How To Style Couch Pillows To Look Expensive | 4 Genius Tips to Picking Out & Styling Throw Pillows

Tip #1: Don't use the pillows your couch comes with!

I know, it can physically hurt to throw those pillows away, but the pillows that come with your couch are made in the cheapest way possible. It will look like you just picked up the couch from Ashleys, which you probably did and doesn't have a custom look to it.

Also, 95% of the time these pillows have the ugliest patterns on them which also doesn't help (aka the pillows that came with my couch above hah!).

Above is an example of how my couch looked with the free pillows it came with versus how it looked with the pillows I picked out myself. Big difference right?!

Tip #2: Get pillows that are choppable. 

Copy this apartment:

Chopped pillows are a hot topic. some people love them and some people hate them.

If you look at professional interior designers, 95% of the time the pillows are chopped. 

You can decide for yourself if you like it or not, but I am fully on Team Chopped and think that it makes the space look much more put together. 

Some pillows just aren't made for chopping like the my free couch pillows. I have a little hack that I use to purchase pillows that are choppable without spending a fortune.

A tip for finding inexpensive choppable pillows is to go to HomeGoods, Marshalls or TjMaxx and go back to the clearance section. The most expensive part of a pillow is the actual pillow. So what I do is find the pillow size that I'm looking for and make sure that it has a removable pillow cover. I'll buy the pillow cover for super cheap, and then find a cute cover on Amazon for like $5.

The expensive part of a pillow is in the actual pillow so finding them cheaper at one of those stores I mentioned above will save you a lot of money. I did that hack on my bedroom pillows and you would never know that at one time, they were uGlY pillows.

Tip #3: Mix and match pillows.

There's a time and a place for matching pillows. On my bed, I love having a row of matching pillows. On my couch, I like to have different pillows. Usually bedrooms stick to matching pillows  by the layer. So, the back layer would have all matching pillows, then there's a middle layer with matching pillows, and then usually there's a single pillow in front so that can be any pattern.

Like I said above, I like to have varied pillows on a couch but if you want to have matching pillows, stick to just two matching pillows and then have the rest be a variety.

Tip #4: Vary the pillow heights. 

Copy this apartment:

I have a pretty big couch so you'll have to get the right amount for your couch that won't look like too much.

These are the exact pillow sizes I used - on the left side of the couch I have three pillows sitting in the corner. These pillow sizes are 24x24, 18x18, and 24x12.

On the right side of the couch, I have two pillows. The sizes are 24x24 and 18x18.

On a bed, there are all different ways that you can style pillows but what I like to do is have three large pillows across the back with a long pillow up in front. I like this for one reason and that's because it's really easy to make my bed in the morning while still looking really put together. I got these pillow inserts from HomeGoods using my hack and these pillow covers from Amazon for $5. The lumbar pillow is from American School of Charm.