How to
Arrange Pillows

Pillows are some of the most effective decorative accessories you can add to a room. Aside from being comfortable, pillows add color, texture and dimension to your home. You can change pillow covers out regularly to keep up with seasons, holidays and even your mood without doing major room makeover, but as with all decorative objects, it pays to be deliberate with your approach to arranging them.

As you build a collection of pillow covers, you want to store them properly. Thoughtfully organized storage can help the covers stay in good condition, and this also makes it easy for you to avoid misplacing your covers. With the right storage techniques, it’s a breeze to change up your room’s look whenever you feel like brightening the space. Separating your pillow covers by shape, size and season can help you keep things organized. Use small gift tags or other removable labels to separate stacks of pillow covers by color and size.

When it comes to pillow arranging, you get to decide what works well for you in terms of changing things up. You may want to select a single arrangement that serves your needs the most effectively and change out the covers, or you might rearrange your pillows every time you change covers.

Whichever approach you take, you should always start your pillow arrangement from the outside and work your way in towards the middle. Place your largest pillows on the outside and scale down to your smallest pillows in the center. This makes the arrangement more functional for seating and helps prevent larger pillows from obscuring patterns and designs on the smaller pillows.

Designers typically focus on odd rather than even-numbered groupings of decorative items, but if you find that a two- or four-pillow grouping works better for your space than a three- or six-pillow grouping, don’t hesitate to enjoy it. It may be smart, though, to use the same number of pillows on either side of a sofa, bench or window seat for balance.

While numerical symmetry makes sense for some arrangements, feel free to mix things up when it comes to shape, color and size. You may find that using a few entirely different pillows grouped together gives you the look you’re going for. For example, you can select a large, square pillow in a blue-based print, place a long rectangular pillow in a solid pink near it and find that the two look wonderful in tandem. Do what feels right to you. Even if you feel like your pillows might not match your other decorations, the room can still feel inviting and decorative because it shows off your varied tastes.

You can even be bold and mix patterns. If you choose to go this way, select a unifying element that runs through your different pillow covers, such as a similar color scheme or pattern. If you mix two or three different coordinating patterns together and include a few solid-colored pillows in a neutral or complementary color, you can create a lot of visual impact.

Remember texture too. Mixing different textures can create visual interest, but it also adds to the tactile enjoyment that your pillows provide. These are comfort items, after all, so have fun going for sumptuous fabrics, such as velvet, and mixing those covers in with a few other fabrics. You can also add a coordinating or contrasting throw blanket for even more texture, color and comfort.

Pillows provide a simple way of enjoying reconfiguring your decor. If you don’t love the arrangement you come up with, just remove your pillows and start over. At Pottery Barn, it won’t take you long to find something you simply adore. Changing out your pillow arrangements lets you bring a new look to your home and enliven the space, and coming up with new configurations couldn’t be more fun.