Leather sofas are low maintenance and a favorite of those with young children, pets, and singles who enjoy eating pizza and whatnot in front of the television every night. Many of my clients have dark leather sofas in their homes but express frustration at the boring and bachelor-pad look of such a sofa.
The right pillows can make a drastic improvement to ANY sofa, and that’s certainly true for a dark leather sofa. But you have to know a few secrets about the RIGHT kind of pillows to look for. Here’s the ‘before” state of my client’s very comfortable Pottery Barn sofa:
Comfortable, yes. But not very sophisticated. We went on a shopping trip with a heavy focus on finding just the right pillows for this leather sofa, among other things.
After deciding on chairs for the same room with blue and green upholstery, we decided on sofa pillows in variations of blue.
So here’s what I look for when choosing pillows for a leather sofa:
1) pillows that are in light neutrals or COLOR (to contrast the dark leather),
2) pillows that are down-filled, and
3) pillows featuring textured and interesting fabric.
Stay away from any kind of slick fabric (like silk), because it will slide right off of leather onto the floor, and that’s all kinds of irritating. Same is true of poly-filled pillows. You need a heavier pillow that will hold it shape and not slide off the leather. And to brighten the darkness of a dark leather sofa, lighter neutrals or any bold COLOR is certainly the way to go for pillows.
Since there was also a leather rocker in the room, we chose a coordinating throw to lighten up and add interest:
The variation of blues and texture work beautifully on the warm leather, don’t you think?
I’ll show you more of this fabulous make-over of my client’s den soon, but sometimes it’s important to teach a few specific lessons, like this pillows-on-leather-sofa one – so it’s not just about pretty pictures around here.
Speaking of lessons, my next Expert Psychological Stagerâ„¢ course is this Thursday through Saturday, and I can’t wait! If you couldn’t get in on this course, stay tuned for the dates for our next course in September. In the meantime, you may be interested in my workshop videos on choosing paint color, arranging furniture and art, or staging living rooms. Or maybe you’d like to read one of the most popular professional home staging books currently on Amazon.com, Psychological Staging – Home Staging Secrets of The Decorologist, or perhaps the Homeseller Version. Keep learning and growing, my friends!
Thank you for these pillow tips! We have a leather sofa and chairs and I am always trying to figure out how to lighten them up and add interest! Great Ideas!
I hope that helps, Cindy 🙂
Kristie! I love all these tips on pillows for brown leather couch… do you have any on color Mohogany leather couch?
Same advice for any brown leather sofa, Vilma!
Hi any comment for gray (not bluish) reclining leather sofa in a not so lit room with white walls. These are recliners. the loveseat has armrests and middle cup holder. Not sure what kind of pillows to place. We need to cheer the room up
That’s a great tip. Love that patterned through, too.
Where is a good place to find down pillows?
Beth,
HomeGoods, TJ Maxx, and Marshalls now carry down-filled pillows regularly. I pass up all poly-filled ones nowadays because I think down-filled ones look better for much longer. Seems like Pier One, Kirklands, and World Market only carry poly-filled, so I don’t bother shopping for pillows there anymore (even though some of the patterns are really cute). And of course, you could order pretty pillow covers on Etsy and just purchase your own down-filled inserts.
It wasn’t until I started staging Kristie that I realized there are a LOT of black leather sofas in my town! I find that piling them up with lots of light and bright pillows (for contrast like you suggest) helps a lot, otherwise they look like big black holes in the listing photos. Great tips!
I had to learn all this the hard way when I made my pillows for my dark leather couch and used poly forms from the fabric store. Ugh. Wish I had seen this post earlier. Now I need to go buy some down fillers 😉
Ugh, sorry Angela! Now you know. If it makes you feel any better, it took me awhile to figure this out!!!
I sometimes find “ugly”, down filled, pillows in the Clearance section of Home Goods. I’ll purchase those and make new pillow covers for them!
Great idea, Joanne!!!
Thanks for this tip! I will never get my husband and boys to part with their beloved leather sofas, so this is very helpful!
Out of curiosity, where is the leather rocker from? I think it’s a really great piece!
You find the best furniture and accessories! The pillows look fabulous and I love the new blue and green chairs!!! Where do you find two? Whenever I shop at Home Goods they will only have one chair, no mate. Thanks for al of your great tips Kristie!!
Cathy, the chairs are from Sprintz in Nashville. It’s rare to find a pair of chairs at HomeGoods, and they tend to be a bit small – wouldn’t work with such a large leather sofa!
Cort Rental Furniture actually uses those chairs on the West Coast anyway, so you may luck out and be able to buy them at their clearance centers.
