How to pick and style throw pillows

Mixing up fun and funky throw pillows is kinda my jam. Pillow covers are one of those things that I purchase often on my travels (they’re so easy to tuck into the suitcase), and most of the pillows that I own are from my two trips to Turkey. I LOVE kilim pillows and they come in so many amazing patterns and varieties…I feel like every time I scour eBay for new styles (and that’s VERY often) I find types I have never seen before. For this round-up, I tried to collect more unusual pieces in fun colors that feel right for fall (how pretty are the floral kilim!?!). And since I consider throw pillows to be my secret weapon in styling, I thought I’d share a few tips on how to pick the right throw pillows for a sofa, sectional or love seat, and how to style them together so that your sofa looks chic and collected instead of a hot mess.

 

 

1. THINK ABOUT COLOR

• Make sure that the pillows that you choose have some colors in common with one another: notice on the pink sofa, I’ve used pillows that have some pink tones but don’t read too overwhelmingly as PINK.
• Make sure that the patterns on the pillows  have some colors/tones in common with the sofa–like on the green sofa I’ve used pillows that both have some green tones to them–it makes the selection feel eclectic without clashing. 

2. THINK ABOUT SHAPE

• I like to mix it up with the pillows shapes too…if you have two square pillows, add another pillow that’s oblong (or round!) this helps keep things visually interesting–sometimes a bit of asymmetry is good.

3. THINK ABOUT SIZE

• Make sure that the scale of the pillows matches the scale of the furniture. If your sofa is super deep, start with big, dense 20″ X 20″ pillows, if you’re styling a small love seat, use pillows that provide a nice visual accent, but they don’t have to be too big.

4. THINK ABOUT PLACEMENT

• I like to mix pillows so that matching pillows are on opposite sides of the sofa and pillows of varying shapes sit next to each other. I keep about 20 pillows on my living room sofa (I know, I’m nuts) and I layer them with the largest pillows in back, the smallest up front and I tend to rotate the pillows slightly so that they aren’t straight up and down. If you plan to be more reasonable and have only a few pillows on your sofa, try some asymmetrical placement options (like the ones pictured above) to keep things looking eclectic and collected but not too stuffy :)

5. LASTLY…

• Feel free to add in solid colored pillows to the mix to break up some of the pattern–sometimes pattern on pattern on pattern is rad, but sometimes it looks super busy.
• I enjoy adding in a furry pillow now and again too (especially in the cooler months) to provide some diversity in the textures used.

All pillows pictured here can be found in my Patternful Collection on eBay
Pink Rue sofa from CB2
Leather Sofa from West Elm
Green love seat from World Market

*My eBay Collections were curated as part of my collaboration with eBay.