Not everyone has the luxury of updating all of their furniture at one time. For most of us, our homes are a work in progress and are a combination of ad hoc purchases, pieces bought on sale without a measuring tape and inherited pieces (both beautiful heirloom pieces or just the ugly furniture your parents never got around to updating either but donated to you when you got married). So what’s a girl to do? How can you bring a room together when you are working with a tight budget, mismatched pieces and you don’t necessarily have a design eye? Here’s a little design challenge case study to help you figure out the basic principles of how to get started. For this project we were tasked with the challenge of combining a modern style couch in teal with an older fashioned piece recently recovered in charcoal grey. The budget was R3000 – R4000 to replace the current scatter cushions and the new look needed to work in an overall warm Scandinavian interior with abundant potted plants and baskets.

The first thing we did because we knew the budget was tight on this project was to open a few retail websites where we knew that scatters can be sourced affordably (Woolworths, At Home, Superbalist and Mr Price) and to search Google shopping to pick up any sales. Next we created a keynote slide with two images of a similar grey and teal couch to the ones our client had so that we could use that as a canvas to play on. We also included a palette of colours that already existed in the room so that we could make sure we were either repeating these colours or tying into them to create a cohesive look and feel. The secret to making mismatched pieces work together is to embrace and lean into the problem by adding even more diversity, contrast and variety (isn’t that just so true to life as well 🙂 while repeating certain elements to make it feel designed versus random.

The next step was to look for a hero cushion which would tie the teal and grey together and speak to the botanical theme. It would also create the base palette of colours that our other scatters would match. I happened to find one retail but this is the one piece I would splurge on or get custom made as it will anchor the room. When working with a Scandinavian style interior a stripe cushion is always a must as well as a colour block cushion to pull off the look. We included a few of each here to match the overall style of the home and made sure that the two couch colours were repeated on opposite couches. Lastly we looked for a warm tone cushion to tie in the existing wood and basket elements and two embroidered handmade cushions to make the space feel relaxed, homely and bespoke.

Combining such a mix of scatters is really an art and for me at least I only know what works by putting it all together on a slide and swopping pieces out until it feels right. This saves me a ton of time in stores and means I have a solid plan before I spend a cent. It also means my clients know exactly what they are getting and can comfortably move forward with the project without fear that it’s not going to look how they imagine it. Our client didn’t have budget for a rug just yet but we’ve included an example here of the style of rug that would work with all these pieces. If you like this look and just happen to have the exact same problem you are trying to solve, here is our online shopping list for you to shop the look. The total cost was R2872 with an average spend of R359 per cushion which is R500 – R700 less than what designer feather filled scatters cost. By mixing more expensive feather filled pieces with budget options the overall impression is layered and textured and doesn’t feel cheap.

1. R149 https://www.mrphome.com/en_za/textured-geometric-scatter-cushion-50x50cm-101000592?
2. R459 (feather) https://www.mrphome.com/en_za/embroidered-basswood-feather-scatter-cushion-60x60cm-100990553?
3. R179 https://www.mrphome.com/en_za/textured-loop-scatter-cushion-50x50cm-101481449
4. R299 https://bash.com/scatter-cushion-light-grey-stripe-35×60-153302aaac7/p?property__Colour=Grey
5. R499 (feather) https://www.mrphome.com/en_za/printed-patio-tugela-scatter-cushion-60x60cm-101466677?
6. R209 https://superbalist.com/home-and-living/home-decor/cushions-throws/shuri-embroidered-cushion-cover-green/1019207?sku=3876643&gclsrc=ds
7. R699 https://bash.com/colourblock-scatter-cushion-35x60cm-153302aadu3/p?property__Colour=Black
8. R379 https://www.woolworths.co.za/prod/Home/Home-Decor/Scatter-Cushions-Covers-Throws/Natural-Colour-Block-Scatter-Cushion-50x50cm/_/A-506599614?isFromPLP=true