If you have noticed right now, we are a little obsessed with throw pillows.
Today I am going to tell you how to master throw pillows on your sofa. I will talk about selection of right size of the pillows, how to properly place them together, how to mix and match colors and textures, and some common mistakes people make when they styling sofas.
Selecting a right size
The first thing you need to do is to select a right size of your pillow. Going too big will dwarf your sofa. Selecting too small pillows will not make your sofa look stunning, and I just don’t like the way they look. I recommend for the pillows to be a little bit on a bigger size. So, for standard size sofa it is preferably use 22×22’ or 24×24’ pillows on each corner at the back.
With the larger pillows, it is the same principle as I described in my previous blog of “How to style your bed”. Larger pillows, I call them “staples”, ground the look and tie the pillow vignette together. “Staples” are more universal for different styles, occasions, and seasons pillows. Large “Staples” are used for everyday decoration and their covers should be your investment pieces. If you are going to spend a bit more on a style you LOVE, let it be here. Again, “Staple” pillows can be neutral, versatile and can be kept all year round.
We have beautiful collection of neutral linen pillow covers, which will work very well as “Staples” for your sofa or sectional.
So, you obviously want to start decorating your sofa with the biggest pillow at the back of each corner and then you place other smaller pillows forward. We recommend 22×22 and 20×20 or lumbar 14×20 or 16×24 on front.
Inserts:
I really encourage our customers to use high quality inserts. Most of our pillows inserts are from the US, the brand name is ComfyDown . You can find almost every size you need, they are 95% feather and 5% Down. We also find a great quality down inserts in IKEA’s FJADRAR.
Sizes:
For the pillows cover 24×24 use 26×26 down insert
For the pillow cover 20×20 use 20×20 down insert
For the pillows cover 16×24 use 16×26 down insert for more fuller look.
“V shape” or not “V-Shape”?
It is totally up to you! I personally love my pillows having deep V down in the middle (“karate chop”), I think it is super cozy and inviting. But it is totally up to your personal preference. The most important is to use high quality covers and down inserts.
How to place pillows together?
The golden rule is to place large pillows at the back of the corners and add smaller pillows to the front. It is important to use different sizes to create more depth and cohesive look.
When we are creating pillow combinations, we using the “rule of three”, which will create a more pleasant and complete vignette. What is the “rule of three”? The “rule of three” means that you are literally creating triangles using various sizes of the pillows.
Here is some examples of our pillow combinations:
How to mix and match colors and textures?
And now it is time to start talking about pattern mixing and textures. I will be covering this topic in more details in my next blog posts.
There is no rule or real formula of how to mix and match your pillow covers, but I want to say that you always want to mix them the way so they compliment each other, but not compete with each other.
I like to have mix of prints, woven or embroidered textiles together. For example organic print mixed with more straight lines graphic printed or woven. Those look great together with a solid texture at some dimension. Mixing different textiles such as linens, cotton, handwoven mudcloth, velvet, faux leather or vintage grain sack is also a trick.
In a more traditional setting you will match your pillows at both sides of your sofa, but I tent to match all different prints and mix sizes. For example you have big print on a large pillow and a small scale print on a smaller pillow.
For the dark sofa you will start with the light pillow, so it breaks things up, and add smaller pillows that compliment or contrasting with the large pillow
If you have a light sofa, you will start with the dark, bright or contrasting pillow at the back.
Some common mistakes when you styling your sofa:
One of the most common mistake is selecting wrong size of the pillows. As I described earlier, the sofa will have more pleasant view when you choose bigger sizes of the pillows rather than if the pillows are way too small.
The other mistake – using pillows with the same sizes. It is better to vary the sizes of the pillows and create combinations.
Another mistake – is to placing pillows all over the sofa, not placing them in the corners and creating cozy combos.
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