The look of perfectly combined and layered throw pillows is an art in itself. Combining throw pillows seems naively easy, but once you take a shot at it yourself, you might think otherwise. Follow these simple tips to make decorating with throw pillows fun and easy!

We are going to loop you in on these special tricks that will make decorating fun and stress-free. Brilliant decorators who throw together pillow combos so seamlessly keep these things in mind... base color, color with patterns, mismatching, symmetry and textures. Follow these tips on how to decorate with throw pillows, and you too can conquer a beautiful design!

Base Color 

Is there a certain decoration or a favorite piece of furniture that pops and brings a special vibe to your room? This can be your base color. A great place to start decorating with throw pillows is to pick your base color. From there find pillows that have accents to support your base color. Then find pillows that are contrasting to that color. 

Here's an example, you have a bright orange pot for a large house plant in your living room. Use this orange color as your base. Now find pillows that have hints of orange and next find pillows that include a type of blue. Blue is a contrasting color to orange. You can have some fun with this blue. Play with this contrasting color and try using a neutral grey blue, dark deep blue or even teal. Using a shade of your contrasting color will help add depth to your look.

When you combine these colors you can consider incorporating a neutral like whites and creams. Neutrals balance out your design and keep it from getting out of hand. Neutrals aren’t always necessary, but they are helpful if you’re new to decorating with throw pillows. This technique will give you a great color scheme and place to start when building your throw pillow design. 

Using Color with Patterns

If you like using lots of colors keep your patterns the same size. Lots of colors means your patterns should either all stay bold or all stay small and detailed. That way your brain will have just a few things to take in instead of a whole lot of things to absorb. 

If you do decide to use just one base color, try experimenting with patterns and textures. If one base color speaks to you, spice it up with pillows that have the same color and fun designs plus you can play with different types of fabrics. Mixing colors and patterns can get very overwhelming and messy quickly! If you’re new to decorating with throw pillows, don’t worry too much about mixing colors and patterns and stick to the other tips!

Mismatching Throw Pillows

When you mismatch prints you keep your eye indulged and your design interesting! It’s also a great way to bring your personality into your design. Start with some neutrals and/or solids for balance, add a few fun prints then pick one or two unique designs. For example you could have a light pink neutral plus some mustard yellow diamond prints and finally add a pillow with an embroidered elephant. Keep in mind your surroundings and use colors that accent or contrast with your current room. The more you practice this technique the more artful your creations will be. You can also move around your pillows from room to room to bring a fresh look every now and then.

Symmetric Pillows

This decoration style looks great for beds but can also be used on any piece of furniture! When making a symmetric design, use solid colored pillows in the back. If it’s for your bed, put your sleeping pillows in the way back and another solid row of pillows in front of them. The next couple of rows look best with patterns and textures. If you have a bold pattern put that one behind the more detailed patterns. And save the fun and unique pillow for the centerpiece. This centerpiece pillow can even be a circle or square, it does not have to match the same shape as the others. There’s no need to match your bedding colors and honestly using contrasting colors or complimenting colors from other pieces in the room is a brilliant technique! When using symmetry for a couch the centerpiece pillow can either be completely removed or placed on one side giving your symmetry and little twist. 

Textures and Throw Pillows

Textured pillows are the best! We’ve been seeing a lot of faux fur pillows or shaggy macrame designs. Vintage textures from embroidery or macrame on throw pillows makes for a great boho chic look! When using textures especially big and bold ones try using the pillow solo. For instance, a corner chair only needs a pillow (or two), but you still want this throw pillow to make a statement, so why not use a bold texture here? Typically reserve one (or two) textured pillows per set up. If you are inclined to use two, maybe try two of the same pillows, one on each side of your furniture to balance each other out nicely. Also, when working with textured pillows try and keep your colors similar, vary with textures instead of colors. 

Get Creative When Decorating with Throw Pillows!

It does take a little practice and a lot of observing of other’s designs, but before you know it your throw pillow set ups will be brilliant! We've spent lots of hours working on our rattan furniture sets with throw pillows and sometimes less is better than more, while other times more the better! Don’t worry so much on technique, just use these ideas as advice and trust your inner creative side. Throw pillow set ups truly display a person's character so let your instincts lead your design, and most importantly have fun! You can also swap pillows with a friend or get a new cover for your cushion. They are just pillows after all. :)