What Are The Best Throw Pillows For Brown Couches?

Ossiana Tepfenhart
by Ossiana Tepfenhart

Ah, the ol’ brown couch. Most families in America have (or had) at least one brown couch where everyone would rest after a hard day’s work. Though it was once a place to watch TV, it’s now mostly a place where people chat with company. That couch deserves a little love, which is why it’s nice to add a personal style touch once in a while. That’s where throw pillows come in, and we got a product roundup just for that purpose!

The fun thing about brown couches is that you have oh, so many different ways to outfit your couch. As one of the most versatile options for couch colors, the possibilities truly become endless. Are you a tropical fan? A coastal fan? What about a fan of modern, industrial looks? The right throw pillows can make it all happen.

Trying to get some throw pillows that will make your couch pop isn’t always easy. It takes a little finesse to make a couch look like the ones in magazines. We’ve got some awesome picks for your next throw pillow shopping spree, just in case you’re low on inspo.

What Types Of Throw Pillows Go Well With Brown Couches?

The cool thing about having a solid brown couch is that you’ve got a lot of options when it comes to decorating it. These picks below are the best choices for design mavericks who want to make it happen…

Soft Brown Leather

Nothing quite says luxury like the feel of leather, and that’s especially true of brown leather. It’s luxurious, but it’s not the type of luxuriousness that makes people think you’re trying to flaunt it. Leather on leather for a couch is a good look that quietly says, “I’m wealthy,” and that’s a good look.

Brown leather works particularly well if you want to mix and match. The quality of the leather matters, though! If you want to get a nice brown leather throw pillow, go for genuine lambskin, like these pillows here.

Animal Print-a Palooza!

Animal print is a divisive choice, but it’s one that can work with the right home decor. On one hand, animal print tends to look a little chintzy or tacky. On the other hand, this pillow choice can also add an exotic twist or give your home a little bit of edginess. So, it’s best to approach with caution. Zebra and cheetah print are two of our biggest suggestions for this throw pillow type.

It’s best to avoid bold white or brightly-colored patterns in animal print, especially if you’re pairing it with a brown couch. This brown pillow print on Amazon is a better option.

Springtime Soft Pastels

Not too long ago, there was a quick trend that paired brown with soft pastels like pink or mint green. This look never really went away. It’s easy to match brown with virtually any pastel. The pastels tend to brighten up the room and also soften the appearance of stuff around it. If you want to go with something safe, go for a beige. If you want to spice things up, go for something cute, like a baby pink.

A common misconception is that this pillow pairing method has a very “granny” look to it. This couldn’t be more incorrect! As long as you avoid doilies and lace, you won’t have anything that resembles your grandma’s home anytime soon. This option from Amazon will be a sleek addition to your home.

Metallic Gold Label

Throw pillows are remarkably good for adding a little texture to your couch’s appearance. Here, the designer used a matte metallic gold pillow and cross-hatched accent pillows to make the couch look a lot more elegant. The added texture helps bring out the sueded pattern of the brown couch without making it look too heavy-handed.

Yellow and brown always work together, primarily because they are both warm colors. If you want to get a similar look for your home, it’s best to use a pillow that has texture stamped onto it, like these cool gold alligator print pillows on Amazon.

Touchable Black Velvet

If you want to get a look that’s masculine and a little bit industrial, then you might want to choose jet black pillows—maybe with a little bit of a velvety look. The velvet look helps absorb light, making the pillows look extra bold against the leather of a brown couch. This look is ideal for a warehouse-style home loft, but it can also work well with people who want a modern look.

The masculine vibes with this pairing are heavy. However, you need to be careful with this choice. Too many dark colors can make a room look gloomy, so make sure that you brighten it up with other colors nearby. You can snag some cool pillows for this look here.

Nautical Patterns

via Made By Mood

People often forget that brown sofas can be used to help improve the nautical vibes of a beachside room. The brown of the couch can help people subconsciously recall colors like wet sand, palm tree trunks, and seashell browns. However, if you want to get that vibe, you will need to get some throw pillows that have a nautical appearance to them.

Having cute beach print pillows is what works well here. We suggest getting some pillows with seashells painted on them, if you want to get the full ambiance going. Of course, getting pillows that have anchor prints or even getting something that harkens to brands like Vineyard Vines can work well. As long as there’s a nod to the ocean in your print, you’ll be able to attain the look.

A Touch Of Tropical Prints

via DailyDreamDecor

Sometimes, you just want to make your brown couch feel more at home in the rainforest or near the jungles of Bali. When you want to get that vibe to a room, you’re going to need two things: solid green throw pillows and some tropical throw pillows to accompany them. There are two ways to do this: get straw pillows (yikes!) or get pillows that have a tropical print.

