Giraffe Outdoor Lumbar Pillow

About the Designer: Q & A with Elaine Smith

About Elaine

The daughter of two antique dealers, Elaine Smith was raised in the heart of England against a spirited backdrop of vintage fabrics and furnishings. She cultivated her unique sense of style while traveling with her mother on buying trips in search of rare and remarkable materials for their antique shop.

With an intuitive awareness of rich artistry and antique craftsmanship, Elaine established her luxury decorative pillow company, ESP, in 1997. Today, ESP is dedicated to using only premium fabrics and trimmings to create their distinctive products. Read on to learn more about Elaine Smith and how her pillows preserve the ornate quality of the antiques that inspired her.

Grandin Road: What motivated you to become involved with product design?
Elaine: From an early age, I was interested in coordinating colors. I think it's an innate gift, thanks to a wonderful, artistic mother. My father built a successful enterprise in California and taught me so many helpful aspects about business. I got into making pillows while working at an interior design firm and decided to start my own company. I began by sourcing antique tapestries and textiles with my mother in Europe and mixed them with fabrics and trimmings to create decorative pillows.

Grandin Road: Do you design any other types of products besides pillows?
Elaine: At first, I designed decorative pillows for the interior market. Then, with the development of new textures and patterns in outdoor fabric production, I decided to take my indoor pillows outside. I’ve designed throws, floor cushions, drapes, tabletops, footstools — but really, my focus is pillows.

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The Creative Process

Grandin Road: From start to finish, how do you create your pillows?
Elaine: Inspiration is the catalyst, perhaps from traveling or nature. I may create a fabric design and then work with a mill to manufacture that fabric exclusively for us. First, I select the fabric for the front of the pillow and then find a coordinating fabric for the back. Many of our pillows are reversible, giving our customers two looks for the price of one. We have trimmings custom-made to coordinate with the fabrics. When all those are ready, we cut a prototype, review the design, and make any necessary modifications. Next, we go to sample production.

Grandin Road: What is the most challenging part of the process?
Elaine: It really is not challenging — it’s fun! It never feels like work, so I am very fortunate.

Grandin Road: What does your family think of your success? Do they have any input on your designs?
Elaine: In England, throw pillows are called cushions, so when my family saw the category "Designer Throw Pillows" on your website, they teased, "How much further do your designer pillows go when you throw them verses an ordinary pillow?" I told them you get lots of extra perks with my designers. If I ever take a sample home, my cat, Pasha, is the first to test it out. I gave her the title of "QC" Tester. She won’t settle for ordinary pillows; she likes her designer ESPs!

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What Sets ESP Pillows Apart

Grandin Road: What makes your pillows more unique than others on the market?
Elaine: The designs we create have a unique residential flair. I think people like our pillows because they’re an affordable way to completely revamp a room. ESP pillows can breathe life into an old sofa or chair, giving a splash of color and a focal point. Since I was initially creating very high-end, one-of-a-kind antiqued pillows, I realized that fabric and yarn quality are really important factors. I don’t ever forget that. Each pillow is made to order, cut by hand and sewn to top standards.

Grandin Road: What do your customers rave about?
Elaine: Customers love that our pillows have the weather-resistant properties of an outdoor pillow, but can be used inside because they feel luxurious and hold up so well. People with children and pets often benefit from the stain- and water-resistant qualities our pillows offer.

Grandin Road: How important are things like pile and density when making pillows?
Elaine: Pillows are very tactile objects and they have to feel good. Our chenille, woven and velvet designs in particular feel so soft and snuggly, it’s hard to believe they can go outside.

Grandin Road: What fabrics do you recommend for outdoor use?
Elaine: The outdoor-safe fabrics we use are 100% acrylic, a blend of acrylic and polyester, or 100% polyester.

Grandin Road: What advice can you offer on maintaining outdoor pillows and cushions?
Elaine: It’s important to clean your pillows often before dirt and other substances build up on the fabrics. They need to be brushed regularly to remove particles. Use a solution of mild soap and lukewarm water for cleaning, and let them air-dry.

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Choosing Designs

Grandin Road: What are some important things to consider when shopping for outdoor pillows?
Elaine: Pinpointing the quality of a designer outdoor pillow is as easy as reaching for the zipper. When pillows are caught in a down pour, they dry faster if the cover and insert air-dry separately. We make all of our pillows with invisible zippers; they’re very discreet. The most important thing is that you love them! Have fun with it and know that, like fashion, you can change your pillows around from season to season.

Grandin Road: In designing an outdoor room, what colors work well and why?
Elaine: I like to pick colors that emulate nature. Think of your landscape, be it a beautiful orange sunset, tree bark and leaves, a beach with the ocean against the natural sand, a few white fluffy clouds...nature works. Selecting a base of a natural color and then spicing it up with a more vibrant splash of color is a great way to go. That way, you can keep your base but change the accent color later for a new look. Outdoor rooms can also be an extension of your interior living area. Let the indoor color flow into the outdoor room to give your living space a larger, continuous feel.

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Trends of the Trade

Grandin Road: What are some current trends in pillow and cushion styles?
Elaine: There’s really a dichotomy of classic and modern trends right now. Our customer base is diverse, so we try to create products for both ends of the spectrum to meet everyone’s needs. Since timeless designs continue to be popular, we try to give our classic looks some kind of current edge. Our pillow designs with knife-edge finishes and more hip patterns are geared toward the cleaner, more modern style trends.

Grandin Road: What are some of the most popular colors and patterns right now?
Elaine: Brick hues and shades of orange are important right now for the outdoors. Floral patterns are hot! Blues are making a fresh look this season because you can mix them with neutral colors to blend with furniture fabric colors. Natural neutrals, ivories, camels and chocolates bring balance to the popular strong colors. Black and white is also a big hit, especially with bold patterns and stripes.

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