The possibilities for the look and style of your sofa are endless, so you can be forgiven for not knowing where to begin.
Every small detail matters, from the angle of a cushion to the height of a piece of artwork, so there’s a lot to think about.
That’s why we put together this handy guide – to help you navigate the key styling accessories and their vast array of colors, patterns and materials, giving you the know-how to transform the sofa into the centerpiece of the living room.
Cushions
A good looking sofa on its own is not nearly enough to make it the star of the living room. If anything, it sets the stage for other elements to soak up the limelight.
Like you would an outfit, you need to dress up the sofa with some carefully coordinated and detailed extras until you’re left with the ultimate relaxation spot.
Cushions are vitally important in the styling of a sofa because they’re both functional necessities and a form of decoration.
Your choice of cushion and how you arrange it will affect the aesthetic of the sofa and the space surrounding it for better or worse, so there’s a lot riding on your sense of style and eye for good design.
When it comes to cushion arrangement, you should embrace imperfection, otherwise you run the risk of creating a space that doesn’t feel all that comfortable or homey.
To be more specific, group your cushions to one side of the sofa and always stick with odd quantities. Doing this will reinforce your sofa as a place of comfort as things like symmetry and even numbers are associated with formal settings.
Achieving a balanced arrangement is the fun part of styling a sofa with cushions, but also the hardest. It’s an opportunity to play with color, pattern and texture to harmonize all the fabrics that comprise the space, while remembering to incorporate different shapes and sizes for a small dose of visual contrast.
If your living room decor is fairly muted then seize the chance to go with an eclectic mix of cushions to create a real feast for the eyes.
Nothing rejuvenates a piece of seating furniture like a scheme of colorful cushions, and you will always have the freedom to make outfit changes to keep up with the changing seasons.
Touching on the point about shape and size, this is where cushion arrangement becomes something of an art form. You’ll want a variety of shapes that offset each other in different ways – throw in some squares, rectangles and circles so that you can highlight their individuality within a sea of cushions.
If that doesn’t do the trick then bring in designs with those gorgeous extras like tassels, fringing and braiding.
Remember to use cushions in differing sizes for the purpose of showcasing different height levels and adding depth to your living room centerpiece. The prevailing wisdom is to start with large cushions at the back and work your way inwards as this layered approach will earn you maximum styling points.
Throws
In terms of adding blocks of color to the sofa, cushions aren’t the only accessory in your styling arsenal.
Indeed, throws are also highly favored for their ability to dress up a sofa in an impactful way, and if you make the right choice of design it will tie in with the rest of the living room decor for that all-important cohesive look.
From silk to cotton to cashmere, you can find throws in all kinds of materials, so there’s no excuse for not ending up with a fabric that best complements your sofa.
It’s a little more trickier finding something that enhances your sense of comfort all your round because of seasonal temperature changes, but you can’t go wrong with a lightweight throw in spring/summer and a chunky wool throw during autumn/winter.
A lightweight throw is better suited to a folded placement – simply fold it into thirds and place it on the center so that it travels over the back and front of the sofa, creating a look that’s tidy and tailored, and maybe loosen it slightly for a natural, rippled effect.
You can also drape a folded throw off-center if you prefer, or demonstrate a taste for casual elegance by draping your folded throw over one of the arms.
As sophisticated and elegant a folded throw is, it doesn’t exactly invoke feelings of warmth, invitation and homeyness.
If you’re all about comfort and don’t mind a throw placement that’s somewhat messy, one technique is to pinch the throw at its center and drag it over one of the back corners of the couch, and just like that you have a loosely draped throw that you’ll want to snuggle to no end.
Plants
While it helps a lot to have a host of wonderful fabrics at your disposal when styling a sofa, the only way to make the space truly feel alive is by utilizing real-life decor.
This is why you should consider sharing your seating area with plants, as these whole other life-forms will awaken your senses like nothing else, offering a splash of color, organic texture and revitalizing scent.
The idea that plants can enhance your wellbeing has the backing of the scientific community, and this alone should show that they’re worth their weight in gold as part of your sofa accessories.
Design-wise, consider that a tall houseplant next to the sofa will help to frame the space and establish the sofa as the natural focal point of the living room.
Plants of any size will aid your sofa styling efforts, and there are all manner of ways to display them for heightened visual impact. If you fancy relaxing in an oasis of leafy softness then by all means surround the sofa with plants at varying heights, whether that’s on side tables or shelves above the sofa.
There’s even a strong case for dangling plants from the ceiling to really get the eye moving up and down and balance out the width of the sofa.
Side tables
Just like how bedside tables and nightstands do so much more than fulfilling a practical demand, a side table on either side of the sofa will leave you with that picture-perfect finish.
In other words, not only do they give you somewhere to place the TV remote, side tables help to bookend your sofa and put some symmetry at work while paving the way for additional decorative touches to complement the space.
Side tables are among the smallest pieces of furniture in the living room, and they look smaller still when placed alongside the sofa, so you can understand why they are often overlooked. You can remedy this quickly and simply by using them to display eye-catching pieces of decor.