Hi Kristie, You are magic! It’s incredible what a difference that little “pick-me-up” made.
Warmly, Michelle
Honey I’m Home
I write a few articles on sofas and I do wonder why people opt for the darker more traditional tones in leather sofas these days. Especially when staining of brighter and more varied colours of leather is certainly more widely available. Which makes it even more exciting when adding sofa accessories like throws or cushions.
With pillows however, the sofas definately need to be more deep seated. Personally speaking, ended up having to put a throw on a leather sofa because the cats kept scratching it. Should have just bought a park bench with pillows.
This is amazing, now I learn more about the pillow and how to use it to decorate my home. Thank you for sharing experience!
It wasn’t until I began arranging Kristie that I understood there are a LOT of dark calfskin couches in my town! I find that heaping them up with bunches of light and splendid pads (for complexity like you propose) helps a considerable measure, else they look like enormous dark gaps in the posting photographs. Awesome tips!
Thanks Kristie, a great choosing guide with many beautiful pictures.
Hi, I was wondering what size your pillows are? I just ordered an extra deep leather couch today and want to have some substantial-sized pillows to place on the couch so they don’t get lost in it! Thanks so much!
Dang it! Didn’t mean to put a big pic in the post! Thought it was for the pic icon. :/
Nice pics! I wanna same pillows too! Where i can buy it?
I fill the pillow forms with bean seeds. It keeps them sitting upright. Not as cushy but they hold upright.
Thanks for sharing Kristie, there is a leather soft in my living room and I always feel lacking of something, now I got what I need 🙂
Great, I’m glad to help!!!
I just inherited a modern salmon leather sofa and recliner and I will be painting one of the walls either behr frostini (green blue) mischievous (blue green) or misted fern (green). I live in a small condo and this is my living/dining area. I am somewhat disabled and spend a good deal of time in this room. I love all three of the paint colors with the sofa and will probably try to sew some pillows myself (not a seamstress) but they look easy enough and I’m on a fixed income. The room is very dark (working on that) My preference is frostini paint color but I know the misted fern will be much easier to match. I will want the material for the pillow covers to be washable (maybe a cotton duck?) Am I right in thinking that a regular cotton would feel too light with a leather sofa? I will definitely use down inserts as comfort is everything. Any ideas how to light a room with no overhead where even with a sliding glass door I get very low light on a sunny day? All ideas appreciated. Trying to turn a dismal room into a happy room! Thanks, Kristie.
Wendy,
Down inserts will help the pillows not slide off, of course, but you may need to find some material that’s got some texture (even nubbiness) to keep them from slipping off easily. I think your wall color will be a nice, happy contrast to your sofa! Just be sure to get a few lamps from HomeGoods or TJ Maxx that handle at least 75 watts – I find that white or off-white shades can really make a difference in letting the light shine through and brightening a darkish room. Some lamps have a 3-way switch and you can get 3-way CREE light bulbs (in Soft White) from Home Depot. Good luck on your living room project!!!
Thank you for a great explanation. I was looking online for a similar idea and really appreciate it
Hi Kristie,
Love your post. The pillows are really beautiful. This will definitely serve as a guide for my next project.
Thanks for sharing this important ideas with me my leather sofa will not be boring again
Kristie, I inherited a pair of 50 year old Bregere chairs. I am re upholstering then in a contemporary blue design fabric. My question, I have a off white mid century modern leather sofa. I was considering having pillows made from the left over fabric to go on the couch. Will this kill the clean design lines of the couch?
Not at all! It would be a great idea to bring the blue fabric from your chairs to pillows on the sofa – pulls the whole look together.
What about for a dark grey tufted sofa? Same? I am worried pillows will take away from the look.
thanks for your guide for pillows
My problem is that the Chesterfield antique red sofa is over 40 years old now and scratches easily. I would rather not have zippers on the pillows but it’s hard to find attractive throw pillows without zippers unless they are custom made. Any tips?
Hi, I have a medium tan colour leather lounge suite (2 seater and 3 seater). the chairs are quite long and I am looking at buying bolster cushions to help with lumbar support and to stop my husband winging that he is slouching in the chairs 🙂 I have a light tan patterned rug in the lounge, cabinetry is light oak colour. Any recommendations on material / colour for the bolster cushions?
Hi there. What colors would you suggest for navy blue leather sofas? We literally went out to get white sofas and came home with a dark color yet again because….well, kids! I want my living area to look warm cozy. For reference we have a tan carpet in the living room, greyish walls and whiteish brick fireplace. I thought maybe pinks but not sure…Please help! 🙂