Don Pedro Brooklyn is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn More

What Color Pillows For a Beige Couch – 20 Ideas

By: Elena Johnson

When you walk into a living room, den, or other living space, one of the first things you notice is the seating – especially if there’s a comfortable couch waiting for you. You may think your beige couch is a little too simple, but with the right throw pillows, you can make that “boring” sofa utterly chic.

When it comes to decorative pillows for a beige couch, there are a lot of choices out there. You can add exciting contrast with darker and richer colors, or play into the subtlety of beige with equally light, muted colors. To help get your own ideas running, we’ve gathered some throw pillow color ideas to grace your beige couch.

Make it Cozy With Orange

Beige is a light neutral, so if you want your couch and living area to be the kind of cozy nook made for snuggling up with a movie, opt for deep orange throw pillows. 

An autumn-worthy shade will invoke the season’s warm pastimes, like curling up with a cider inside on a breezy day. You can bring those feelings of warmth, comfort, and welcome with a rich orange hue. Be sure to go for larger, plusher cushions, too.

Keep it Soft and Sweet With Blush

If pastels, creams, and lighter shades help you feel at home, choose a softer color like blush or rose. These light pinks will stand out against your beige couch without drawing too much attention, creating a sweetly soft environment. Pink is a warm color that invites people in, but it doesn’t overpower a room. It’s perfect for a living room full of easy chats and quiet moments.

Add Contrast With Emerald

Add Contrast With Emerald

An emerald cushion for a beige sofa will really stand out. Dark greens like forest or emerald make a richly hued contrast to beige, adding a gentle sense of drama to an otherwise light and unassuming space.

This combination of light and dark, saturated and unsaturated, and gentle and bold is a tasteful mix to any décor style. It’s the perfect blend for the room that sees everything – a space to concentrate, to relax, and to catch up with others. Emerald throw pillows will keep your beige couch fresh and exciting.

Add Just a Little Drama With Purple

If your couch has a simple architecture – all rigid lines and stiff cushions – add a sense of richness and plush living with deep purple throw pillows. The color of royalty, purple infuses a sense of drama and ornamentation. It will have you feeling you can lay back and relax like a king.

 A “warmer” cool color, purple draws people in while also adding an air of cool relaxation. Go for the richer and darker shades of purple to add powerful contrast to your light and unassuming beige couch.

Keep it Sunny With Light Yellow

If pastels and light tones are what you’re looking for, don’t be afraid to choose one that’s similar to tan or beige, like light yellow. This cheerful color has become quite popular in interior design in recent years, perhaps because of its positive connotations.

Yellow and beige may be a low contrast color combination, but it will still add personality and warmth to your space. Opt for a pattern for greater depth, or keep it sunny, simple, and single-toned.

Keep it Calm and Collected With Navy

Nothing says “cool, calm, and collected” like a deep shade of blue. When choosing throw pillows for a beige sofa, navy is one of your best choices.

This deep and timeless shade never seems to go out of style and seamlessly blends with nearly any décor scheme. Both a neutral and a saturated color, navy will contrast well against your light-colored couch while matching the complementary nature of beige. Navy throw pillows will keep your couch looking neat and stylish with little effort from you.

Get Bold With Leather

For a striking take, consider leather throw pillows for a beige couch with cloth upholstery. That understated, soft, and unassuming sofa will gain a modern edge with leather cushions. This not only adds character to your “plain Jane” furniture, but also adds a perception of hardness, an exciting contrast to any squishy couch that might fade into the background on its own.

Match Beige With Beige

Match Beige With Beige

Yes, you can match beige decorative pillows to a beige couch! Although it may sound boring, you may be happily surprised at how fresh and intriguing beige pillows on beige couch cushions can look, especially when the throw pillows have a slightly different texture or style.

This monochromatic look is subtle and versatile; your light couch can become a bright beacon in a colorful room, or mingle harmoniously in a pastel room. Rather than looking passé, your beige-filled seating will remain stylish, soft, and inviting – as long as you can keep it stain-free.

Try Bright Red For a Pop of Excitement

If you think your beige couch is feeling a little too passionless, liven things up with a bit of bright red. This warm color is full of energy, making it a stimulating addition to your space. 

When paired with a neutral beige couch and other muted décor, bright red throw pillows will make an energetic accent for your living room. In small doses, bright red makes an exciting, but not overwhelming, pop of color.

Cool Things Down With Blue

Cool Things Down With Blue

When it comes to matching a beige couch, it’s hard to go wrong with blue pillows. Darker shades will make for the most striking contrast and brighter medium shades will add the most energy, but even light blue shades will help to create a comfortable, relaxing atmosphere in your living room. 

If your goal is to create a space anyone would feel content in, you won’t go wrong with blue accent pillows.