This could be anything from sculptures to candles – take a look around and see what materials and colors are missing from the scheme and let that inform your choice of side table decor.
Be under no illusion that the design of the side table itself can’t be the finishing touch to your seating area. Round and curvy side tables are very trendy right now because their unique shapes create an interesting interplay with the straight lines of a linear sofa, which is endlessly pleasing to the human eye.
And not to mention, round tables lend themselves to being more social as conversation can flow naturally across and around them.
Coffee table
Aside from the functional benefits of coffee tables, they’re often placed directly in front of the sofa and this presents a huge opportunity to use them to add diversity to your surroundings.
In a similar vein to side tables, you can rely on the design of the coffee table to do all the talking or treat them as decorative platforms – or both.
From a design perspective, you should go with a material that works well with your style of sofa. For example, a contemporary sofa would match perfectly with a metal coffee table, contributing heaps of industrial flair to the scheme.
If your seating area is begging for organic textures then put your trust in a wooden coffee table to be the rustic accent that you need.
It’s easy to forget just how big and clunky these integral pieces of furniture are, so don’t let yourself fall in love with a particular design if there’s not enough room for it.
For spaces with limited square footage, consider that glass coffee tables will trick the eye into thinking it’s not taking up as much room as it really is. And if you have colored carpets or a lush rug, transparent glass allows them to come into full view.
When sprucing up your coffee table with ornaments and decor and the like, ensure the end result doesn’t overpower the sofa. The best way to stop yourself from going overboard is to aim for a liveable look.
Think along the lines of a couple of nice-looking books left open and some pretty coasters. A bowl of carefully curated fruit is also a great choice if you’re after something that can play off all the colors that comprise your sofa accessories.
Lighting
These days you can find light fixtures in a limitless array of bold designs and wherever they go, eyeballs follow.
This is really good news if you’ve been searching high and low for a decorative element that takes your sofa and the space surrounding it from plain to wowsers in an instant.
You can’t style your sofa like a professional without some artful distribution of visual weight – this is the language experts use to describe the principle of balance in interior design, and we touched on it earlier when talking about using tall plants to frame the space.
Likewise, floor lamps also fit the bill as a framing device and should be put to use to provide asymmetrical balance when there’s too much width-ways action.
We can go on and on about how the shape and form of your light fixtures can give your sofa that picture-perfect look, but what about their main purpose? Illumination draws the eye to a space and will prove particularly useful for helping to highlight your sofa’s appeal.
It’s highly recommended that you go with a warm bulb to create a cosy ambience – a moth-and-flame result whereby you’ll naturally gravitate to your cuddly sofa without realizing.
Rugs
There’s no question that rugs are hardworking pieces of decor that can change the look and mood of a room in a flash.
If ever you need a block of solid color, pattern or texture, or to hide any imperfections, or you simply want something warm and comfortable to sink your feet into after a long day, look no further than a trusty floor rug.
It’s another element of soft textile waiting to enhance your seating area, so don’t squander it. Where many people go wrong is they opt for a ‘floating rug’ which sits in the middle of the floor without touching any adjacent furniture.
A rug that appears lost at sea is the total opposite of a cohesively-designed living room, so your best bet is go with as large a rug as possible or at least large enough to anchor your sofa.
The process of anchoring a sofa with a rug is pretty straight forward – a right-sized rug will slide under the front legs of your sofa, and if there are other chairs in the seating arrangement it pays to anchor them as well to unify the whole space.
If you’re worried about a potential clash of color between the rug and your sofa, it’s a good idea to tone down with a rug in a muted palette.
Footstool
If you’re a big fan of styling a sofa using practical pieces then a footstool should be right at the top of the list. They don’t even need to be bought as part of a furniture set – footstools, pouffes and ottomans of varying shapes can be used to complement your sofa.
The only thing that’s non-negotiable is the height, which obviously needs to be in line with your sofa seat.
Interior experts don’t mix and match different shaped furniture for the hell of it, they do it to create visual contrast and this in turn prevents a space from feeling rather flat.
Let’s say you’re working with a squared-off sofa, in which case a round footstool is a nice way to add a bit of diversity. It can act as extra seating for guests, expand your storage and provide an eye-catching contrast of shapes in one fell swoop.
Wall art
While it may be tempting to push your sofa up against the wall and call it a day, doing so leaves out a big piece of the sofa-styling puzzle.
No matter how much of a statement-maker the sofa is, a blank wall space above it will spoil the overall scheme. Thankfully, there’s an unlimited number of ways to decorate above the sofa, including staple decor like artwork and mirrors.
Wall art is a safe bet for decorating that prime spot over the sofa because you can go up or down in scale with relative ease, depending on how loud you need the piece to be. For instance, if you don’t require much more than supplementary decor, a lone piece of framed artwork will do the job.
When you’re tasked with giving the wall a louder voice, just keep adding similar framed pieces to the display until you’re left with a stunning gallery wall.