How to style a daybed

Want to get your daybed looking as fabulous as possible? Here are our best tips on how to style a daybed and the best pillows to use – whether you want it to look like a sofa or a bed – or both!

Daybeds are one of my favorite small space solutions. These are multi-purpose beds that can work as seating, like a couch, or as a cozy bed to sleep on.

Day beds are much more comfortable than a pull out sofa, and a much better long-term sleeping solution because of that.

But their very multipurpose nature can also make daybeds hard to style. If you put a daybed in your living room, you don’t want it to look like a bed most of the time. Similarly, if you have a daybed in an office that you use as a multi-purpose guest room occasionally, you don’t want your guests to feel like you’re sticking them on the couch.

So, it’s important to get the styling right so that your daybed looks great and inviting no matter who is using it and for what purpose.

Let’s dive into my favorite tips and tricks for how to style a daybed in your home.

How to style a daybed

When you were deciding how to style your day bed, the most important things to consider are the aesthetic and the day-to-day use of the space.

Of course, you want to choose pillows and blankets in colors and designs that match and flow with your decor. That’s obvious enough.

But, when it comes to arranging those pillows and blankets, function really needs to come first.

That’s not to say that it can’t be beautiful – a can and should be – but, you need to put a little strategy into how you want the daybed to feel before choosing your styling.

How to style a daybed as a couch

If your daybed is going in a living space – living room, playroom, or office – and you want it to feel like a couch, styling with pillows is what’s going to give you that feel.

Think about a typical couch or sofa. Seriously, go look at one! There are typically three large pillows along the back and smaller pillows decoratively placed in front of them.

To have your day bed look more like a couch, mimic this work.

How to style a daybed as a bed

On the other hand, you can make your daybed look like a bed. And no, I don’t mean just throw one sleeping pillow at the head and call it a day. I guess you can do that, but it’s going to be dorm room vibes.

Instead, I suggest that your daily styling look of the daybed include pillows along the wall on the long side of the bed, as if that was a king size headboard.

You can check out our complete guide on the best ways to style pillows on a king sized bed, or keep reading for examples of how I would do this!

What pillows do you use on a daybed?

You can use any shape or style of pillow that you prefer, but here are some popular options:

Pillow size	Dimensions
Standard pillow	20″ tall x 26″ wide
Queen pillow	20″ tall x 30″ wide
King pillow	20″ tall x 36″ wide
Euro pillow	26″ tall x 26″ wide
King euro pillow	26″ tall x 36″ wide

Then decide what look you want. Simple? Modern? Intricate? Layered?

Do you like to sleep on one standard pillow or two? Do you like a lot of extra pillows that are purely decorative pillows or no?

Your style will help to determine how to style the pillows on your day bed.

I personally like to style our daybed as a couch with the following pillows:

• 2x body pillows (you will need to add a cover) – this just fills the gap and depth of the couch easily and cheaply
• 3 king euro sized pillows (I love these extra wide ones, and they have the softest feel!)
• 2 square decorative pillows

I then have 2 standard sleeping pillows that I keep in the drawer underneath, to pull out and use when people come to stay and need to sleep here.

If you want your daybed to have the true feeling of a couch, consider adding bolsters along either arm.

How to arrange pillows on a daybed

Here are my favorite ways to arrange pillows on a daybed!

As a couch

You have a few options when you are styling a daybed as a couch.

First of all, keep in mind that the daybed is super deep. Like, uncomfortably deep to sit on. Because of this, you really need several layers of pillows to lean against.

I like to use body pillows in the back to bridge the gap between the mattress and the wall. You can also use large euro style pillows.

Then, add at least 1 if not 2 layers of large pillows. This could be euros or king sized pillows. If you have a matching set, 3 identical across is ideal. If not, consider doing 2 clusters of mismatched pillows on either side.

Finally, finish off with your choice of decorative throw pillow or bolsters. This is just to even out the look and tie in your decor colors or textures!

As a bed

If you want to style your daybed so it looks like a very obvious bed, the best way to do this is to place the pillows on one of the short ends – whichever you choose to be the head of the bed.

Pair this with a quilt or duvet folded back under the pillows. This makes it super obvious that it’s a bed and not a couch.

Pulled out

If you have a pull-out daybed, treat it as a king (or whatever) sized bed when expanded to bed form.

I prefer that same layout of 2 body pillows >> 3 king euros >> 2 decorative pillows.

What blankets do you use on a daybed?

Your daybed blanket situation will completely depend on how you use it day-to-day.

If you use it as seating, I highly recommend putting a fitted sheet over the mattress, and then just adding a throw blanket as needed.

If use it as a bed, you are more likely to want a flat sheet and quilt of some sort over top of that.

Personally, we use our daybed as seating most of the time and sleeping occasionally when we have guests.

So, we keep a fitted sheet on it at all times when it’s a twin set up. We then have a whole set of sheets and quilts that are king-size for when the bed is pulled out.

We keep these in a basket in the closet so they stay clean from pet hair and child debris, and just pull them out on an as needed basis.

The most important thing when styling your daybed is to think of function first, and round that out with beautiful style. I hope that these ideas will inspire you to get it working and looking great for your home!