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Styling Series: How to Create Rug and Pillow Sets

Welcome to the Styling Stories Series! I'm Kelley, the resident stylist here at Lulu and Georgia. Each month, I'll be sharing insider tips and rules for tricky styling situations. Over my ten year career as an interior designer and prop stylist, I've styled hundreds of room settings and have picked up tons of pro tips along the way. Today we're tackling matching pillows and rugs and how to find the best combination for you in your space. Here are my five top tips:

1. Choose the Rug First

The rug is the largest piece and therefore has the most impact. Area rugs with matching pillows will emphasize the importance of selecting the right rug even more because of the larger size. If you’re overwhelmed by the thought of editing all the textiles in your living room at once, take it one step at a time. Depending on your style, this could be anything from a bold graphic to a small accent. Choose a rug you love, and go from there.

2. Pick Your Palette

When matching pillows and rugs, use the rugs as a guide to start your color palette. There are many avenues here, depending on the style and feel of your room. Here are a few ideas:

Make it neutral, using either an equally neutral or bolder, colorful rug with the pillows serving as more as a backdrop. When working with a neutral palette, it's important to make sure that there is plenty of texture in your selections. You also want to be sure you’re considering your wall and floor color before you make your decision. More on this later.

Make it tonal, pulling out a couple of shades from the rug and choosing pillows in that range of hue. It's important to note that when working with a tonal range, it can be very helpful to choose multiple shades from the same color family. For instance, instead of working with the exact shade of royal blue from your rug, you can choose blue tones that are lighter or darker than the main color. This adds depth to your color range and feels more thoughtful and decorative than just matching colors.

Make it interesting, using complementary colors or shades that play well with your decor. You can take a look at opposites on the color wheel, or go with pairings that make you happy. Some fresh examples I’m loving right now are pairing terracotta shades with blues, peach tones with mint, or camel with olive green.

3. Vary the Sizes

Whether in your bedroom or living room, when matching pillows and rugs, it’s important to mix up the size and scale of the pillows. This allows for visual dimension and alleviates a horizontal line from forming across all the pillows when spread across the furniture. Go for different shapes as well; if you have two square shaped pillows, throw in a rectangular lumbar or round pillow as a fun way to add visual interest. If you fall in love with three square pillows, order them in different sizes if you can. You want to keep the eye moving around, and the best way to do that is with varied heights.

4. Incorporate Texture

When working in a neutral color palette or using mostly solid colored pillows, texture is key. Nothing is more boring than a group of beige cotton pillows sadly tossed around an equally beige sofa. However, beige can be beautiful when done in a tonal palette, adding in chunky knit textures, interesting fringe, luminous velvet and delicate woven details. This can be just as exciting as a bold color palette for the eye if the textures are there adding depth and interest.

5. Mix and Match Patterns

The key to successfully combining patterns to vary the scale of the print. Choose your largest scale pattern first. This doesn’t necessarily even have to be a pattern-sometimes, a woven pillow can be so textural that it will act as a large scale print. As such, a slightly textured solid can also be the perfect smallest scale pattern to complete a look. When done in a thoughtful color palette, traditional prints can play well with modern, masculine with feminine, etc. Let your personality show through in the selection of patterned pillows you choose.

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