens, not where books are stored. The wooden rocket is plain natural wood, and natural wood sits kindly beside the olive half of the stripe.
The two pillows are the quiet ones: a cream pillow with a line-drawn dog and a gray cloud. Simple shapes, soft colors, sized for small arms. Loud pillows on a loud stripe would start a quarrel. Overhead, a white voile canopy strung with fairy lights makes a ceiling low enough to feel like a hideout. A wooden rainbow on the sill and a ceramic mug finish the story: a grown-up sits here too, some evenings.
What does your child reach for first when they settle down to read?
Pinned by Harlan
Five things in this corner, and the reason each one earned its place.
The numbers match the pins on the plate.
- Candy-stripe starSelf piping outlines each tip so the shape holds against the peach wall.
- Dog-print pillowA simple line drawing keeps the pillows quiet and child-scaled.
- Bookcase with teddyPlaced so a child can reach a book without standing up.
- Wooden rocketNatural wood toys suit the olive half of the stripe.
- Picture booksBooks left out signal that this is where reading happens.
Copying the corner in your own house
- Put the star floor cushion within arm's reach of a low shelf, so the next book is one stretch away.
- Let the stripe be the only loud piece; keep every pillow near it plain and pale.
- Choose toys in natural wood, which sit calmly beside any stripe.
- Hang something overhead, a canopy or a string of lights, so the corner feels like a room of its own.
- Leave a few books out. An open book is an invitation.
- Order an untufted cushion with a zippered cover, so it can go in the wash.
The linen floor cushion that couldn't go in the wash
A parent in the US was planning a reading nook for young children and asked how to clean a linen tufted floor cushion. The workshop told them straight: tufted cushions cannot be machine washed. The tufts pass through the filling, so the cover cannot come off, and the most you can do is wipe it gently.
So the workshop offered the same floor cushion untufted, with a removable, machine-washable cover. For small children that is the better cushion. Juice and crayons do not ask permission, my friend. More on the trade-off in tufted or plain cushions.
The lesson: For kids' spaces, choose untufted cushions with zippered covers so they can be washed.
Floor seating questions from parents
- A common question
How do I measure my room for L-shaped floor seating?
The workshop's answerMeasure each wall end to end and send the numbers with a photo or a simple paper sketch. Say whether the seats should run end to end or meet corner to corner, so the workshop can work out the overlap at the corner. The seating is made as separate cushions set side by side.
- A common question
While the foam is expanding, should I keep the floor sofa pieces apart?
The workshop's answerIt makes no difference, so put the sofa together and use it while it recovers. Compressed foam looks small and flat at first and fills out over the following hours; a whole sofa can take up to about a day and a half.
- A common question
Why does your floor sofa cost so much less than the designer one it resembles?
The workshop's answerThe workshop makes it in its own production and chooses its own foam filling and fabric, which it says are of higher quality. It also arrives in days, not the months a designer piece can take.
The five points of a star floor cushion make armrests and backrests for a small reader. Set it within arm's reach of a low bookcase.
Harlan
On the cutting table
| Cushion | Five-point star floor cushion |
|---|---|
| Fabric | Striped cotton, bubblegum pink and olive green |
| Piping | Self piping on every point |
| Edge | Box edge |
| Sized by | Overall width across the points |
| Cover | Zippered and removable; untufted |
| Care | 86°F (30°C) gentle wash; indoor use only |
| Best for | A kids' reading corner beside a low bookcase |
Have it made
Have this made — ask Harlan’s workshop
Old upholsterers will tell you the real cutting happens in the conversation, long before the shears come out. Tell the workshop what you sit on, and they will talk it through with you. — Harlan
Leave your details and the workshop will call you to confirm measurements, fabric, foam and piping. No prices, dates or payment on this page: it is a request, not an order.
Questions buyers ask next
How is a star floor cushion sized?
By its overall width across the points. The five points double as armrests and backrests for children, so measure the floor space the whole star needs, point to point, before choosing a size.
Is striped cotton a good fabric for a kids' room?
It is soft and cheerful, but cotton stripes stain more easily than tighter weaves and are for indoor use only. A zippered cover that washes at 86°F (30°C) on a gentle cycle is what makes it practical.
Why are the pillows so plain next to the star?
Because the stripe is the loud piece. Plain, pale pillows with simple line drawings keep the corner calm and child-scaled, and they leave the star's five-point shape easy to read from across the room.
Does piping matter on a star shape?
Yes. Self piping outlines each of the five points, so the star keeps a crisp edge against a colored wall. Piping also protects the seam from wear, which counts on a cushion that gets sat, sprawled and jumped on.
Sit well. — Harlan
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