Today we’re talking all things pillow styling! How to arrange them on your bed. How to coordinate them with a headboard. And how to select pattern combinations.

It’s no secret that we’ll be prepping our guest bedrooms for hosting during the holiday season, so why not dress your guest bed (or your own!) to delight and impress? Exactly. 🙂

First up…

 

What are the Most Common Pillow Types?

Since I’ll be using these terms in my styling suggestions, I thought I’d give you some quick pillow type definitions first…

• Shams: pillows that come in a removable decorative casing
• Bolster: long, low and cylindrical pillows
• Lumbar: long and low, but not cylindrical
• Square: exactly what it sounds like 😉

 

How to Style Pillows on a Queen and Twin Bed

Quality over quantity! Unfortunately, piling a dozen pillows on your bed doesn’t create instant style. (Though it sure will tempt the kiddos…)

Instead, keep your aesthetic focused. Here’s how…

Think odd numbers, like 1s and 3s.

A queen bed, for example, should have three 26-inch pillows in the back. You can then add one long, low pillow in front of that, such as a bolster (round) or lumbar.

If you have an oversized headboard, like the one shown below, think in halves. The back row of pillows sit at half the height of the headboard. The low pillow in front sits at half the height of the row of back pillows. Pretty and proportional!

Ordering a custom-made pillow set is a great way to achieve a look like this!

Okay, let’s talk twin beds…

A three-pillow row isn’t going to work here. There just isn’t enough space. Instead, I love using a king sham to fill out the head of the bed. In front of that you can put a square pillow or a bolster or lumbar.

Here are a couple of examples:

They look stylish and complete but not crowded!

One quick nuance with twin beds, though… if your twin bed has an oversized headboard, I suggest styling it with two back pillows and one front pillow instead. Like this:

How to Pick Your Pillow Patterns

There are a couple strategies I like to use when choosing fabrics and patterns for a pillow set…

First, I love to see the back pillows be the same fabric as the dust ruffle of the bed. It creates such a cohesive look without being too matchy-matchy.

The soft blue of the dust ruffle matches the soft blue of the three sham pillows.

Same here — the back-row king sham is made from the same fabric you can see peeking out from the dust ruffle.

Second strategy… I like to use one large scale print, one smaller scale print, and a stripe or solid.

Remember this twin bed? Since the plaid headboard is already a large-scale pattern, we added these two smaller-scale sham pillows and a nearly solid-toned bolster.

Third strategy… try to choose fabrics that have different textures. The example above includes a smoother silk fabric paired with linen… paired with the knit-style fabric of the bed. Variety keeps the whole scene interesting!

There you have it — our best tips for pillow styling success. 🙂

If you need help deciding which patterns and sizes will complement your existing interior design, we’d be happy to help!