Tips for Artfully Arranging Throw Pillows on Your Couch

Throw pillows are a great way to add comfort to your couch, giving you a place to rest your head without suffering a sore neck afterward. That’s great on its own, but the benefits of throw pillows extend much further than that. With the proper arrangement, throw pillows can transform the visual appeal and atmosphere of any room. These tips for artfully arranging throw pillows on your couch will help you use these decorative displays of color and texture to their full potential.

Play With Proportions

Setting up two pillows of the same size, preferably 22x22, at each end of your couch can certainly add some visual appeal to the room. However, by playing with pillows of different proportions, you can enhance that visual appeal. Playing with proportions allows you to create a unique visual depth that will catch the eye of any passerby.

When setting up the pillows, it’s a good idea to create a scaling-down effect. What this means is that you should use that 22x22 throw pillow as a base and, with each layer you add, use pillows that are smaller than the one before it. If you put the smallest pillow behind the largest one, it’s not going to stand out. In fact, it’ll disappear entirely. However, that scaling-down effect will help you put each pillow and its unique texture, color, and design on display. We recommend using three pillows for layering, but don’t feel beholden to this idea. If your couch looks better with four layers of pillows, then don’t be afraid to experiment with it.

Get Creative With Colors

As you can see from these 22x22 throw pillow covers, throw pillows can take basic colors and use them to create stylish, unique designs. In the point above, we broke down the benefits of layering pillows with different proportions, but one thing that we haven’t mentioned yet is that you shouldn’t use the same color and design for each of those pillows. If you have a black couch and layer all-black pillows across it, they’re not going to pop visually.

They’ll blend in, preventing you from creating visual depth. Instead, place a throw pillow displaying different shades like white or beige on the back of the couch to create a base for your pillow arrangement. This concept speaks to another basic interior design principle—contrast.

Layering those contrasting colors on top of one another is going to ensure that each one stands out on its own instead of simply blending together. Then, for the second layer of the arrangement, use a pillow that echoes the color of your couch. It can be all-black or black mixed with another color to create a unique pattern. Using this idea will help you achieve a visual cohesion that maintains a sense of balance despite the contrasting colors.

For your final layer, you can echo the colors of the second layer or choose something entirely unique—red, blue, or anything else you feel is going to tie everything together in a stylish way. In the end, interior design principles are more about helping you achieve your vision than they are about enforcing clear-cut rules for all design purposes.

Take Advantage of Texture

Just as contrasting colors can bring visual depth to your couch, so can textures. Throw pillows come in a variety of textures, such as smooth leather, soft velvet, and other cozy, stylish materials. To be clear, you can use similar textures that display different colors to create that aforementioned visual contrast.

That said, using different textures—some that match the texture of the couch and some that don’t—gives each pillow its own unique properties while effectively tying into the overall design of your room and, specifically, the couch they’ll be sitting on.

If you take the time to set up some distinct, soft, and visually interesting textures, then you’ll notice right away how guests gravitate toward them. In fact, you’ll probably find yourself wanting to cozy up with one each time you sit down.

Find the Perfect Patterns

When we talk about patterns in relation to throw pillows, it can go multiple ways. You can create interesting patterns simply with the variety of textures and colors you use when layering the pillows on top of one another.

We’ve broken down the power of patterns in that sense pretty thoroughly in previous points, so now we’ll dive into the patterns on the pillows themselves. As we briefly touched on when discussing colors, using unique patterns and designs through pillow covers can have a significant impact on the area’s visual appeal. If you have a beige couch and use a solid white throw pillow as your base layer, it’s a good idea to work the color beige into the following layer.

You can choose a solid beige pillow to do this, or you can get extra creative and use a pillow that mixes beige and white, beige, and black—whichever combination speaks to you. It allows you to add some cohesion to the pillow arrangement without making it too monotonous. There’s nothing inherently wrong with using pillows of a single color, but mixing them in with those unique patterns—whether it’s a checkered, striped, or another type of complex design—is truly going to make each pillow pop.

Always Think About Atmosphere

Not only do throw pillows allow you to create an immense visual appeal, but they also help you give any room the right atmosphere. If you want to create an atmosphere that is classy and luxurious, consider buying a leather couch and adding a combination of leather and African mudcloth pillows in a neutral color palette.

If you’re designing a living room or bedroom in which you want to create a warm, cozy atmosphere, then using soft, cozy textures in tandem with a warm color palette will help you achieve this. But these are just two examples; feel free to let your creativity run wild while simultaneously keeping visual cohesion and atmosphere in mind.

These tips for artfully arranging couch throw pillows will help you transform a simple living space into a stunning display of color, texture, and visual balance. Throw pillows on their own might seem like simple pieces of décor, but as you can see, they can make any room come to life. Sometimes, trying to bring your vision to fruition can be frustrating, but details like pillow arrangements can help you achieve that vision in a satisfying way.