Styling with Scatter Cushions: Pro Tips to Perfect Your Space

Featured item: Scatter Cushions

It may be a secret (or not so secret) belief among certain members of the household that scatter cushions are superfluous. The popular belief among kids, of course, is that cushions belong anywhere but the couch, serving the sole purpose of creating pillow palaces and obstacle courses. Whatever fate or opinions your cushions have been subject to in the past, it’s time to set the record straight, and give these little design heroes the place they deserve!

Scatter cushions can do many things for your space, but there are a few tricks to know if you want to use them to maximum effect. We’ll take a look at the best designer tips on how to style with scatter cushions to bring fresh inspiration to any space in your home.

Featured item: Jagger Modular Collection

What Scatter Cushions Can Do for Your Home

It’s been said that scatter cushions are the ‘red lipstick’ of the lounge. When that living room is crying out for a touch-up, but you don’t have thousands to spend on new furniture or redoing the paint job, you can just ‘dab on’ a few new scatters, and voila! A well-chosen set can take your lounge (or any room in your home) from drab to fab in minutes. And you don’t even need to buy new cushions—invest in a few quality cushion inners and you can simply switch up the covers when it’s time for a refresh.

Here are a few specific ways you can use scatter cushions to spruce up your home:

Got a room that’s feeling a bit on the cool side? Adding a few bright or richly textured scatters will instantly warm things up. On the flip side, you can use light scatter cushions to lighten up a dark space.
Use scatters in darker colours and a variety of textures to balance a space that’s very bright.

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Change up your scatter cushions with the seasons to reflect the change in mood and create a fitting atmosphere. Choose a few cushions for your bed to add visual appeal and make it more cosy and inviting. Find the perfect cushion to complete the look of an occasional or accent chair. Use cushions to transform a daybed into a stylish and comfy extra couch.

The Pro Designer’s Guide to Styling with Scatter Cushions

Read the Room for Colour Cues

Scatter cushions are an accessory that should enhance the overall impression of a room—not steal the spotlight altogether. That doesn’t mean you can’t go bold, it just means your cushion colours should play off other colours in the room, rather than going lone ranger.

Start by identifying two or three feature colours other than the colour of your couch. Your cushions should always provide a contrast or complement to your sofa (they should never perfectly match your sofa!), but you want them to ‘talk’ to other elements in the room, such as curtains, rugs, or feature décor and art pieces.

Featured item: Volantis Couch

2. Decide if you’re an Oddball or an Even-Steven

Refreshing your space doesn’t mean you need to change its personality altogether. If your décor style is more traditional, going for an even number of cushions will reflect the sense of order and symmetry. The simplest strategy for the traditional look is to choose two matching pairs—perhaps one pair in solids and the other pair in a matching pattern, then place the solid with the patterned cushion in front of it, on either corner of the couch.

Featured item: Laurence Three Seater Couch

For more modern, contemporary or eclectic décor, designers suggest going with an odd number of cushions. And the less traditional your style, the less you need to worry about matching pairs or sets. For a three-seater sofa, for example, you could pick five (or more) entirely unique cushions, as long as there’s a unifying element, such as an echoed accent colour.

3. Create a Cocktail of Size, Shape and Texture

When you look at any space in your home, think of it as a canvas. When you’re adding scatter cushions, you’re not working with a blank canvas, of course—rather, you’re adding a few brushstrokes for extra visual interest and appeal, while still ensuring these elements blend into the picture as a whole.

This is why you don’t want your cushions to be too uniform—it would have the appearance of a few clumsy dabs of paint randomly added to the picture. Instead, you want to choose a variety of sizes, shapes and textures that create organic contrast and visual dynamic. This not only allows for a more natural blending effect, but creates a more personal and authentic feel to your space.

Featured item: Scatter Cushions

4. Make Nature Your Muse

As we mentioned above, changing your cushions to reflect the seasons can be a fun and easy exercise to refresh your living space. Even though our South African seasons may not offer such stark visual contrasts as in other parts of the world, there’s still plenty of inspiration to work with.

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Think bright colours, floral prints and light, natural fabrics for Spring and Summer. And when the cooler months roll around, you can make things warmer and cosier with darker, earthier colours like ombre, dark green and maroon, larger sized cushions, and chunkier fabrics like faux furs and thick knits. And it’s never a bad idea to add a couple of throw blankets or other tactile accessories like a hide over a leather couch for extra warmth and effect!

Play Up Your Style

Scatter cushion styling is an easy and effective way to highlight your personal taste and show off your style. Here are a few pointers on how cushions can be used to emphasise the décor style that’s close to your heart:

Contemporary:

Contemporary décor tends to favour neutral tones, but can also bring in bold accent colours, as long as they don’t detract from or overwhelm the overall balance. If your sofas are neutral, don’t be scared to use some bolder coloured or patterned cushions that fall in with your accent colour scheme.
In general, contemporary goes with natural fabrics like cotton, linen, wool and silk.
Contemporary design has a constantly evolving personality, so feel free to keep experimenting with colours, shapes and configurations as your tastes and habits change.

Modern:

Overall, modern design goes for the ‘less is more’ or minimalist look. The colour palette tends to stick with neutrals, especially white or black, with accents featuring mainly primary colours (blue, red and yellow) – your cushions are a great way to highlight these accent colours, without going overboard.

Rather than lots of small cushions, play with larger sized cushions that show off a bright solid colour or a larger geometric pattern. Go with an odd number of cushions in asymmetric arrangements.
Typical modern design tends to stick to cotton and linen fabrics.

Traditional:

Traditional design is all about creating a calm sense of harmony, order and consistency. Groupings of two or four cushions is ideal to create a sense of symmetry.

Your cushions should complement your furniture, and not be too graphic or attention-seeking. Popular traditional patterns include damask, paisley and plaid. Lay on the look with rich, tactile fabrics like velvet, silk and leather. You can also take things a step further with frills, lace or tassels on larger cushions.

Eclectic:

The eclectic look wants to keep things fun and interesting, without becoming too complicated. Stick to an odd number of cushions to create asymmetry, but avoid overcrowding your couch (for example, a simple approach is to have two cushions on one side of the couch, and one on the other side). Go with cushions that are similar shapes, and between 45cm and 55cm in size—if your couch back is on the shorter side, try rectangular cushions that have a shorter height. Choose any fabric that strikes your fancy, and feel free to play with colours, as long as you have at least one accent colour that plays into a common thread in the overall look.

Featured item: The Jagger Collection

When you’re ready to start gathering your own unique cushion collection, why not start with a browse of Cielo’s exciting and trendy range of scatter cushions, and find the perfect mix to perfect your space!

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