It takes all of 15 extra seconds total to deal with the decorative pillows on our bed. No hassle at all.
We have two sleeping pillows each, two sham pillows that coordinate with (not match) our duvet, and two small pillows that also coordinate. They are tossed on an upholstered bench at the foot of the bed at night.
I’m similar to @ChoatieMom. My house is my sanctuary, so it’s beautifully decorated (to me anyway) and I keep it show-ready all the time (convenient since it’s currently on the market). My large second floor master suite has a balcony looking to trees, golf course, and stream. It gets a lot of beautiful natural light. So I spend a lot of time there-do all my computer surfing and reading on the recliner (looks like a regular chair when not reclined), so I like it to look neat, clean, and really pulled together. I’m very happy spending time in there, so yep, the bed is made every day.
None! Decorative pillows get tossed on the, what? floor, or maybe a chair. They never get washed. They just sit there collecting dust, then they get put back on the bed. Ask me how I really feel!
Mine sit on an upholstered bench. They don’t collect dust or get dirty. We do send our shams to the dry cleaners every once in a while and they look really nice.
I just banged my small decorative pillows against the bench really hard to see if it creates a dust cloud. There is no dust coming off them at all. They are mostly white and look very clean. Shrugs.
I think I mentioned up thread that I had posted this as a survey question on my Facebook timeline. I just tallied up the data and this was what I determined from 80 responses:
n = 80
Range = 0 - 11
Mean = 4.475
Median = 5
Mode = 5
The second most commonly occurring answer after the true mode of 5 was zero (0).
I found this whole non-scientific survey fascinating as people who NEVER post anything anywhere answered my query. As is the case here, people had strong feelings about decorative pillows. Reasons for having or not having them varied widely - allergies, fur babies, and debates among spouses. One married couple I know each provided two different answers - who knows - maybe they sleep in separate bedrooms. I have a couple of other observations, but I fear sharing those would be considered stereotyping based on gender or sexual orientation.
@Hoggirl – give us the rest of your observations! We’ve probably already drawn our own conclusions… I personally don’t know any males in my life that would even buy a pillow unless it was for their own hard head. And if a pillow is available it will be used for that head even if it had a big sign on it saying “for looks only–do not touch!”
We have two sleeping pillows that have cases that coordinate with duvet. Used to have decorative pillows that I’ve now scattered through the house. Got tired of moving them. When I’m ready for bed I want to dive in immediately!
I have a friend whose guest room bed has so many pillows (around 10) on a queen bed that they take up half the length of the bed. And they’re heavy too. I hate it! You either fill every chair with them and/ or stack on floor which takes up floor space already filled with your suit case etc. Ugh. Can’t even remember which order to put them back on which can be an amusing conversation (which one went first? That doesn’t look right. Don’t forget those over there! Maybe it went this way? Or that way? That doesn’t look right…forget it…)
That’s a good point, @gouf78. Before guests arrive, I store the decorative pillows in our closet and turn down their bed with the sleeping pillows stacked, two each. I don’t want guests to feel that they have to keep their room “decorated” with what is only clutter during a visit. We also keep the guest closets empty so they can put those extra sleeping pillows on a shelf if they don’t want them.
@gouf78 - I literally lol’ed at your post. Yes, some pillows are for looking - not putting your head upon for napping on the sofa! The reference to hard-headedness made me chuckle as well.
So, you absolutely surmised one of my observations: from my survey straight men do not like decorative pillows. There. Now you can deduce my other observation that might not be considered to be stereotyping.
I think that is very considerate as a host/hostess. My mil has a ton of decorative pillows on her guest bed and there really is not a good place to put them. However, I would want my guests to see that I made an effort to make their room look a bit more “done,” before I hid the pillows. Hmmm. Wonder how to do that?
I’m a bedroom minimalist. No decorative pillows–have two shams that match the coverlet on the bed. We put them on a bench at the bottom of the bed. We also have two down pillows for sleeping. I really like the idea of keeping the bedroom as a restful place and have put very little there. We have a queen bed, an upholstered bench at the bottom of the bed, two side-tables with lamps, and artwork on the walls. (Dressers/storage in a closet with built-ins.) We have a balcony off the bedroom that overlooks our garden, and it has outdoor furniture (seating and a coffee table).
I don’t. I pull the bedspread and flat sheet to the bottom of the bed and fold them neatly like my mother and grandmother did to let the sheets air out during the day. I make it back up after dinner so it’s ready for bed when I am. If I had an efficiency where my BR had to double as my office then I might make it in the morning, but I’d probably invest in a folding screen too.
I don’t use decorative pillows because I don’t want to unmake a bed every time I want to use it. I do keep a couple of extra regular pillows in our closet for times we want to relax in bed with a good book. Cold winter evenings and during thunderstorms are both excellent times to lounge in bed with some tea and light refreshments.
We love them. Various bedding sets we use have different decorative pillows so it depends what’s on the bed. The one that’s on right now is very simple - 2 queen shams, 2 regular pillows, no other decorative pillows.
@itsgettingreal21 – sounds like you have multiple bedding sets. Where do you store them?
I’m going through pillows/bedding etc now… I have no time/energy/inclination to change out decor these days (although I loved to years ago). I love the looks but bedding takes a huge amount of space bulk wise and I need to store a myriad of other items in the space I have. On the plus side I now understand my mom a lot better now when she said “I love this but can’t use it.”
Decorative pillows go on the floor when you’re sleeping, then back against the pillow you sleep on during the day. Never seemed very hygenic to me, so we don’t have decorative pillows.
Mine don’t go on the floor. They go on a bench in front of the bed that doesn’t really do anything but look pretty and hold a couple of pillows for 8 hours a night.
I put this on the other thread, but I love this scene-those who take a pass on decorative pillows might find it amusing.
I think our guest room looks better after I remove the decorative pillows but in a state that I can’t keep the room in for every day. First, the bedding (sheets/sleep pillows/light blanket/down duvet-comforter) is an attractive ensemble by itself. I flip back the covers on the side of the bed closest to the door (in a triangular pattern, like you would when getting into bed only perfectly smooth), put chocolates on the stacked sleep pillows, fresh flowers and a small bowl of fruit on the dresser, ice water on the nightstand, extra towels and an assortment of lovely hard-milled soaps in a basket on the counter of the attached bath, and turn the lights on low. The room looks much more “inviting” in that state than it does when it’s all buttoned up.
Jeff Foxworthy had an interesting observation on this. It has been several years since I heard it, but IIRC it was kind of a backdoor anti-homophobic observation. Basically if you are a married man, you probably have something in common with gay men – decorative pillows. Maybe I’m not remembering that right, it’s been quite a while.
I have won few decorating disagreements in the last 26 years, but the decorative pillows eventually went away. We had several when we were first married. Our bedroom is probably the worst room in our house appearance-wise. My stock line is “When we start entertaining in the bedroom, we can worry about how it is decorated”. That gets an eyeroll, but she usually moves on. I think she has just given up on trying to make it look nice at this point. I’m not so sure she doesn’t mention new carpet or other items in the bedroom just because she knows it softens me up for her real request.