Getting tropical pillows sounds hard, but it’s not. This is a very versatile look in terms of potential prints. Tropical prints can run the gamut from having painted ferns, to getting pictures of coconut trees, to getting elephants or even fruit painted on the top of your throw pillow. We happen to like these pillows straight from Amazon.

Fabulous Faux Fur

via RH.com

If you take a look at most old-school pinup magazines, you’ll see at least one pinup model on a brown leather couch, hugging a furry pillow. It’s a sexy look that tends to evoke feelings of sensuality. If you’re into that sexy look, or just want to have a more rustic approach to your living room, then going for a furry pillow is a good choice.

The cool thing about fur pillows is that they work well with any brown couch, regardless of the color that you pick. White fur, grey fur, and tan fur tend to be the most popular picks. However, you shouldn’t let that stop you from snapping up some pink, yellow, or blue pillows if they catch your eye.

Furry pillows add texture and softness to a couch, which is really important if you want to make sure that your home doesn’t look too rugged. Men who want something that’s masculine but still lady-friendly might want to scoop some up for a bachelor pad. With all this said, we want to emphasize that the best pillows are cruelty-free pillows like these from Amazon.

Cute Chevron

via Decorated Life

Chevron is a pattern that’s gotten its day in the sun lately, and we couldn’t be happier about it. This is a pattern that works well with bold colors and can bring out a modern touch in almost any sofa or couch. If you have a brown couch with pastel chevron printed pillows, you can also get a slick Southwestern look to your home.

The best thing about chevron pillows is the nice geometric touch they offer. It works on so many levels and adds dimension to a plain couch. These picks from Amazon would look smashing in almost any home.

Dual-Color Decorations

via Decorated Life

Did you ever have a moment where you wanted to choose two different pillow colors but didn’t want to overcrowd your couch? If you’re like me, the answer is a yes. One of the newer trends you can get in a pillow form is the two-tone trend. This pillow trend offers you a way to get the feeling of two pillows in one, often with some cool contrasting options.

Two-tone options are great if you want to make a bold statement. If you’re looking for more “blending in” pillows, this is not the trend for you. Want to get a good contrast going? Look at this striking pillow from everyone’s favorite online retailer!

Gone Geometric

via Pinterest

Sometimes, it’s easy to feel like chevron is overdone. However, the concept of getting pillows with geometric pattern prints isn’t getting old. In fact, it’s one of the easiest ways to add a modern yet fresh touch to a home. The designer in this picture decided to add several different throw pillows to brown couches. By choosing pillows that had colors in the same family, they were able to get a very harmonious look to their room.

There’s something incredibly refreshing about pastel colors and browns in geometric patterns. This is doubly true when it comes to mixing and matching your pillows. So, if you want to get a similar look for your home, it might be a good idea to get a prefabricated set that has mix-n-match pillows.

Funky Florals

via Pinterest

Some people might think florals to be a bit dated, but this isn’t always the case. This designer decided to use floral prints to bring a bright, dramatic, and slightly Oriental twist to a typical antique leather couch. The trick here is to get florals that stand out from the norm—or at the very least, don’t have the stereotypical white background that most floral throw pillows have.

If you’re a fan of florals, it might be a good idea to stick to retro looks. A close second choice in terms of styling would be to pick a tropical, Bohemian, or “English cottage” look, if you’re looking for a more nature-based appearance. Either way, a funky floral pattern like this one will always grab you compliments.

All Puffed Up

via HB2

Texture is one of the fastest ways to make a couch look ten times better, and few things can offer texture faster than the right throw pillow. Here, a designer added a gold pillow with fluffy, puffy tassels on the end. This helped turn the tough dark brown couch in the background to a more touchable, cozy addition to a home.

You don’t have to have a pillow with fluffy tassels to get a good texture going on. Other options include using a coarse woven fabric, getting pillows with cute puffballs on them, or even getting specially embroidered pillowcases. Even getting “stamped” leather pillows can help add a new twist to your look. You can get some cool textured pillows like this knotball one on Amazon.

Artsy Smartzy

Brown is a color that goes with everything, including art prints. That’s why many designers are now starting to turn their attention to throw pillows that have an art print on them. These pillows are best paired with solid colors, but don’t let that fool you. You only need a couple to make a serious statement in a typical room.

The designer above chose to have an embroidered rendition of David, but why stop there? You can find just about any art print you want, from hippie mandalas to a gorgeous rendition of Paris’s Eiffel Tower. All you have to do is find a scene that suits your taste and your sofa.

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Ossiana Tepfenhart
Ossiana Tepfenhart

Ossiana Tepfenhart is an expert writer, focusing on interior design and general home tips. Writing is her life, and it's what she does best. Her interests include art and real estate investments.

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