Welcome to Pillow 101: Your roadmap for all things pillows, from placement & patterns to inserts and beyond!
In our shop, we carry both square and lumbar pillows, indoor and outdoor– you name it! With square sizes ranging from 22×22 to 26×26, the possibilities are endless. On king and queen sized beds, I recommend styling with 3 euro shams spanning the width of the bed with a larger lumbar across the front. For queen lumbars, we recommend 14×36. For lumbars on a king bed, we recommend 16×48. This not only gives the bed a look of symmetry, but it also keeps it from feeling overly weighed down. You can also experiment with stacking these lumbars with the larger one behind! Check out this Style Guide video for all of my bedding how-to’s.
When selecting pillows for sofas and accent chairs, I really recommend leaning into contrast and color. For sofas, we typically opt for 4 square pillows depending on the size and depth of the piece! We typically will place 24x24s behind on the outside with 22x22s on the interior. This is a great opportunity to really experiment with the pairing of prints. Take a look at the tones throughout the room whether that be in artwork or a rug, and try to build upon those colors! We typically choose to have larger prints closer to the center of the sofa with smaller detailed patterns on the outside edge.
On accent chairs, we prefer to use smaller lumbars typically in sizes 12×20 or 14×20. For these, we recommend purchasing in pairs and keeping the style and print uniform for both.
Check out this Style Guide video for all things throw pillows!
In my opinion, pillow selection has the potential to make or break your space. This is why it’s so important that we make smart selections to not only incorporate character and personality, but also tie together the vibe of the entire room. Our designers create intricate pillow plans for every project, and when presenting to clients my biggest piece of advice would be to not shy away from prints! It can be tricky to visualize the end result, but these plans help give an idea of how different colors and prints can complement each other. On our site, we like to include lifestyle images of every pillow so shoppers can get an idea of how it can be styled!
Check out some of these pillow plans we presented to clients & their final product!
Here at Megan Molten we really love to play up the drama with vibrant prints, and we take time to carefully select show-stopping patterns that our clients and their guests will love. With this selection process often comes leftover fabric that remains due to yardage minimums when ordering for projects. We upcycle this leftover fabric to create more pillows to sell in the shop! All covers are made with knife edge zippers allowing the zipper to be easily concealed through this design. Many of the prints we select are from local artists as well! Check out some of these designs that we had excess fabric from and shop the look on our site.
A huge part of having expensive-looking pillows is the style of insert used. For all of our design projects and shop pillows, we use 95/5 feather down inserts. Another non-negotiable is to SIZE UP! If the cover is 22×22, we recommend stuffing it with either a 24×24 or even a 26×26 insert depending on the look you’re hoping to achieve. All of our shop pillows are sold with inserts included, and of course we sized up to make sure all pillows have volume and feel totally filled out.
Another tip I swear by is a seasonal refresh. I am constantly rotating my pillows and switching out my selections to keep my space feeling innovative. In cooler months maybe I’ll go for some darker, richer, jewel tones, and in the summer maybe I’ll opt for lighter and daintier prints to keep with the seasons. Check out my pillows when my home was decorated for Christmas compared to the spring time!
Thank you so much for tuning into this pillow crash course! It’s arguably one of my favorite ways to style and revamp a space, and I hope I was able to offer some guidance for you to experiment in your own home! Shop our curated selection of pillows here.
