6 Ways to Decorate Throw Pillows In Your Home

Throw pillows are a great way to add style to your room’s interior design, without going out of your way for fancy items that might quickly go out of vogue. You probably already have a few in your home, whether it’s a set of decorative pillows on your bed, a few coordinating accent pieces for your couch, or a subtle set in your entryway. If you’re looking to give your existing throw pillows a quick refresh or just want an easy weekend DIY, there are several ways to breathe new life into your throw pillows and decorate them like the pros.

You can add color, texture, or a little bit of craft-savvy DIY to any throw pillow. Keep reading for our stylist-inspired tips on how to decorate throw pillows in your home.

Attach Embellishments

Upgrade an otherwise plain pillow with your favorite embellishments, easily found at your local hobby or craft store. Fan favorites include ribbons, beads, sequins, and finishes, like rope braids and tassels. If you’d like to add a ribbon to your pillow, tie a colorful option around its middle. Consider adding a bow for a gift-worthy final touch.

Adding sequins or beads to your pillow is a great way to add a touch of feminine flair and give your throw pillow a unique, decorative look. After all, sequins reflect natural and artificial light, meaning your throw pillow will glitter and shimmer in whatever room you place it. Consider using sequin patterns to make a holiday-inspired look, or get creative with sequin fabric, too.

While some may opt to disassemble the pillow and attach the trims to the pillowcase itself, you can also hot glue the braids, tassels, and trims to the outside of your decorative pillow if you’re short on time, or if just don’t want to bring out your sewing machine.

Tuft Your Pillow

Tufting is a great way to update an old pillow and adds a unique, structured look to your home decor. The most common choice of embellishment for tufting is a small button, but you can also simply use thread. To make a DIY tufted design, mark where you want your tufts on your pillow and, beginning from the back of your pillow, push a needle through to meet that mark. Then, thread your button and pull the needle through the pillow again to the back.

Tufting your pillows is a great way to give them a fresh look and make your home decor look more modern. It doesn’t require any complicated sewing skills or materials, just a basic sewing kit will do!

Add Appliques

Adding appliques is a great way to upgrade a pillow and make an interior style statement along the way. Consider adding a cheeky lettered statement or, for a more retro look, adding bright appliques, like flowers, hearts, or circles. Iron-on appliques are a great option, but you can opt for fabric appliques, too. Browse the aisles of your local craft or hobby store and choose the style, color, and material that speaks most to you. Attach your appliques securely with a needle and thread for long-lasting results.

Paint Your Pillow

For those that really like to get creative, you can also paint your pillows! Use specially-designed fabric paint or, for added texture, use puffy paint. Consider landscape, soothing seascapes, or anything else you can dream up for a touch of artistic flair in your home or interior space. This is a great project to involve your kids in, too. They can each create a pillow for their room!

Further embellish your pillow with appliques, sequins, or beaded accents for a truly unique, decorative look, or try it on a photo pillow for a custom home decor accessory for your living space.

DIY Embroidery Panel

You can also decorate new or old throw pillows with embroidery. If you’re building your pillow from scratch, you can create a DIY embroidery panel directly on the fabric. If you’re updating an existing pillow, a muslin insert will do. There are plenty of creative patterns online, but you can also browse home decor inspiration sites to get ideas. Consider simple flowers, a monogram, or a cheeky saying.

If you have an embroidery machine, you can create more complicated embroidery panels for your new throw pillow.

Quilt Your Pillow

One of the most classic and perhaps our favorite way to decorate a pillow is to quilt it. With a quintessential, homey touch, quilting is an easy way to match otherwise plain pillows to beachy, country, or cottage-themed decor. Consider a circle quilting pattern: draw concentric circles on a piece of coordinating fabric, and then use your sewing machine to follow around the edges of your circle. You can attach this fabric piece in much the same way as an applique.

If you’re building a decorative pillow from scratch, you can use a variety of quilting effects to create a beautiful throw pillow. Consider square quilting for a patchwork effect or get creative with a unique applique style.