Pillow Styling, Sources and Arrangements

Pillows, Pillows and more Pillows!! My life’s mantra is pretty much, “You can never have enough pillows.” I live by this mantra lol!! I have an obsession with pillows that runs deep. In this post I am going to share pillow cover sources, pillow insert sources and different ways to arrange your pillows!

One of the most frequently asked questions I get are where do you get your pillow inserts and where do you like to buy pillow covers. So let me answer both of those right now. I have acquired a healthy collection of pillow inserts and covers from Homegoods. I love to buy pillows at Homegoods because you honestly just can’t beat their prices! So, my suggestion to you for pillow inserts is to go to your local Homegoods and buy some pillows that you love! I have a few requirements for my pillows. The pillow cover must have a zipper and it must be down filled. When you buy pillows at Homegoods you not only get a down filled insert, but you also get a cover! If you don’t have a Homegoods here are a couple down inserts I like here, here. The other stores like I like to buy just the pillow cover from are H&m, Pottery Barn, Serena and Lilly, The Company Store, Amazon and Etsy.

Here you can see how I reuse the pillows I buy at Homegoods. Most of the time I leave the original pillow cover on the pillow and simply just stuff the pillow into a new cover. I like to do this because down filled inserts can be messy. This way the feathers all stay put! But there are other times when I will remove the pillow cover that came on the pillow from Homegoods and just put the bare insert into my new pillow cover.  I usually will do this if the cover is bulky and won’t fit into another pillow cover. Once the pillow is in its new insert no one will ever know you have another cover inside! This is also a great space saver for your covers.

Another question I get a lot is where do I keep all my pillow covers. Well here you go! I fold mine up and store them in my cabinet. That’s why I love pillow covers because they can fold up well and not take up a lot of space. Yes I know there are a lot of pillow covers here, remember my life’s mantra! So you can organize your covers by size, color, season or whatever way you want to. One other tip I have is that you may start to have too many inserts, especially if you frequent Homegoods like I do! What I will do then is remove the insert and put it on an existing insert I already have, then I will donate or give away the insert. I will also sometimes buy a pillow that is not down filled if it is a good price and I like the cover. Once home I will remove the cover and put it on one of my down inserts and donate the non down filled insert. That’s why one of my requirements is that the pillow cover have a zipper.

Now if you are going to be a pillow styling pro you must know how to fluff your pillow! Here is how I like to fluff mine. I like to pat the sides of the pillow like you see above.

Then I like to Karate chop the top! I don’t like too big of  an indent at the top of the pillow. I like just enough to give it shape and add to the fullness.  This cute Mudcloth pillow is from Stiched By Grace. A favorite Etsy shop for pillows of mine! Striped pillow from H&M but is no longer available.

Ok now that we got some of the basics down, lets start arranging some pillows!. I love grouping pillows with different textures together. When arranging pillows always start from the outside and work your way to the middle. I love textures so a lot of my pillow covers have textures. Similar Pillow, Sofa, Lamp 

Now you can either add two more pillows or just one and have an odd number of pillows. I usually like to have matching pillows on each end, but not all the time. Both sets of pillows have texture but the Grey Pillows from The Company Store bring in a pop of color.

You can also add a center pillow to have your pillow family end in an odd number, which is more appealing to the eye. This center pillow has lot of yummy texture and blends seamlessly with the other pillows.

In this arrangement I stuck with textures but changed out my grey pillows with some blue pillows from The Company Store. I also added this lumbar pillow for a little pattern. Since the pillows all have similar colors and texture they work together.

You can also arrange pillows that are in the same color families. Here I have two pillows that are gray and two that are creams. They all have different textures but still work together because visually all the colors go together and compliment each other . In this arrangement I also started with a large 24×24 inch Euro size pillow on the outside. I like to have my larger pillows on the outsides and then move in with smaller ones. Typically I try to stay with no smaller than 18 inch pillow covers. The vast majority of my pillows covers are 20-24 inch. I just like like the look of larger pillows, but that’s just my preference. Gray pillow, Macrame Pillow, Fur pillow, Sofa, Coffee Table, Rug, Leather Pouf, Prints

Here you can see again that all these pillows have different patterns and textures, but since the colors all coordinate they work well together. I love this Euro Pillow I recently got from Serena and Lily. Serena and Lily have a wonderful pillow cover selection. Once you have arranged your pillows the way you want it’s always fun to toss in a throw blanket too!

