When you’re not warming yourself up with one, couch throws are busy bringing style and sophistication to the living room.
As long as you choose the right kind of placement, that is.
If you don’t know where to begin in your pursuit of the perfect drape, you are in the right place.
Learn every method under the sun for styling couch throws with these 29 super stylish ideas.
1. Over the arm fold
Starting with something beginner-friendly, this method offers a neat and tidy presentation for your couch throw, with the added benefit of being super easy to grab and put into action when temperatures drop.
Don’t be surprised if you quickly change your mind on the folded arm as it sets a rather formal tone and you may find that your living room works best as an informal space.
2. Personified corner drape
If you suffer with loneliness at home, you may find a great deal of comfort in styling your throw into a human-like figure.
Drape it over the back of the couch and over one of the arms. And for the finishing touch, loosely fold the bottom of the throw so that it looks like a pair of crossed legs.
3. Tilted fold
Fold your throw lengthwise, place it over the back of the couch and over the seat at a slight angle, and just like that you’ve nailed the tilted fold.
Don’t feel like you have to have the perfect fold with the corners joined up, as small imperfections will give the display tons of character.
4. Sleepy corner drape
Pulling off the sleepy corner drape is all about yielding to gravity.
Let the ‘head’ of the throw hang over the couch arm while the ‘legs’ dangle over the edge of the seat.
You’ll know if you got it right because your own eyelids will feel heavier as a result of this distinctly relaxing look.
5. Distant fold
If your couch has a chaise lounge or built-in ottoman, don’t be afraid to call it home for a neatly folded throw.
It’s a chance to space everything out so you don’t feel like you’re being buried alive under copious amounts of couch decor.
FYI there’s a lot of crossover between styling a throw on a bed and styling a throw on the foot section of a couch.
6. Graze the floor
Adopting a carefree attitude toward throw styling can pay off big time in terms of making a space feel warmer and more inviting.
With this in mind, have a go at letting your throw come into contact with other surfaces such as the floor.
Obviously a couch throw belongs on a couch, so don’t go overboard – a gentle bit of skimming is all that’s needed to achieve the desired effect.
7. Side swept drape
You probably never imagined that you could look to certain hair styles as a source of inspiration for styling couch throws, yet here we are!
As the name suggests, give your sofa a hairdo in the form of side swept bangs.
Drape the blanket over the back of the couch and sweep it downward and across for an effortlessly chic look.
8. Coated seat drape
Maybe you want your throw to be as loud and prominent as the couch itself, in which case full coating is required.
Take a sizeable throw and coat an entire seat with it and you’ll never have to worry about a cold living room ever again.
Just ensure everything is picture-perfect by patting down the throw until the contours of the couch become visible.
9. Compressed drape
By straddling the footrest, your throw is visible on top and on the sides, and therefore you’re more likely to catch a glimpse of it wherever you are in the room.
For something truly eye-catching, bunch up the throw instead of folding it flat, as this lends a dimensional quality to the whole look.
10. Shy corner drape
While it may be considered a faux pas to slouch on a couch, throws can get away with terrible posture because it adds visual interest.
Let your couch throw slouch in the corner and have a few cushions sit on top of it, and thank us later for enriching the scene with casual elegance.
11. Untucked waterfall drape
The best thing about decorating a couch with throw blankets is the chance to introduce organic visuals to break the structure of the room.
Styling a throw to create a waterfall effect is an excellent case in point.
Let your throw travel down from the back of the couch to the front in a natural manner akin to the way water flows down a stream or river with steep gradients.
And if your throw has fringing or detailed edging, you can complete the look with a waterfall effect along the bottom of the couch.
12. Three-way corner drape
When styling a couch throw in the corner, there’s only three points where you can display some glorious over-the-edge spillage.
Those being the back of the couch, the arm and the seat edge. If the design of your throw permits it, try unifying all three edges with a three-way corner drape for a truly snug look.
13. Acrobatic arm fold
If you live life on the edge, it makes perfect sense to stick to the edges of the couch with your choice of throw placement.
Keep folding your throw lengthwise until it’s the right size to perform a balancing act along the arm.
14. Basket drape
Okay, this isn’t strictly speaking a couch throw idea, but it’s yet another chance to bring the room together via throw blankets.
