How to Decorate Your Home with Cushions

#1 Select your colour palette

We might be stating the obvious, but it is an important point to remember when selecting any soft furnishings or smaller accessories. There is no point falling in love with the most on-trend cushions if they look disastrous with your current décor and mean you’ll have to spend an arm and a leg on redecorating your whole room!

Looking around the room that you want to beautify; identify a couple of accent colours that you’d like to bring in to really make your interior knit together. It might be a well-loved vase or old photo frame that adds a pop of bright colour that you wouldn’t want to see on a wall, floor or anything too large. Choose your cushions in a couple of shades of this colour or varying patterns in the same tone.

This is a really inexpensive way of making your room look styled to perfection. A great example of this can be seen using our Perth Rust as an accent cushion alongside Perth Limestone, Perth Steel and Perth Oak.

Still no idea which colours work for your interior? Just browse our selection of fabrics suitable for cushions online and order some swatches to help you identify exactly which colours work. Throw them on the sofa or bed, stand back and take in the whole room.  You’ll know what works and what doesn’t straight away

#2 Experiment with multiple design styles in various textures

Combining multiple designs is another thing to consider when choosing cushions. Great if you’re pattern crazy and love to clash. However, if this isn’t your thing but think plains are going to look a tad boring then texture is key. Consider using a reversible fabric if you fancy creating multiple looks at half the cost.

According to The Independent, teaming together bolder designs, such as our Chevron Stripe Cobalt with plain designs and subtle textures can create a ‘harmonious’ effect.  Perth, our most extensive colour collection to date, is woven using multi-faceted yarns to bring subtle colour variation and depth. You can also introduce interest by choosing a selection of both large and small-scale designs and complementing them alongside solid-colour cushions.

#3 Mix and match across different cushion shapes and sizes

Cushions are available in all different types of shapes and sizes, so don’t be afraid to combine multiple variations to create the most eye-catching arrangement. Try and keep larger cushions in subtle patterned, neutral designs to the back of your display and to use smaller cushions with more intricate, livelier designs to the front. Play about with the finish too, go for an oxford edge, with a piped cushion; a buttoned cushion with a plain and create a multi-sensory experience, your sofa loafers won’t want to leave! Take a look at the Coast collection below. The different sizes, finishes and colours help to bring together the whole room without it looking too ‘blue’. Fancy just a touch of the nautical stripe? You could try the Tenby Small Striped Chalk and Salcombe Large Striped Oatmeal cushions on a neutral sofa and the small version can be replaced out if you fancy a quick change or if you accent colour gets updated.

#4 Decide how many cushions you think you need and how to arrange them

Now you don’t want to go overkill and force your friends and family to check you into soft furnishing rehab. You want your bed or sofa to look comfortable without feeling like you’re going to be bolstered off the bottom!

According to Elle Decor, it is important to stick to odd numbers in groups of 3 or 5. Grouping cushions in odd numbers is a more effective way to catch someone’s eye.

‘Why?’, you ask…

…Well, it forces people to look around the grouping because of the lack of symmetry, its unexpected yet still a trick used by designers the world over, you’d think we would evolved past it by now.

This can be further enhanced in your living room by grouping your cushions to one side of your sofa instead of arranging them symmetrically on either end.

Though, if you must create an interior that is organised to true perfection; even numbers and a symmetric arrangement might just work for you.

Why not mix up the colours… go on we dare you!

#5 Finding your dream cushion combination

We have a fantastic selection of beautifully made scatter cushions available to purchase online in a range of our signature Ian Mankin fabrics.

Or you could even go bespoke using our made-to-order cushion service and design your perfect cushion in any Ian Mankin fabric.

If you’re still in need of some additional inspiration to help you choose the most wonderful cushions, take a look at our designers and makers beautiful creations via our hashtag #madewithmankin.