Personally I like a minimal bed with linen bedding. I don’t like multiple cushions or extra blankets. But I know people love a made up bed and for my clients I style the bed to suit their style goal, the space, colour scheme and textures. Here are my thoughts on how to style a bed with easy tips.
Number and orientation of pillows
I think it’s important to keep it simple to get a combination of pillows, cushions, and throws right. We’ve all seen beds with the quilt pulled back almost half way down the bed to accommodate layers of cushions in different sizes, shapes and textures.
While this is nice, it’s harder to get right. So I propose a more straightforward approach for every day. The first thing to consider is how many standard pillows do you have? Two or four? Some people like the option between soft and medium pillows.
The next thing to consider is if you prefer to have them lying down or standing upright? Or whether you like pillows below the bedding or above?
Options for cushions
As we know collections work best in threes so one of the easiest ways to style cushions is to lie your pillows stacked vertically and place two large cushions in front of each set and a smaller cushion in front of that.
If you want don’t have four pillows then you could hide them under your quilt and use an extra wide lumber cushion just below the pillows over the quilt.
Depending on the bedding, I have also used pillows in the styling collection. Here in this Docklands project I placed the pillow with a silk cover in between two decorative scatter cushions.
The best chance of success with styling cushions on the bed is keep the number of cushions (and pillows) low, for example no more than five but three of the right cushions can be special too.
Throw or blanket
Many people like the addition of a throw or blanket on the bed, above the quilt for additional colour and texture.
Some people like to twist or casually throw their blanket on the bed. I think to ensure success, simply place a throw or blanket across the base or middle of the bed.
If the blanket is on the end or middle depends on how many cushions you have. If you have a lot of cushions you may decide to not have a throw to ensure the focus is on the cushions.
Styling a bed factors in the bedhead and what’s on the wall behind the bed. Is there art, a feature paint colour or wallpaper. All of these elements help decide how to style the bed based on what the focus is.
For example if you have a stunning bed head you might decide to keep your pillows under the quilt for the bedhead to shine.
Finally how to style your bed with easy tips, includes storage for the cushions. When you’re going to bed you want to place your cushions in an end of bed bench or other storage piece to keep your cushions off the floor and in good condition.