Position a basket next to the couch, stuff it with a beautiful throw and make sure half of it is flowing over the edges.
Not only does this method ooze style, you won’t have to waste time fishing it out of the basket on those blustery days.
15. Squeezed corner drape
Key to perfecting the squeezed corner look is creating some sort of bottleneck at or near the corner of the sofa.
The bottleneck shouldn’t appear in the middle of the throw – choose one end to be closer to the squeeze as this will leave you with an asymmetrical effect that really pleases the eye.
16. Coordinated arm fold
If you have yourself a decorative ladder next to the sofa, you can get some coordination going to help bring the space together.
Drape one folded throw over the couch arm and another folded throw on the rung of a ladder, and your living room as a whole will feel 10x more cohesive.
17. Sprawled drape
When you’re after a nice big block of pattern and color, it’s just a case of sprawling out the throw to fit the size of the space you want to fill.
As always, don’t be tempted to iron out every wrinkle. Those organic imperfections are what drive the warmth and comfort of couch throws.
18. Overdressed arm drape
If you love an off-center aesthetic, consider taking things to the extreme and bury the sofa arm with as much throw as it can handle.
A big, fluffy faux fur throw will get the job done with ease, cascading down the side of the couch and hopefully grazing the floor for that showroom-ready finish.
19. Over the back fold
Draping throws over the back of the couch and calling it a day isn’t exactly the most exciting of styling methods.
However, it does wonders from a decorative perspective when viewing your couch from behind, if that’s how your living room is laid out.
And in terms of the front view, you can set your throw at an angle to break the clean lines between the seat cushions and back cushions.
20. Underside reveal
For throws which feature different designs on both sides, or have a plain underside, it’s worth adding a special twist (in a literal sense).
Experiment with twisting as this will get both sides on display and double its visual value. Let the flipped part hang over the edge for that whimsical touch.
21. Zigzag drape
If you’re rubbish at folding, you’re probably a born pro at mastering the zigzag look and you don’t even realize it.
It doesn’t matter if the throw isn’t joined up at the corners with pinpoint accuracy – by missing the corners slighty, you lend the display a fun zigzag pattern.
22. Caped drape
How does an outer garment for your couch sound? Better yet, a garment that superheroes are known to wear!
The caped drape does what it says on the tin and falls loosely over the side of the furniture and on the floor in glorious fashion. All that’s missing is a gust of wind for cinematic effect…
23. Right-angled corner drape
Apologies in advance for taking you back to high school geometry class, but it turns out that right-angles work really well as a throw styling idea.
Let your throw travel up the couch and toward the back cushion before making a sharp turn over the arm. Maybe cover the point at which it turns with throw cushions so as to soften the look a little bit more.
24. Double up
Why settle for just one throw when you can step things up a notch and showcase several?
In fact, draping a folded throw on top of another folded throw in descending size is a great way to add some depth and dimension to the display.
For maximum impact, choose varying color tones.
25. Diagonal fold
Perhaps the biggest selling point of throws as styling devices is that you can use them to really mess with the straight lines and contours that run through the sofa.
If you have a chaise sofa with lots of open, flat space, you can offset those lines in an impactful way using a folded diagonal placement.
26. Folded tuck
As much as we love breaking those lines and contours, sometimes it pays off to actually work them into the display.
To be more precise, have a go at taking a folded throw and tucking it in-between the seats.
Why? Because you end up breaking the design of the throw instead, almost like there’s a section missing from it, which makes for an intriguing aesthetic.
27. Tail ended drape
For an animal-inspired look that delivers a cuteness overload every time, you’ll need a tasseled throw blanket.
Drape it vertically on the couch with the tassels dangling over the edge of the seat and pressed together to look like a cute little tail.
28. Horizontal back fold
So far we’ve seen throws styled over the back vertically as well as at an angle, but what about horizontal placements?
Think twice before running it along the full length of the couch as it could be overpowering.
Opt for a fully folded throw and plop it in the middle to adorn the couch with a proper centerpiece. This is ideal if symmetry is your thing.
29. Outer corner fold
It may not be the coziest couch throw styling idea in the world, but it certainly packs a punch when it comes to uniqueness.
So if you’re all about doing things differently to everyone else, have your couch wear a throw like a shoulder badge and it won’t be long before the compliments start rolling in.