Styling your sofa is certainly one of the more frivolous tasks you might be faced with at home – but it's also one that interior designers have plenty to say about. Here, we consult five interior designers to discover what it takes to curate the perfect sofa set up – from the perfect number of cushions to the matter of bolster cushions.
As design dilemmas go, the art of styling your sofa is perhaps one of the more frivolous ones. That said, there is something very sad about a sofa upholstered in a plain fabric without a single patterned cushion to spice it up. The opposite is equally jarring – a sofa in a lively fabric without cushions to ground it can end up sticking out like a sore thumb.
At the other end of the spectrum, however, you might end up with a sofa so laden with cushions that it fails to serve its core purpose – to provide comfort. Interior designer Carlos Garcia, who admits to being rather partial to what he calls ‘an embarrassment of cushions’, avoids the issue by opting for sofas without a back cushion. ‘That way I can add lots of cushions while not compromising the depth,’ explains the designer, whose own free-of-a-back-cushion ‘Wolterton’ sofa came about for this very reason.
So where to start? And how to balance aesthetic choices with comfort, while remembering Carlos Garcia’s sage advice: ‘cushions should be part of the sofa and room, not a feature.’ Here, we ask the experts for their top tips on how to style a sofa.
Get the number of cushions right
Remember the point of cushions is to provide comfort, so they are rendered redundant when they start compromising that and when you have to spend a good few minutes removing the cushions just to create somewhere to sit. ‘Too many is when you can’t comfortably sit back,’ reasons interior designer Stella Weatherall. Stella, like many interior designers, suggests that three cushions is the magic number for a standard 2-seater size sofa. Interior designer Brandon Schubert agrees: ‘I’d do a pair on either arm, plus one in the centre and I’d ideally like the centre cushion to be a different shape from the two at the side,’ he explains.
For larger sofas, perhaps consider five cushions, using three different shapes throughout. ‘I find odd numbers of cushions generally work best,’ says Stella Weatherall.
The size and shape of cushions matters
Many designers suggest that 50x50cm square cushions are a good size for a standard two-seater sofa sofa. ‘Anything smaller tends to get lost,’ says Carlos Garcia. Equally, don’t go madly oversize – ‘remember that these are cushions, not beanbags,’ says Carlos. ‘Proportion and balance is important as you don’t want any cushions on the sofa to feel dwarfed,’ he adds. Carlos suggests using square cushions for the back of the sofa and rectangular ones for the arms, in order to provide the relevant support.
Brandon Schubert suggests staggering cushions of different sizes. ‘For a reasonably deep sofa, four cushions can be ideal with two pairs of square cushions of different sizes to create some visual interest. I’d place the larger cushions on the outside, with a pair of slightly smaller square cushions sitting on the inside,’ says Brandon, who suggests using 50cm cushions for the larger ones and 40cm for the smaller ones in front.
Comfort is key
Don’t scrimp on fillings, because these are crucial to your comfort. As Stella Weatherall says, it’s important to have the right insert in your cushions – ‘if it’s too stuffed, you sit upright, and if it’s too empty, it looks lack-lustre,’ she says. Both interior designer Lonika Chande and Carlos Garcia suggest using a mix of down and feather to create the perfect squishy cushions.
Think carefully too about how the shape of cushions impact their comfort. Bolsters – the long sausage shaped cushions – may look brilliant, especially on tall, structured sofas or on very long sofas where a row of square cushions can look a bit fussy, but they are not necessarily the most comfortable. ‘They can often look better than they feel and can appear a little too formal sometimes,’ says Carlos Garcia.
Think carefully about fabrics – and don’t overlook trims
It can be daunting thinking about another fabric or pattern to introduce to your room – especially if there is already a lot going on. And on the whole, unless matchy-matchy is your thing, it’s unwise to try and match your cushions to your curtains or blinds. Instead, opt for interesting vintage and antique fabrics. ‘Since cushions require a small amount, these kinds of fabrics work so well and give the sofa an air of permanence,’ says Carlos Garcia. Lonika Chande agrees: ‘I love using a central cushion made from something extra special, such as a remnant from a kantha quilt,’ she says.
When it comes to combining patterns, Brandon Schubert has an easy rule of thumb to follow – ‘I recommend creating a rhythm of plain, large pattern and small pattern cushions, with the same category never sitting next to each other,’ he explains. ‘For example, on a long, extra deep sofa upholstered in a plain with a five cushion arrangement, I would start with a larger-scaled patterned cushion on the outside up against the arm to contrast the plain upholstery, with a small scale pattern sitting in front, and a centre cushion in either a larger pattern or plain,’ he elaborates. ‘Basically, it’s just about alternating plains, large patterns and small patterns.’
Victoria Barker, the interior designer behind Studio Faeger, agrees about using different scaled patterns. ‘Mixing the scale allows them to layer on top of each other, without fighting,’ she says. She is also a big fan of using stripes to balance out livelier patterns – ‘wide tickings or antique Swedish stripes relax everything,’ she adds. ‘I love Howe’s super sloppy cushions.'
Brandon Schubert is also a big fan of trims. ‘A plain cushion against a patterned sofa can be lifted by putting a fringe around the edge,’ he suggests. ‘Often a patterned cushion on a patterned sofa needs a plain contrasting piping to help the eye clearly see where the cushion pattern ends and the sofa one begins.’
Layer your sofa up
Many interior designers are a little cautious about throws. Lonika Chande admits to rarely using them on sofas, because ‘they are difficult to make look good’. That said, there is a place for them in winter – Stella Weatherall loves Madeleine Thompson’s cashmere throws – and they don’t need to be too distracting. ‘When not in use, I fold or hang them over a sofa arm, tucking it down the side of the seat cushion to hold it in place,’ says Stella.
This story originally appeared on our sister publication, House & Garden UK