I received these beautiful pillows from Woven Nook not too long ago. They are great pillows at great prices! They also sell their pillows in sets, so it helps take the guess work out of trying to figure out which pillows will go together. This arrangement is also a great example of mixing patterns. Here you have the faux leather pillow as your base that has no pattern, and then it’s layered with a Santa Fe motif pattern followed by a striped pattern. Don’t be afraid to mix patterns. Shoes

Here is another great example of mixing patterns. I recently bought these amazing pillows from Stiched By Grace. To say I love them is an understatement! I am obsessed with the striped pillows! For this arrangement I started again with a neutral base with these beautiful cream Mudcloth pillows with a bit of faux leather. Then I added the striped pillows with faux leather, and popped in the cream mudcloth with the design stripe. I also added this super cute throw blanket from Woven Nook. Now even though my pillows don’t have similar patterns they still coordinate well. Mostly because they are all in the same color family and have that faux leather tying them all together. Sofa, Rug, Similar throw blanket 

You can arrange pillows of varying sizes as well. On beds I love to have larger euro size 24×24 inch pillows line the back and put smaller pillows in the front. I have more detail on how I make my beds here. These pretty blue euro shams are from Serena and Lilly and so is the cute pink pillow. Here is a link to my favorite Euro insert.

Here’s a fun trick my cousin taught me a few years ago. If you don’t have any Euro Size inserts, but do have some down filled sleeping pillows, then you can use two of the sleeping pillows to fill your Euro pillow cover!

Just stuff the two pillows side by side into the Euro pillow cover. Zip or tie the pillow cover and fluff the pillows until they look good!

And voila!! You have a down filled Euro insert!! Nobody but you needs to know it’s really two sleeping pillows!!

For my pillow arrangement here I used two standard size sleeping pillows to line the headboard and then 3 20×20 pillows followed by 2 18×18 inch pillows. You always want your smaller pillows in front so you can see them. Pink Sabra Cactus pillow, Denim Sabra Cactus pillow, Bed, Runner, JuJu Hat

Using lumbar pillows is also a great way to add some dimension to your pillow arrangement. I love using lumbars of all sizes on beds. For links to all you see here check out my blog post here

I found this extra large lumbar pillow from Homegoods. Extra large lumbars are a great way to finish off your bed pillows or in the middle of a sofa.

Or if you find a super cute lumbar pillow cover like this Pryce Pillow Cover from Serena and Lily you can have it dress up a chair. The neutral colors of this pillow and the texture make it a favorite of mine! Lumbar Insert, Chair, Blanket Ladder

I love to change out my pillow cover for the seasons. Since Fall is upon us I wanted to switch out my covers to more warm tones. I got the cream macrame pillows from The Company Store and the brown Mudcloth ones are from Stiched By Grace. I also just couldn’t resist these dark green covers from H&M. I also added a new cozy throw to my collection. You can see here that I mixed colors, texture and patterns here! As long as they look good visually the skies the limit on your pillow arrangements! Sofa from Ikea, Wood Buffet from Living Spaces, Shelving Unit, Rug

I received these gorgeous Plaid Pillows from Serena and Lilly. They are the perfect addition to my Fall pillow line up. Bonus is they are super soft! I like to add pillows to my head chairs in my dining room. I feel it adds some warmth to the space. I like to change the pillows with each season in here.

I also added these Textured Loop Pillows from Serena and Lily to my Fall pillow collection. If you are looking for quality pillow covers that will stand the test of time, then Serena and Lily is where you want to shop!

I hope you enjoy my pillow post and maybe learned a thing or two!! Please feel free to leave comments and questions below. And don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss a posts. Have fun arranging your pillows!! A special thank you to Serena and Lily, The Company Store and Stiched By Grace for providing the pillows for this post.

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