A Complete Guide to Decorating Your Sofa with Pillows

You’ve finally picked out a sofa that goes perfectly with the rest of the furnishings in the room. However, to your utter exasperation, something still looks amiss! Since sofas and couches take a significant part of the room, leaving them as they are usually creates a somewhat bland look. However, you can easily solve this issue by choosing the most striking throw pillows for your sofas. You also need to arrange them in a way to create the perfect look.

Now, if you’re wondering “how do I decorate my sofa with pillows?,” you have nothing to worry about! To help you out, we’re apportioning this article into two sections to guide you through the pillow “picking” process followed by the “arranging” techniques.

So, let’s get started!

How to Decorate Your Sofa with Pillows – “Picking Guide”

With an overwhelming selection of throw accessories available to decorate your sofa, finding the perfect picks can get a bit challenging. When that’s the case, you may refer to this section for creating a rich look with the simple addition of throw pillows:

1- Choose Vibrant Colour Pillows to Pair with an Earthy-Tone Sofa for a Bold Statement

When you want to add a touch of boldness in the otherwise neutral room, picking out pillows with two different vibrant colours can be a match made in heaven for earthy-tone sofas.

For example, you can pair purple and yellow pillows with a light grey sofa or orange and blue throw pillows with a delicate brown sofa arrangement or you can add brown couch pillows to a blue sofa.

2- Pick Out Neutral Shade Pillows with Bold Colour Sofa to Tone a Room Down

Similarly, if you want to tone down your room to create a balanced look in the otherwise vibrant room and sofa, it’s best to go for neutral shade pillows like cream, grey, and brown.

3- Combine Cool Neutrals with Warm Neutrals for a Calming Effect

Suppose you want to create a modest yet calm look for your room. In that case, you must have bought a sofa with cool or warm neutrals. When that’s the case, you can use a combination of both neutrals in one place with your pillow selection.

For instance, if you own a sofa with warm neutrals that have a possible yellow or pink base like the “cream” or “coral” shade, you can pair it with soft neutral pillows with undertones of blue and green like “lavender” and “cyan.”

4- Select One-Color Pillows for a Modest Look

On the other hand, you can create a sophisticated and modest look by using the surroundings as an inspiration and picking out one colour that rhythms with everything around. You can use particular colour pillows to decorate your sofa.

5- Choose Multiple Solid-Colour Pillows to Make a Focal Point

If you’re looking to add an eye-pleasing factor in a room, you can also choose multiple solid colour pillows to draw attention to your sofa, making that a focal point.

6- Combine Different Print Pillows to Add Some Depth

Contrarily, when you need to add a semblance of depth in your room, solid colours can only take you so far. Therefore, you can instead choose pillows for sofas with different patterns, incorporating small and large designs.

While large print pillows have bolder designs with less repetition, it’s the other way around in small print pillows. This automatically adds a much-needed sense of depth to a room.

7- Pick One Pillow with Unique Patterns and Others with Solid Colours to Draw Attention

If you think selecting multiple print pillows might go a little overboard for your room, you can choose only one pillow with patterns that go with the dimensions of your coffee table while picking solid colours for the rest. The one unique pillow may have a different pattern, texture, fabric, or even an irregular shape from the rest.

8- Get a Selection of Pillows with Different Shapes, Colours, and Fabrics for an Eclectic Look

For adding a more impressionable appeal to any room, you can consider choosing sofa pillows with different colours, shapes, textures, and fabrics. When combined, velvet, cotton, and faux pillows in circular, rectangular, and square shapes exhibit an eclectic modesty.

How to Decorate Your Sofa with Pillows – “Arrangement Techniques”

Once you have the perfect pillows to decorate your sofa, you can use the following tips to arrange them for the best results!

1- Don’t Neglect the Size Factor or Number of Pillows

It’s quite straightforward. If you own a large, overstuffed sofa, you must get large pillows. Contrarily, if you have a small couch, it’s better to go for smaller throw pillows.

Furthermore, if you want a traditional look, opt for similar-shape pillows and arrange them in even numbers. For example, you can add one, two, or even three pillows (if you have an oversized couch) on each side of the sofa. On the other hand, if you want a more eclectic style, you should go for an odd number and multi-size throw pillows.

2- Keep an Asymmetrical Arrangement to Add a Fun, Bohemian Style

When decorating your sofa with multiple size and shape throw pillows, you can try your hand at arranging them in random patterns to exhibit a fun, bohemian look.

3- Keep a Symmetrical Arrangement for Traditional Outlook

On the contrary, you can create a symmetrical arrangement for a traditional yet modest look if you want. For this, you can arrange different shaped pillows like you use multiple brackets in mathematics, applying them in symmetric pairs.

For example, look at this pattern: { [ ( ) ] }

Remember that the smallest pillow pair goes on the inside (just like brackets) and the largest on the outside.

4- Place a Unique Patterned Pillow in the Centre with Other Solids

Finally, suppose you get one special patterned pillow with other solids, as we defined in point 7 in the previous section. In that case, you should arrange that pillow in the centre with the solid colour pillows on either side. The latter can be decorated in any style you want.

Our Final Verdict

While keeping all points in mind delineated in this article, remember not to go overboard. Each room has its rhythm, and you should take that into account to define the space’s aesthetics accordingly. Finally, the size and number of pillows should also be considered so as not to under or overload your couch.

Samantha Nguyen

Samantha Nguyen, a graduate of the Pratt Institute with a degree in Interior Design, has made a mark for herself in the home decor scene for 15 years. She started her career with a renowned design firm in Los Angeles, gaining critical acclaim for her innovative approaches. Samantha joined our platform in 2019, where she shares her expertise in creating aesthetically pleasing yet functional living spaces. She is also a staunch advocate for incorporating sustainable materials in home decor. In her leisure time, she loves to paint to establish inspiration from her travels.

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