Welcome to the ultimate guide to styling throw blankets! A big piece of creating a high end looking home is layering. Throw blankets (and pillows) are a great way to incorporate layers into your home. This post will discuss how to use throw blankets in your home to craft a luxurious, comfortable, lived-in look.
Whether you're trying to display your throw blankets on a couch, chair, bed, ottoman, or even a blanket ladder, we are going to cover it all here!
So let's dive into some tips on how to style throw blankets and make your home look awesome.
Top Tips for Layering Throw Blankets
1. Mixing patterns and textures
I'll talk more about how to mix patterns and textures in a different post. But keep in mind that you want to vary the patterns in any given space.
For example, say you have pillows with a large scale print on them. You probably don't want to pair that with a throw blanket with another large scale print.
Mix different scales (large versus small) and types of prints/textures (linear, floral, geometric, etc.) together for an upscale look.
2. Size & Proportion
Throw blankets are typically 50" x 60". Of course, you can find throws larger than this if you look around. Although there is not a huge variation in throw blanket size, keep in mind the proportion of the blanket to the piece you are styling it on.
Let's say you have a bench and you'd like to make it look a little more welcoming. Depending on how long your bench is, a throw blanket all by itself may not be enough.
In this situation, you would want to fill out the bench with some pillows to make it look a little fuller and more inviting.
You can also try spreading out the blanket to make it take up more space on the bench, but there is definitely a limit to this.
On the other hand, let's say you are looking at your throw blanket draped over a smaller piece of furniture, say an ottoman or a smaller chair. You may need to fold the blanket up more, so it looks more proportional to the piece of furniture.
Here, you can see that this larger, heavier throw sort of swallows the chair that it's on.
3. Weight
When we talk about the theory of interior design, we often talk about the visual weight of pieces in a room.
Some things can be visually heavy, for example, a dark colored couch. In general, the eye tends to percieve larger, darker colored objects as having more visual weight than lighter colored or smaller objects. However, different textures, fabrics, and patterns all have varying visual weights.
So what does this have to do with throw blankets?
You may want to experiment with different weights of blankets and see how they look. For example, a thick, dark, fur blanket, will have a heavier visual (and physical) weight, than a light colored cotton blanket.
4. When in Doubt, Fluff It Out
Are you a fan of a relaxed, lived-in look? Same! I often find that the perfect finishing touch at the end is to scrunch/fold the blanket up. It makes it appear more fluffy and cozy.
I do this by putting very small folds in the blanket, making it look natural and effortless.
Which is ironic because often times you put much effort in to make something look like it required no effort.
More Ideas on How to Style Your Throw Blanket
Can we start with my LEAST favorite way to display throw blankets?
Folded over the back of the couch.
Sometimes it can look nice, but personally, I feel like there are so many better options out there. So let's dive into them!
Casually slung over the arm of a chair or couch means you have quick, easy access to blankets right where you want them. Plus they look great. Talk about a win-win.
Have you ever wanted to fill wall space without hanging another picture? Sometimes when the only thing on the walls are photos, it can start to feel like an art gallery and less like a home.
Filling wall space with a combination of pieces creates variety and gives your home a warm, eclectic feeling.
Blanket ladders can be a great solution as they take up wall space, effectively solve your blanket storage problem, and also allow you to display your beautiful throws.
Ottomans and benches also make a great home for your throws when not in use.
Adding blankets to these pieces creates a layered look that makes the space feel cozy and inviting.
You can even experiment with a folded look, as you can see in the picture above. Or you can try a more casual look that is as easy as giving it a toss on your furniture.
You may want to give it a little fluff and add in some extra folds for a relaxed look.
Here you can see this blanket lazily draped over a window seat.
Finally, if you're looking to add more layers and dimension to your bed, more blankets can be just the answer you're looking for.
Again, you can try a folded look or make it casual by tossing it on the end of the bed.
Go Forth and Display Your Throw Blanket in Style
In this post we talked about some basic fundamentals of how to style throw blankets in your home and provided some visual examples. I hope this was helpful for you. I'd love to hear what you think!
Keep coming back to the blog for more ideas on how to create a home you love.