Cushions and Scatter Cushions in Velvet, Bouclé and Linen
A cushion is the cheapest way to change a room, and the only piece of furnishing most people buy on impulse. That is why colour comes first here and everything else second.
Every cushion on this page comes from Scatter Box, a family business in Navan that has been making soft furnishings since 1959. All are filled and ready to use; we do not sell covers on their own.
Cushions by colour
Colour is what a cushion is for. A sofa stays the same for ten years; the cushions on it can change with the season, the light, or simply because you have gone off the green ones.
Two ways of going about it work, and they are opposites. Pick one colour already in the room — something in a rug, a painting, a spine on the bookshelf — and repeat it. Or pick the colour that is nowhere in the room at all, and let the cushions be the only place it appears. What rarely works is landing halfway between the two, close enough to the sofa to look like a failed match.
Mid tones are the forgiving ones. Very pale cushions show every mark on the piece people actually lean on, and very dark ones show every thread and hair.
Cushion sizes and shapes
Most designs come in three: a small square at 43 x 43cm or 45 x 45cm, a large square at 58 x 58cm, and a rectangle at 35 x 50cm or 40 x 60cm.
That range exists because cushions work in odd numbers and mixed sizes. Three or five across a sofa, with the large squares at the outside ends, the small squares in front of them and a rectangle in the middle, gives depth. Four identical cushions in a row gives you a waiting room.
One thing worth knowing before ordering: a 45 x 45cm cushion is close to but not the same as the 50 x 50cm some makers use, so if you are adding to cushions you already own, check what you have rather than assuming.
Rectangular and long cushions
Rectangles do the job squares cannot. Behind the small of your back on a deep sofa, a rectangle supports where a square just fills space, which is why they end up being the ones people actually use rather than move to the floor at bedtime.
There are also a few long cushions at 30 x 95cm, made to run across the head of a bed in front of the pillows. They are the piece that makes a made bed look finished, and they come off in one movement rather than four.
Velvet, bouclé and linen cushions
Fabric decides how a cushion feels, which matters more here than on any other piece of furnishing, because a cushion is the one thing in a room you put your face against.
Velvet catches light and shifts colour as you move past it, so a plain velvet cushion is never quite plain. Bouclé is looped and nubby, all texture and no pattern, and it reads as quiet in a busy room. Linen is flat and matte and creases, which is either relaxed or untidy depending on your view of it. Faux fur is the one people reach for in winter and put away in May.
Mixing fabrics does more for a sofa than mixing colours. Three cushions in the same shade but in velvet, bouclé and linen will look considered; three in the same fabric and three different colours usually looks accidental.
Designed and made in Ireland
Scatter Box design their own prints rather than buying in artwork, and much of the range is printed and made up at their factory in Navan, County Meath. The prints start as original hand-painted and drawn designs, which is why the patterns do not turn up on anyone else's cushions.
That is the difference between these and the cushions in most high street ranges, which are bought from the same handful of overseas suppliers by everyone at once. It shows up in two places you can see: the piping and seams on the edges, and the fact that a colour repeats accurately across a whole collection, so the cushions, the throw and the curtain actually match rather than nearly matching.
Cushions for a sofa
The two mistakes are the same everywhere: too few and too matched.
A three-seater carries five comfortably, a two-seater three. Beyond that they stop being cushions and start being an obstacle, and they end up on the floor every evening. Work in odd numbers, keep the largest at the outside ends, and let one cushion be the odd one out in colour or texture.
If the sofa is patterned, plain cushions in a colour drawn from the pattern are the safe route. If the sofa is plain, the cushions are where the pattern goes.
Cushions for a bed
Cushions on a bed are doing a different job from cushions on a sofa: they are decoration that gets removed every night, so the number matters more than the comfort.
Two or three in front of the pillows is the point at which a bed looks made rather than staged. A long 30 x 95cm cushion across the front does the same in one piece, and takes two seconds to move.
Size up rather than down on a bed. The small squares that look right on a sofa can look lost against a king size headboard.
Outdoor cushions
A few of these are made to cope with being outside: decorative cushions for a bench, a garden sofa or a windowsill in a conservatory.
They are not seat pads. If you are replacing the thick fitted cushions that came with a rattan or patio set, these are not the right thing.
Cushion FAQs
What size are your cushions?
Most designs come as a small square at 43 x 43cm or 45 x 45cm, a large square at 58 x 58cm, and a rectangle at 35 x 50cm or 40 x 60cm. A few long cushions are 30 x 95cm.
Do the cushions come filled?
Yes. Every cushion here is filled and ready to use, and we do not sell covers separately.
Where are the cushions made?
They are designed in Ireland by Scatter Box, and much of the range is printed and made up at their factory in Navan, County Meath.
How many cushions should you put on a sofa?
Five on a three-seater, three on a two-seater. Odd numbers look deliberate, even numbers look symmetrical, and more than that gets moved to the floor every evening.
Should cushions match the sofa?
Either clearly match a colour already in the room or clearly contrast with it. Nearly matching the sofa is the one result that looks like a mistake.
Are your cushions sold in pairs?
No, every cushion is sold individually, so you can buy three of one and two of another rather than taking a fixed pair.