Make it Elegant in Black and White

Don’t be afraid to add more neutrals to your neutral-colored couch. Like the darker colors on this list, black will contrast beautifully against your beige sofa, while white will lighten things back up. Black is too grim on its own and white is too muted, but together, they work wonders.

Besides, nothing says “chic” like black and white. Black and white never go out of style, and, as neutrals, will match a variety of other colors and styles at play in your living room. Opt for pillows in simple geometric patterns in this classic combination for a look that’s engaging, elegant, and timeless.

Go Simple, But Chic, With Grey

Go Simple, But Chic, With Grey

Don’t overlook the power of another neutral for your beige couch. Grey may sound as unexciting as beige can, but if you open your mind to the possibilities, you may be surprised just how stunning grey pillows on a beige couch can be.

Darker grey especially on a beige couch will look as striking as black and white, but just a bit more subtle. It’s a chic compromise of high contrast and an inviting softness. Or, opt for a lighter grey to create an almost monochromatic look. Either way, grey will add a classy yet understated vibe to your space.

Metallic Shades For a Tan Couch

If you’re wondering what color pillows go with a tan couch, look no further. Give your simple tan sofa some “oomph” with shiny, metallic shades. Unlike beige, tan doesn’t reflect quite as much light, so a decorative pillow with a bit of shimmer can brighten up your seating.

Choose metallic shades that are lighter and more neutral in color to keep a contemporary feel. Metallic pastel blues and greens will match, but will feel more old-fashioned and a little too earthy. Silvers and coppery golds will add a sense of light and texture and keep your living area fresh and upbeat.

White For a Tan Couch

If metallic accent pillows aren’t quite to your taste, we do have another tan-specific recommendation. In addition to most of the other colors on this list, white pillows would look equally stunning on a tan sofa. 

A true, bright white (not cream) will pop against your brown-beige couch. White always looks fresh and bright, making your understated couch a little more stylish for the addition.

Cream For a Tan Couch

As one last suggestion for tan colored sofas, consider cream throw pillows. Although both are light colors, there is just enough of a light brown to your tan couch to show up next to cream. Your decorative accent pillows will look like dreamy, dainty little clouds. It’s a great way to soften the feel of your living room and dress up a plain looking tan couch.

Bold Looks For a Leather Couch

When it comes to finding throw pillows for a beige leather couch, your color choices are largely the same, but there is one thing to note. You want to be sure to choose accent pillows which have the same boldness and smoothness as your leather sofa.

Saturated colors, shiny tones, and bright and bold patterns will pop on the smooth leather seat. Light colored pillows can work if they aren’t too “soft” in nature or literally too fuzzy. Remember to think like leather: mellow yet bold.

Use Earth Tones For a Warm Look

Earth tones are soft and natural. Many of them provide a feeling of warmth even if some of the specific shades don’t fall on the warm side of the color wheel. By adding some to your beige couch – which is already a light earth tone – these inviting colors will impart a sense of coziness to your living area, welcoming you and guests to sit back and relax a while.

Try Muted Colors

If you’ve read the other ideas on this list, you’ll see there are two main directions to take with your beige couch: dark and light. If a bright and airy living room is what you’re after, muted colors like white, beige, cream, and pastels will complete your look with simple elegance. 

Don’t be afraid to mix multiple colors in a pattern or opt for a single solid. Either way, your beige couch will look lovely with little effort.

Mix Patterns For Visual Interest

A light, neutral-colored couch is like a blank canvas. It’s a great opportunity to add visual interest. So whether you’re adding rich and contrasting colors, you may also want to consider adding a pattern or two to create that visual interest.

Just be sure to choose patterns that are complementary. Patterns that use similar colors or designs are a good idea, as are pillows from the same manufacturer or which are made of the same material. As long as all your throw pillows seem to match in one way or another, you can get a little wild with multiple patterns.

Mix Shades of the Same Color

If you’re struggling to choose between shades of the same color, you may want to save yourself the trouble of deciding. Your beige couch is already a neutral backdrop. That means you have more freedom to mix and match decorative pillows without the end result looking too busy.

Add contrast by mixing dark and light shades. Your sofa will look more put together if you repeat at least one shade, e.g. two dark blues and one light, or two of each shade. For a more creative, colorful look, however, you can always opt for three shades, e.g. a light, medium, and dark blue. Just be sure each pillow is from the same manufacturer and style to add stylistic cohesion.

Final Thoughts

When choosing throw pillows for your beige couch, there are two important questions to consider. First, What tone do I want the sofa, and the rest of the room, to have? Second, light or dark?

Whether you choose to contrast that light beige color with a deep, rich hue or opt for one that blends in, you will be setting the mood for the whole room. Because what’s the first thing you notice when you walk into a living room? It’s that big sofa inviting you in. So dress it up with the right color of throw pillows for your style.