Often when you buy a sofa from a large furniture chain they come with their own toss pillows as part of the package. They call them toss pillows for a reason. They must go. I am pretty opinionated on this topic. I know there are exceptions to every rule, but I have yet to see a decent accent pillow with a mass marketed living room set. When you purchase a custom sofa, chair or loveseat, you choose every detail of your pillows including welting, size, shape and front and back patterns. These options create that high-end look that you don't get right off the bat with seating off the show room floor. You can get a similar look by making a few quick changes. Here is a photo of the design-crime-pillows that came with one of my sofas. HORRIBLE. (Please don't zoom too closely or the dog hair will show!)
Okay, we can fix this. I have a few design rules that I live by. One of them is that not everything should "match." To clarify, "matching" is very different from "coordinating." Throughout the blog you will see this rule of mine as a constant. Taking a room from a look that was transplanted from a furniture store to your home to one from a design studio means its time to stop the matchy-matchy madness. The eye needs a place to rest and when everything is the same, pattern, color, texture the entire look becomes diluted. I'll just say it. It's boring. Decorative pillows are a fast and inexpensive way to take a basic seating group and kick it up a notch.
The easy recipe is to pick one solid with texture, one geometric or repeating pattern with no more than two colors and one multi-color print. Vary the size and/or shape. Together the group brings life to a simple sofa or love-seat.
I grabbed some pillows and threw some easy combinations together. Getting rid of those boring pillows can add fun to your living room. Don't be intimidated by mixing patterns. Both of these have a similar green hue in them and the patterns are similar in size and direction. Keep your color palette consistent and use complimentary sizes in your pattern and you will be surprised by the transformation.
If your patterns are monochromatic, add the unexpected touch of an accent color. Again, the solid is textured but the bright hue is a lovely boost to the subdued blue tones. The different shapes of the pillows also make it more interesting to the eye.
This weekend is a great time to play around with your throw pillows. There are so many terrific options out there at discount retailers. No time, not in the budget? Grab some from the other areas of your house and start mixing it up a bit. Go with what your eye likes, if you think its too busy, then just start out with a solid in an accent color or only one pattern. You'll get the hang and before you know it, I guarantee you'll never "match" again. Send me your transformations. I'd love to see what you came up with. Ta!
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