9 Design Tips for Blue Couches in Living Rooms

Accent Colors, Textures, and Ideas to Style Your Sofa

If you have a blue couch in the living room that you absolutely love—but don't know how to decorate around—designers are here to help. A blue sofa is a classic design option that can elevate your space in either a light or dark shade. There are many ways to stylishly integrate this color into the room, whether you're drawn to light hues, navy blue, or more vibrant tones.

Below, find information and inspiration on how to style your blue sofa, including how to choose hues for rugs, throw pillows, curtains and more to complement your couch. Plus, how to find accent and complementary colors, introduce texture, and choose your wall and couch colors so they won't clash. Keep reading for nine key design tips to style a blue couch in your living room.

Which Colors Go Best With a Blue Sofa?

A blue living room can be styled with a variety of color schemes, from bright and modern hues to vibrant options for a colorful space. Popular colors that go with blue couches include the following:

• White

• Cream

• Gray, charcoal gray

• Beige

• Brown

• Black

• Kelly green, emerald green

• Burnt orange

• Coral

• Pink

• Red, ruby red

• Purple

• Yellow

• Gold

Infuse Neutral Tones

Designer Alice Kuaban of Oddessence finds that blue couches look best when placed against neutral walls—she's a fan of white and charcoal gray backdrops and bamboo window treatments, for example. "To make them look cohesive with other surrounding pieces, I love infusing colors that complement blue, and usually gravitate to mother nature for inspiration," Kuaban adds.

For example, embrace green by styling some plants next to your sofa, place a walnut-colored coffee table nearby, or set out some burnt orange or yellow accent pillows, she advises.

Introduce Some Lighter Hues

A sofa certainly doesn't need to stand alone. Use accessories to lighten up a navy hue. "Break up the mass of the darker tone with lighter colors and patterns through decorative pillows, a throw blanket, or a large-scale patterned rug," designer Courtney Sempliner suggests. "The blue family is vast and you can easily tie in lighter blue shades, or branch out into complementary colors such as kelly green or a warm golden tone."

Say Yes to Textures

"I love designing a navy blue sofa with a mix of textures to infuse personality and add visual interest," comments designer Ahmad AbouZanat of PROJECT AZ.

For example, say yes to metals, brass accents, tufted rugs, and the like. In the pictured space, AbouZanat opted to pair blue and gray with a deep blue couch against a soft gray wall color and rug. "The velvet material of the sofas and brass accents provide a polished and elevated feel," the designer reflects. "To keep the space fresh, light, and playful, I incorporated artwork with bright accents of pinks and yellows."

Play With Purple

Purple pieces can also look nice alongside a navy sofa, says designer Lucy O'Brien of Tartan and Toile. "Navy has an undertone of purple, so any color with a purple undertone will go well to blend in with it," she explains. "Purple blues and more purple pinks are some of those options." O'Brien likes to introduce these shades in pillow form.

Go Bold With Jewel Tones

On a related note, designer Vivian Bayles agrees that jewel tones in general are a major win. "Create a moody room by adding jewel-toned furniture with emerald greens, amethyst, or ruby reds," she suggests. "Consider using black and gray accented furniture that is elegant."

As a finishing touch, Bayles is all for installing wallpaper behind the sofa, too. Consider the array of blue-gray paint colors that will add drama to a room, as well.

Use Navy as a Neutral

You can totally do it, says Maggie Burns of Maggie Richmond Design. "I love using navy as a substitute, especially on a larger scale item like a sofa, for grey in a room when I'm trying to go for a more neutral look without having it look flat," she explains.

Continue to treat navy as gray when selecting other accents for your space. "I like pairing it with black and white throw pillows and a neutral rug to really make the sofa stand out as the major source of color in the room," Burns adds.

Avoid a Monochrome Look

Alexa Evans of Alexa Rae Interiors suggests not overdoing the navy when it comes to styling your sofa. "It's important to have some contrast," she says. "You want the navy sofa to be a stand-out piece." Evans suggests incorporating lighter-colored pillows and having fun with textures—consider including some cream boucle pieces, for example.

Be strategic when it comes to other elements in the room, too. "Use a light-colored rug so that the navy sofa pops," Evans suggests. "Consider using a coffee table material that contrasts with the navy, such as Carrara marble. Use neutral accent chairs that complement the sofa."

Incorporate Other Blues

Even if you don't go navy on navy, using blue throughout the rest of a space is always a smart tactic. "This will help bounce the color around the room for visual interest to the eye," designer Cat Guerra says. In the space here, she was intentional about selecting artwork featuring the color blue and adding a slim blue book to the nearby end table.

Go Bright

You can make use of the entire rainbow when decorating a room with a navy blue couch, Bayles says. "Contrasting colors such as pink, coral, red, and oranges not only brighten up the space but also add contrast to the navy blue sofa," she notes. Bayles suggests introducing these hues in the form of accent furniture, decor, and art pieces. "Layering them is a great way to add contrast to the blue sofa while featuring some fun and personal elements," she says.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a blue couch trendy?

Blue couches are popular in the design world (and always on trend), but all shades of blue are classic sofa colors that stand the test of time in any style of living room.

What rug color goes with a navy blue couch?

A crisp and light-colored rug or a bold and vibrant rug will both work well with a navy blue couch. White and cream will offer a fresh, coastal feel, while tones like burnt orange, emerald green, and coral pink will add rich contrast to a space, especially if you opted for deep blue walls, too. Whichever hue you choose, using similar shades for throw pillow and curtain colors will work well in rooms with blue sofas.

What color sofa is the most practical?

Sofa colors such as blue, gray, beige, brown, and cream are perennial favorites because they are practical and versatile.

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Read the original article on The Spruce.