Tips & Guides

How to Style a Sofa

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Your sofa is a blank canvas…until you dress it up. Without the added touches, a sofa can fall flat. No matter how beautiful the furniture piece is, it needs added styling. Think of your sofa like yourself before you dress up in an outfit. Clothes really enhance or diminish your look. The same goes for your sofa. The sofa needs to be dressed and styled.

The key to styling your sofa is simply adding accent pillows, a throw blanket, or both! Depending on the look you are going for in your space, how you style a sofa can be the deciding factor for the mood or style of the room. Changing up accent pillows or a throw are also very inexpensive ways to change the look of your room. iNSPIRE Q will show you 3 simple steps on how to style your sofa. We promise it’s easy if you follow the fundamentals!

1. Balance

Always create balance with your accent pillows. If you have two pillows on one side of your sofa balance the other side with two pillows. It looks better when there is an equal amount on both sides.

Pictured is a living room with a twilight blue linen upholstered armless sectional sofa in the center. The sofa is minimally decorated with four accent pillows, each featuring a blue and brown print.

2. Layering

You always layer your accent pillows or blankets. The pillows don’t lay side by side. You layer one on top of another. It looks best when you have a solid pattern with a textured one. It is good to mix and match in order to add interest to your sofa.

This image is another living room. In the center is a tawny port red armless sofa, minimally decorated with two accent pillows. The accent pillows are blue and brown, contrasting against the red fabric. In the background is a Scandinavian-inspired dining set. In the foreground is a bright yellow tray top coffee table.

3. Size

It is important to not have too many pillows or throws. You don’t want your sofa covered up completely. The ratio should feel balanced. When choosing throw pillows, it’s good to have varying sizes to add dimension. It’s not necessary to have different sizes; they can be uniform if that is the style you are going for. The accent pillows and throws are the added “dressings” to the sofa it should enhance the sofa, not overpower it.

This image shows another living room. The dark grey linen tufted sloped track arm sofa sits in the center of the room. There are four accent pillows on the sofa, two light blue ones, and two grey and white ones, offering a delicate contrast against the dark grey linen of the sofa. On the back wall is a large, round wall mirror. Each side of the sofa has a mirrored and chrome finished end table, elevating the look of the room.

From Our Designer…

Accent pillows add immediate personality to a room since they’re up-close and personal. A room can be transformed seasonally with just new accent pillows, adding new color and touchable comfort. Establish your foundation pieces, then experiment with pillows!

This living room features a grey linen upholstered armless sofa. It has two accent pillows, one yellow and one rainbow striped one. In front of the sofa is a matching grey linen square ottoman. Behind the sofa is a doorway to a bedroom with a metal bed. There is also a samba red end table.
This mid-century modern living room has a dark grey linen armless sectional sofa with a chaise ottoman. Two white and printed accent pillows sit on the sofa, along with a red throw blanket. Bright yellow matching end table and coffee table add another pop of color to the overall space.
This colorful living room has green walls, a red sofa, a blue coffee table, a white side table, a blue end table, and a light blue accent chair. The tawny port red armless sectional sofa is in the heart of the room. Various, colorful pillows decorate the sofa, along with an open book.

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