Nothing is easier or cheaper to update your space than throw pillows. For a little color, texture, and personality in your living room or bedroom or even on your outdoor patio, just get a few new pillows. Adding pillows is a simple task, but how to mix and match them like a pro is something that takes more strategy. Whether you want a cozy or modern look or something eclectic, learning how to mix and match throw pillows can really change up a room. Confession, if you’re looking to put away your fear of mixing throw pillows, here’s your ultimate guide to mixing these bad girls with confidence and style.
- Don’t Be Afraid To Begin With A Base Color Scheme
The first things to do to mix and match your throw pillows is decide on a color palette. Your choices, however, need a base color scheme, because it’s a foundation for them and the pillows shouldn’t clash, but complement each other.
You start by selecting one or two dominant colors from existing walls, furniture or décor. For example, you have neutral couch in shades of gray, beige, or ivory, but you soothe those neutrals with a flag pillow in a brighter color such as navy, mustard, burnt orange, or all of the above, so bright it brings your color palette joy. Otherwise, if your room is jammed full of color then choose pillows that highlight these colors without drowning the room.
If you have more colours put together to keep the look cohesive, a colour wheel will help you choose complementary colours or analogous colours if you want a harmonious effect. If you are unsure, go for neutral tones such as white, black, gray and muted earth tones as they all give you freedom to mix other colours.
- Make Play with Patterns and Textures
Using different patterns and different textures is one of the most fun parts when mixing throw pillows. If you can manage to do this successfully you get something that adds visual interest and dimension to your space giving it a more layered and dynamic feel. And mixing patterns, sure there are some basic guidelines to follow.
Start with Solid Pillows: Start by picking a few solid colored pillows to act as anchor. These will give a balanced base to add patterned pillows later.
Vary the Scale of Patterns: Mixing the pillows with different scales of patterns prevents visual chaos. Balance pair large, bold patterns with small subtle patterns. A good example would be if you have a large geometric pattern in the home the smaller stripes or soft floral design will work well with it.
Mix Different Types of Patterns: Don’t be afraid to mix and match prints. Stripes can hang out with polka dots and florals if those stripes happen to be part of the same color scheme. If they connect to your room’s color scheme, you can even bring some unexpected items like animal prints or abstract patterns on your designs.
Incorporate Different Textures: There are a range of fabrics in which throw pillows come, including velvet, linen, cotton, faux fur and silk. Mix textures and you bring depth and richness to the interior. A velvet pillow will be a sophisticated touch next to a sleek leather one, or a cotton pillow with a chunky knit. You can also add pillows with contrasting textures to soften the other fabrics too.
- Vary the Shape and Size
So don’t let yourself be confined by tradition nature and design a square pillow. Now that you already have a handle on the different arrangements you could consider adding a variation of shapes and sizes to your arrangement to give it a more interesting and intentional feel.
Mix Square and Rectangular: Square pillows are what most people are used to however rectangular pillows (called lumbar pillows) bring in a hint of sophistication and comfort. Stack a couple of lumbar pillows in front of your square pillows, you won’t get more style and function combined!
Try Different Sizes: If your sofa happens to be quite large, then it is a good idea to pair smaller, standardised pillows with larger ones to give it a balanced effect. Instead, use a few large pillows in the back on a smaller sofa or bed and fill in the space with smaller ones. A general rule of thumb for pillow placing is that small pillows work best and it looks best when pillow sizes vary from each other, creating visual movement and balance.
- Consider the Room’s Style
If you’re mixing and matching throw pillows, you need to take the room’s overall style into consideration. You don’t want to clash with your other décor, as you’re probably modern, traditional, boho, or coastal. Here’s how you can tailor your pillow choices based on your room’s aesthetic:
Modern/Minimalist: For a sleek, modern look, stick with simple things. Choose neutral tones, geometric patterns and include leather, linen or velvet within your choice of fabrics. Choose a very limited color palette of black, white and gray with one or two accent colours, like mustard or teal.
Bohemian: Boho style is a laid back, eclectic style. Use your inspiration to weave in layer upon add layer of free flowing woven, tasseled, and embroidered pillows. Play in rich earth tones with a pop of jewel tones, or bright hues. If wishing to add a poster or mural wall art to your walls, don’t be scared about ethnic inspired prints as kilim and Moroccan patterns can give you a personal and unique touch.
Coastal: Whites, blues, and soft greens can give you a make a fresh airy coastal look. Linen, cotton and even seersucker are perfect fabrics for coastal spaces. In addition to the breezy vibe, stripes, coral motifs and nautical inspired patterns are added.
Traditional: In more traditional or classic spaces, the more elegant refined patterns of damask, floral, or toile work great. Choose more subdued richer color palettes, navy, burgundy, deep green, fabric like velvet, brocade, or silk.
Like many other aspects of interior design, you can work on mixing and matching throw pillows until you become an expert. If you choose to begin on a solid colour scheme and then vary the patterns, textures and sizes and pay attention to the overall style of the room, you’ll have a perfect cohesive and stylish pillow arrangement. Keeping that in mind, throw pillows offer an easy and low cost way to increase comfort, colour and personality in any space, so have fun experimenting and make your home feel like home.
Comments are closed.