Pillow Combinations That Work

You can change the look of any room with just a few decorative throw pillows.  They come in so many colors, patterns, and textures so they can totally transform any room in just a few minutes.  If you follow me at all then you know that I love throw pillows.  Long ago I needed to figure out how to store them, so I ditched so many inserts, kept only the good down-filled ones, and store all of my collection as pillows covers.  If you have a lot of pillows there can be endless Pillow Combinations That Work.  Here are a few of my favorite.

My furniture is mostly neutral, with no pattern, so that makes it easy to change up all kinds of pillow combinations with color and pattern.

Everyone loves Blue and White.  There are so many ways to use blue, it can be bold or soft.  Either way, it always seems to work if you follow a few basics.  Navy blue couldn’t be more perfect any time of year.  Here I use a heavy pattern, solid and windowpane plaid together.  I also added a large plaid blue and white throw blanket.  All of these patterns work together really well since they have the same navy color and each pattern is different and the size of each pattern is different.  The blue scroll pattern pillow design is pretty dominant, but not so much that it allows the large-scale plaid throw to stand on its own.  The windowpane pattern is non-descript but still rounds out the trio.  By being simple and neutral it is the breathing space the tri needs.  It is also what brings the whole look together.  Try to visualize the look without the windowpane pillow, it could be really overpowering.

Here you can see the whole room, there are even more patterned pillows, but they all work together.  Both ticking stripe pillows are neutral, so they don’t claim a lot of attention.

Here is another way to use blue, this time a soft Tiffany blue.  If you are a little timid, then try using just two simple pillows to create a calm and relaxing room that is still beautiful and chic.  This works because everything is off white, but the other pillows have some texture for interest.

You can do the same thing over and over with just a simple color change.  Soft Sage Green Velvet.

Sometimes I like really bold colors, but I try to create a combination that doesn’t scream but gets your attention.  This is a bright sunshine yellow and to me, it works because it has that contemporary flair about it.  The abstract pillow makes the combination interesting, but it is still really bold.

Most of the time I look for something that is on the neutral to semi-neutral side.  This echoes the camel and gray in the painting, but the three textured pillows give the combination interest.

A similar combination works in my living room too.  Be sure to keep in mind colors when you buy pillows so you can switch them out all over the house.

Here’s another soft combination of camel and gray.  Adding that one small patterned pillow brings the combination some life.  Without that one little pillow this wouldn’t be very interesting.

Mix and match all kinds of patterns and textures.  Just be sure to allow some to be in the spotlight and some to just be companions.  Keep the colors together and play with your different arrangements.  Once you get the hang of it, you can put endless Pillow Combinations That Work.