Your footstool is doing the bare minimum. Here is how to make it work a little harder, and look a lot better.
Most footstools live a quiet, thankless life. Parked in front of the sofa, blending into the background, doing the absolute bare minimum.
Here is the thing: a footstool is one of the most underrated pieces of furniture in any home. Get it right and it adds colour, texture, comfort and personality to a room in a way that very few things can.
And styling one is one of the easier wins in home design. You do not need to redecorate. You just need to know what you are working with. Here is how to style a footstool so it actually earns its place.
Step 1: Choose the Right Footstool for Your Room
Before you think about styling, you need the right starting point. A footstool that is the wrong size, height or shape will always look slightly off, no matter how much thought you put into everything around it.
SIZE AND HEIGHT
A footstool should sit at roughly the same level as your sofa seat. Too low and you are contorting yourself every time you sit down. Too high and it starts to look like a coffee table that wandered in from the wrong room.
SHAPE AND LAYOUT
- Round footstools soften rooms with a lot of straight lines and hard angles. A brilliant choice if your living room feels a bit rigid.
- Square and rectangular footstools suit more structured, symmetrical layouts. Clean, confident and easy to work with.
- Storage footstools are the unsung heroes of the living room. Lift the lid and you have somewhere to stash the blankets, the remotes and the general accumulation of life. Closed, they look just as stylish as any other footstool.
FABRIC AND DURABILITY
Think about these two together rather than separately. A velvet footstool looks genuinely luxurious, but if the room sees a lot of daily action, a tighter weave or more resilient upholstery will hold up far better over time without sacrificing the look.
If you want to skip deliberating entirely, a footstool with a bit of built-in character solves a lot of these questions at once. Some shapes and finishes arrive with personality already baked in. The styling decisions more or less make themselves.
Step 2: Don't Play It Safe with Colour
This is where most people play it safe when they absolutely do not need to. Because a footstool is a relatively compact piece of furniture, it is the ideal place to take a colour risk you might not feel brave enough to take on a sofa.
"A footstool is the perfect place to take a colour risk. If it doesn't work, you haven't redecorated your entire living room."
A deep mustard yellow, a rich burnt orange, a forest green or a dusty pink can completely transform the feel of a neutral room. In a space where the sofa, curtains and walls are all playing it safe, the footstool can be the single pop of colour that stops the whole scheme from feeling flat.
NOT READY FOR A BOLD COLOUR? TRY CHARACTER AND PATTERN
- A geometric print gives a footstool its own identity without overwhelming the room.
- A bold stripe is classic and flexible. It works with a lot of different interiors without fighting anything.
- Animal footstools, inspired by different animal characters like pig and cow, work well if you want something unusual rather than boring looks.
- An all over design or textured weave does the heavy lifting on personality so you do not have to style as much around it.
For a more considered approach, choose a footstool in a shade that echoes something already in the room, a colour in a cushion, a rug or a piece of artwork. The connection creates cohesion without being too obvious about it.
Step 3: Add Texture to Make the Room Feel Warmer
Texture does not shout. It does not demand your attention. But a room with good texture always feels more considered, more layered and more like somewhere you actually want to spend time.
WHAT DIFFERENT TEXTURES BRING
- Velvet gives depth and a slight sheen that catches the light. Looks expensive, feels even better.
- Boucle brings that cosy, tactile quality that makes you want to reach down and touch it. Very much a room you would want to stay in.
- Tight woven fabric is robust and understated. The footstool that quietly holds everything together without competing for attention.
- Faux fur and fluffy finishes are the ultimate in texture led styling and, honestly, the footstool equivalent of a very good conversation starter.
The contrast trick: a soft, well upholstered footstool next to a harder surface, a wooden floor, a leather sofa or a glass coffee table, makes both pieces look more deliberate. The softness becomes a feature rather than an afterthought.
Layering a rug underneath is also worth considering. It anchors the footstool in the room and defines the seating area as its own zone, which is especially useful in open plan spaces where the living area can otherwise feel a little undefined.
Step 4: Placement Makes All the Difference
A small shift in position or angle can take a footstool from looking like it just landed there to looking like it has always belonged. Placement is the cheapest styling move available and it is almost always overlooked.
IN THE LIVING ROOM
- Directly in front of the sofa is the classic position and it works. But the angle changes the mood. Square on feels formal. Angled slightly, it feels relaxed and lived in.
- In a smaller room, a footstool can be tucked beside the sofa or slid near a console table when not in use. It takes up almost no floor space and still looks intentional.
- Avoid leaving it floating in empty space. It should feel connected to the sofa, part of the same group, not pushed to the edges of the room.
IN THE BEDROOM
A compact footstool at the foot of the bed is one of the simplest styling moves that consistently looks considered. It is practical when you are getting dressed, comfortable when you need somewhere to perch, and it gives the room a finished, layered feel that bare floorboards rarely achieve.
Step 5: Use Your Footstool as Extra Seating
A footstool is a brilliant extra seat when you have more guests than chairs. No extra armchair required, no rearranging the whole room. Just pull it forward and it is ready.
A FEW THINGS TO GET RIGHT
- Height matters most here. A footstool used for seating needs to be comfortable to perch on, not so low that guests are practically on the floor. If dual use is the plan, factor this in from the start.
- Storage footstools earn their place particularly well here. Extra seating when you need it, hidden storage at all times, and good looks regardless of what job they are doing.
And if your footstool happens to have a bit of character to it, something a little quirky, a little unexpected, rest assured that no guest has ever complained about being offered a seat on something that also makes them smile.
Find Your Perfect Quirky Footstool at Red Candy
Now you know how to style a footstool, the only thing left is finding one worth styling. Bold colours, brilliant textures, fun designs and plenty of personality.
Shop the full footstool collection at Red Candy
Styled yours? Show us on Instagram. We are always here for a good footstool moment.
