How to Make Your Pillows & Cushions Look Their Very Best!

In the Loupiac apartment, the central bronze pillow really highlights the beautiful gold accents in the room.

It may seem obvious, but one of the best decorating tips I’ve learned over the years is to pay attention to your pillows! There are a handful of tricks I’ve developed that are incredibly simple, but amazingly effective. Whether it’s decorative pillows on the bed or cushions on the sofa, following these 4 guidelines will really improve the quality of your pillows, allowing your home to look even more polished and put together than ever.

1. Use BIG pillows

These large turquoise pillows provide a wonderful pop of color to an otherwise mostly-white room in the Savennières apartment! The blue also provides a nice contrast to the gold frames on the wall.

Too many little pillows can often come across as cluttered and messy, so stick to pillows on the larger side. With less visual noise, your room will look larger and cleaner; Plus, it’ll take less time to make the bed every morning, with less pillows to stack! Another good idea is to keep your pillows symmetrical – it really makes a statement and elevates a room from bland to chic.

2. Overstuff your pillows

Left: Pillow with a smaller filler. Right: Pillow with an oversized filler – much better!

I bought a bold raspberry velvet pillow cover to add a wonderful accent to a neutral gray bed cover. The pillow cover measured 20 x 20 inches (50 x 50cm), so I purchased the same size feather filler, thinking it would fit perfectly – boy was I wrong! The pillow looked sad, limp and wrinkled. To fix this unfortunate situation, I instead used a larger, 30 x 30 inch filler ( 65 x 65cm), and it made all the difference. If your pillows are looking deflated, don’t be afraid to size up with the filler!

3. Use feather fillers, if you can

Since the rest of the Cremant apartment is so light and bright, we went for dark brown velvet pillows on the bed and sofa to anchor the room and give it even more character.

As long as you’re not allergic to bird feathers, I would definitely recommend using down and feather fillers as opposed to synthetic. While they both look good at first, the synthetic fillers start to go flat pretty quickly. It seems the more you try to plump them up, the more squished and pancake-like they become!

4. The Same Tips Apply to Armchair and Sofa Cushions

Left: Before adding new fillers, the armchair looks a little sad. Right: After adding new feather cushions, the chair looks fresh and amazing!

If your armchair or sofa is looking a little worn, a great way to give it new life is to simply add new fillers! I recently did this with a new armchair in gray velvet at La Place Dauphine. It was looking a little deflated at first, but stuffing it with two big feather fillers made a huge difference! It looks a little overfilled at first, but after sitting on it a few times, it found its natural shape and looks perfect in the space.

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Aside from the practical tips above, pillows provide a fantastic opportunity to play with color, pattern and texture. My favorite way to achieve the Paris Perfect look is to start with a neutral base – gray, beige and off-white furniture with neutral walls. I then get to play up a room’s personality with the pillows! Sometimes I go for a bright pop of color, while other times I go for a luxe, silky texture or even a fun, whimsical pattern. Then, I add the perfect amount of shiny mirrors and gilded frames, plus a sprinkling of antique pieces, and it all comes together wonderfully! For more Parisian design tips, see this blog post.

(All images by Paris Perfect or the Author)