10 Tips On How To Decorate Home With Cushions

Once reserved for the royal and wealthy, cushions are now an item of accessible luxury that completes spaces ranging from living rooms, bedrooms, outdoor seating areas or fancy co-working spaces. Deceptively named ‘throw cushions’ or ‘scatter cushions,’ mixing and matching these decorative pillows actually requires a little bit of know-how to get that timeless, yet creative harmony of colours and shapes. Often, just bringing a bit of colours to your living room lets you avoid re-painting, re-carpeting, or replacing your old sofa. We’ve put together a quick guide for choosing the perfect cushions for your home.

1. Match your cushions with existing decor.

Look for throw cushions in colours and patterns that will coordinate with the palette you are already using in your interior design. Colourful cushions enable you to lend your living room a warm, welcoming atmosphere therefore making it pleasant place to spend time in. Mix up your colour scheme and take a look at cushions with patterns and designs and choose from a myriad of prints, patterns, colours and fabrics. As a rule, patterns and colours are the hardest choice to make when buying new cushions so remember to be aware of the style you want to create in your rooms: romantic, minimalistic, futuristic or other.

If you go for multiple cushions at the same space, the key to success with bolder prints is to balance them with cushions in neutral tones.

2. Dare to go bold.

Bolster Cushion Cover Kimono Obi Silk, Gold Embroidery Vintage - Seigaiha Grand

If you have a neutral colour theme in your living room, select two or three bold colours to inject a little depth into the space. The more neutral your room, the brighter your cushions can be. White, beige or greyish sofas go well with pretty much any pattern or colours.

3. Layer textures.

Don’t be afraid to combine multiple textures from velvet to silk to fur; combining heavy textures with lighter ones across your cushions will keep your home looking cosy yet modern. There’s an infinite number of prints for cushions, nearly one to suit every taste. The trick for mixing various prints, such as stripes, flowers and spots, together with plain cushions involves finding designs that have a colour in common. So, although the prints may be very different, the colour will bring them together and give life to the arrangement without being overdone. We recommend that you choose one-two dominant colours and that all the cushions should contain or complement these colours. Mixing a variety of textures will automatically up the cosiness-factor in your living room.

4. Play by rearranging your existing cushions.

Try changing the orientation of your existing cushions to give a room a new feel.

5. Draw cushion inspiration from unlikely cultures and places

When looking to update your room, take inspiration from a range of sources; may it be your favourite country you visited or art. If you love the colours and print in your favourite silk scarf or a piece of art, then use that as inspiration when looking for beautifully designed cushions. It’s a good idea to draw the colour scheme of your cushions from a rug, a piece of artwork or even a exotic clothing item like kimono.

6. Make them look lived-in

Nobody likes too perfect. Create a liveable space by using a ‘karate chop’ in the middle of the cushion to create a crease in them. This will make them seem more lived in and inviting. It will also help to break up uniform shapes, and unite cushions of different colours, scales or families.

7. Mix cushion shapes and sizes

Have all your cushions in the same regimented size can look very formal and dull. Combine cushions of different sizes and shapes such as oval or oblong to create a homely and welcoming look. Don’t be afraid to go for non-standard sizes. Small cushions are a huge trend right now as they don’t take a lot of space and immediately add this ‘wow’ factor. The more neutral your colour scheme, the bolder you can go with your cushions.

8. Gender neutral? Grey is the choice.

If you don’t want to go too crazy, you can still have a gender neutral room with cushions. Grey and pastel yellow is a great combination that lifts and living space without being overly feminine. You can also try are are mustard, terracotta, sage green and sea green.

9. Create contrast

Contrast block colours in narrow spaces to play with the eyes. Pair plain cushions with patterned pillows for a balanced and refined look.

10. Make the "wow" factor

If your home consists of earthy, neutral colours, you can add some metallic to maintain a textured and edgy finish. Keep it chic and simple, and stick to the monochrome for a sophisticated yet timeless edge.