This is the question we are asked most often across the counter, usually while someone holds a cushion at arm’s length and squints at their sofa from memory. Here is the short version.

The sizes, and what each one is for

  • 45 x 45 cm. The standard square in Australia and the one that suits most sofas. If you buy one size, buy this.

  • 50 x 50 cm. Better on a deep or oversized sofa, where a 45 can look mean against the back cushions.

  • Euro squares, 60 x 60 cm and up. Bed furniture, not sofa furniture. They stand against the bedhead and everything else leans on them.

  • Lumbar, around 30 x 50 cm. The one that does actual work. It sits in the small of your back in an armchair, and lies across the front of a made bed.

How many, and in what order

On a three seater: two squares at each end and one lumbar off centre. Five is plenty. On a two seater: one square each end, and a lumbar only if you actually lean on it.

On a queen bed, back to front: two euro squares against the bedhead, two 45cm squares in front of them, one lumbar across the middle. On a king, three euros rather than two.

Odd numbers across the front look relaxed and even numbers look arranged. Neither is wrong, but a bed with perfect symmetry asks to be kept that way, and most of us do not.

The insert rule almost everyone gets wrong

Buy the insert about 2 cm larger than the cover. A 45cm cover wants a 47cm insert. Match them exactly and the corners go empty and the whole thing looks deflated within a week. This single detail is the difference between a cushion that looks made and one that looks bought.

Feather fills plump up and need a thump each morning, which some people enjoy and some find tiresome. Polyester holds its shape and does not need the attention. We will put either in for you.

Mixing prints without it going wrong

One large print, one small print, one plain, repeated along the sofa. Keep a colour running through all three. If you are nervous, let the plain be the largest cushion and the busiest print be the smallest, because the eye forgives a bold print at lumbar size.

What we have in each size

Squares live in the vintage collection and the contemporary cushions. Long ones are in lumbar cushions, including the French linen ruffle lumbar and the Warwick Bibury long lumbar. For beds, the euro squares include Red Check and Sanderson Black Chelsea.

Everything is sewn here in Canowindra, and if the size you want is not on the shop list, we can usually make it.