24 Patterned Ottomans to Help Dress Up a Plain Sofa |

a large living room with two tan couches facing each other, striped pillows, a striped ottoman, a striped side table, and a striped accent chair in the window. The ceiling features striped wood beams as well. The blue-painted walls are decorated with artwork and right of the fireplace is a bookshelf — (Image credit: Appreciation Project)

So you've set up your living: a solid color sofa sits in the center of the room, a neutral rug underneath, possibly a wooden console table, but something feels off. You've played it too safe. The plain sofa that 'goes with anything' is reading as boring. Well, a patterned ottoman is perhaps the perfect piece to dress things up and give your living room a little more life.

Ottomans are often overlooked, in my opinion. Modern living room designs tend to focus on finding the right coffee table, but an upholstered, patterned ottoman brings texture, coziness, and warmth to a room. Plus, an ottoman can serve as a coffee table idea as well — a large ottoman has visual weight and enough surface area to style, while a smaller, footstool variation is a fabulous choice for smaller rooms. No matter how you style it, the charm of a patterned ottoman is instantly more interesting.

There's nothing like a little fabric and a fashionable print to spice things up. Living rooms tend to be the spaces we spend most of our time in, so carefully curating each piece makes a space feel that much more special. Your plain sofa isn't boring; it just needs something like a patterned ottoman to create a stronger design dialogue.

Image of a white living room with pops of pink and sage green. The rug is off-white with a scalloped coffee table/ottoman. There is a velvet, sage green sofa behind the table and dusty pink cabinet on the back wall. — The striped ottoman brings the room's design scheme together in a way that a plain wooden table wouldn't.

Livingetc's Design Lab stylist, Iokasti Sotirakopoulou, says, "A patterned ottoman is a fabulous way to dress up a plain sofa because it adds color, texture, and visual interest, instantly making the living room feel more lively."

I get it, bringing or layering patterns in a room isn't always easy. A patterned ottoman is a lovely accent, but how do you make it work with the rest of the room? Start by "pairing it with cushions that don't match exactly but share colors or tones from the ottoman to create a stylish, layered look," says Iokasti.

"You can also use a tray or stack of books on top to make it a functional centerpiece, and pull a color from the ottoman into a lamp, vase, or small rug to tie the room together," she adds. The trick is to style a patterned ottoman much like you'd style a coffee table, just with a little pattern mixing tips on top.

Below are 24 patterned ottomans that I think would be the perfect piece to elevate your plain sofa or lackluster living room design.

Have I convinced you to try the patterned ottoman trick to dress up your plain sofa? Perhaps a patterned sofa is next — it's one of my favorite styles. And while I have you, why not sign up for the Livingetc newsletter.

Olivia Wolfe is a Design Writer at Livingetc. She recently graduated from University of the Arts London, London College of Communication with a Masters Degree in Arts and Lifestyle Journalism. In her previous experience, she has worked with multiple multimedia publications in both London and the United States covering a range of culture-related topics, with an expertise in art and design. At the weekends she can be found working on her oil paintings, reading, or antique shopping at one of London's many vintage markets.