What’s the secret to a comfortable, cozy AND beautiful sofa? Pillows! Every designer loves pillows (what’s not to love?) but the art of mixing and matching sizes, colors and patterns can be a challenge. Here’s some advice on how to select the perfect pillows.

One of the simple ways to spruce up your living room is to change out the throw pillows. Since the seasons are changing and winter is coming, it’s time to swap out your light, airy summer look for a warm, cozy and comfortable winter feel. With a neutral sofa as your background, you can create a myriad of looks with different pillows and blankets ¹. Its just that easy!

There are two important things to consider when buying/styling throw pillows:

1. Size of the sofa/chair – it dictates size of the pillows.
2. Number of pillows –we love odd numbers; its visually more interesting!

As a general rule of thumb, start with the largest pillow at the back of the sofa and build on it with smaller pillows. Typically, 2” size increments work best for layering pillows (for example, start with a 20” square and move your way in with an 18” pillow).²

Standard Sofas

Standard sofas measure between 72-89 inches wide ³. For standard sofas, the best pillow sizes are 22” and 20” squares. Start with a 22” pillow on both ends of the sofa and move toward the center. Next, select a 20” square pillow and so on. Lumbar pillows between 11-14” high and 19-22” long are best suited for standard size sofas. To achieve a comfortable and cozy look, you can layer the pillows in a few ways:

► Option 1: Use a 22” square pillow on each side/end of the sofa and a 20” square pillow in the front of each 22” pillow. Try a lumbar pillow in the center or on in front of the two pillows on one of the sides. Total of 5 pillows.

► Option 2: Mix it up a little – select five pillows of varying pattern, color, size and shape, arrange them on both ends/sides of the sofa, one in a group of two and one in a group of three. This will create more of a natural or Bohemian look. Total of 5 pillows.

For a standard sized sofa, a total of 5 pillows should be sufficient to create a full/cozy look. You can opt for more pillows if you are going for a maximalist style. Or, just use pillows for a minimalist look.

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