The Power of The Throw Pillow

There are so many great and inexpensive ways that sellers–and anyone, really–can update the look and feel of each room in their house.  And, over the years, I have realized that there are a few key components to making a room really sing, especially in online listing photos.  I recently wrote about how to update a room using curtains here and today, I am talking about the power of the pillow!

One of my favorite Staging tools is throw pillows.  They add so much color, pattern and texture that really can update the look and feel of a room and make an online listing photo really pop! 

Here are my favorite styling tricks for using throw pillows:

Straight, No Diamonds Please

I used to love putting pillows on my bed like they were diamonds back in the 80's.  I don't even know if that was ever in style, but I know for sure that it is WAY out of style today.  Today's designers and shelter magazines show pillows like this:

Simple little detail, but to be on trend and have your house look modern, go with pillows straight on the edge and not resting on one of the points.

It's All In The Numbers

I often get asked how many pillows people should buy for their family room or bedroom for Staging.  For real estate photos, in the family room or living room, I typically say five on the sofa–two for either side of the sofa and one for the center–and one on at least one chair in the space.  It just makes a luxurious landscape and, like a good foundation, can hide some big flaws in the furniture beneath it.

In the bedroom, I like to see only pretty pillows for the online listing photo shoot.  So, clear the pillows that you use to sleep and use only those with shams, euroshams or that are decorative, like in the image below.  I also like to see everything propped up like they are the photo below because they just shoot better and create part of a great focal point at the bed.  I also do this to disguise the fact that a headboard might not be present and it allows me to bring art up higher on the wall to accentuate ceiling height.

Have Saavy Staging Style

Believe it or not, not all pillows are created equally when it comes to Staging.  Not all are actually Staging-worthy because they won't jump off the page of an online listing and that is what we want.  You want your listing to pop amongst all of the other noise on the real estate sites.  Here are three things that I always keep in mind when I am choosing pillows for a Staging project.

1. Go bold!  Keep paint colors neutral but you can go a little ca-ra-zay with throw pillow colors, like the bright coral in one of the images above.  They will actually jump off the page–in a good way–for your online listing.
2. Go big!  You go can big in both size and pattern.  Try to avoid anything smaller than 18 x 18 inch pillows when you are staging unless they have a big, bold burst of color or pattern.  Large geometrics look great in photos and create an emotional response from online lookers.
3. Be current!  Not sure if you're pillows are relevant to today's buyer?  A good rule of thumb is, if you see it in Target, then most likely it is going to make buyers swoon.  More than any other retailer in the Staging price point, Target is very good at releasing fresh looking prints, patterns and colors.  So shop Target and you should be safe.

Hope that helps you put your best pillow styling and buying foot forward!  Now, it's over to you, what do you love about decorating with pillows?