How to Style a Throw Blanket

With plans in the works to move house, I have been giving a lot of thought to decorating and making your house feel like a home. If you're looking at ways to refresh your decor, (or like me you are looking at moving and excited about the opportunity to decorate your living space), changing up your soft furnishings can be an simple and effective way to tie a room together.

One of our customer favourites is our range of Tartan Cushions. These provide an ideal solution if you want to add a pop of colour without committing to wallpaper or if you're renting and decorating options are limited.

How to choose a theme:

By Clan

It can be difficult to decide on a theme for a room, if you love your clan tartan then this can be the perfect starting point. Our Essentialand Piped Cushion covers are available in a limited range of clan tartans from stock, however they can be custom made in various sizes. You can also mix and match the tartan variations available for your clan, and even add a plain colour on the reverse. We think checks look fantastic used to accent your living room or scattered over your favourite bedspread to create a touch of elegance and style. Below we have used a combination of Gordon Clan Tartans and Black Watch. These share a similar tartan base which makes them great for mixing and matching.

By Colour Scheme

If your colour scheme is already set, then you can use a tartan cushion to pull together the other elements in the room. My new living room has a beautiful navy statement wall, with the remaining walls a light cream and our sofa is a deep teal shade. My first thought was the lovely MacCallum Modern, but as the room is quite small I thought the Patriot Ancient would help to create a lighter, brighter space. I love creating layers and added dimensions to my styling so I would pair this with a different style of cushion in the Patriot Weathered which adds more colours to the palette but with a matching pattern.

It can be a struggle to work out which cushion will match your colour scheme or style, which is where our handy search function on the product page really shines. If you know the name of your tartan you can search using that, but if you know you want "something with a pink base", try searching our tartans by colour. You may find exactly what you were looking for or you might find a few surprises.

If you don't already have a colour scheme set, you can play around with your options. If you like to play it safe and classy, I recommend choosing something that is from the same colour palette as your sofa. Place your cool blues and greys alongside heathery purples and sage greens.

Or if you're feeling bold, why not introduce some contrast? Think back to your art class colour wheel, pick out some brighter accent colours, pair them with their opposite and mix and match your tartans for a vibrant flourish.

Styling your Cushions:

I am a big fan of a scattered 'just tossed on the sofa' effortless look with my cushions, the more on there the better. This is great for an eclectic nonchalant aesthetic. However, you don't have to be extravagant with your styling, a pair of matching or coordinating cushions, plumped and squared either side by side or an equal distance apart can make a for a more simple, minimalist look, letting the pattern of the tartan speak for itself.

Top Tip

A little secret that was shared with me regarding cushions, is to always use a cushion pad slightly larger than the cushion cover. It's generally recommended to use a pad or insert that is around 2 inches wider than the cover. This ensure the cushions remain plump and soft on your sofa.