Last December, I stayed in a room where the person had a ton of decorative pillows on the bed. She was out of town, and I was there for a week. I actually took a picture of her decorative pillows so I could put them back on the bed just right when I was leaving (and yes, I laundered the bed linens too).
I piled the 10 or 12 pillows on a chair in the room. Never touched them again until the morning I left.
It made me remember why we don’t have decorative pillows on our bed!
Our kids’ rooms are now sort of both set up as guest rooms. Each double bed has two bed pillows and two additional bed pillows in shams that match the quilt or coverlet on the bed. Is that considered decorative?
I am not going to start another pillow thread because LOL, and hopefully @Hoggirl won’t mind since she has gotten a lot of advice/opinions thus far…but I’m curious how people feel about pillows in other places of the house - like your living room or family room? Do they have a purpose other than “looking good” - which is largely I think the purpose of the bed pillows???
I love pillows in our living areas. I don’t need a large number of them but they need to serve a purpose - bring in some color or pattern or texture to a room AND be super comfy to lay on or snuggle AND not inhibit the sitting purpose of the furniture.
I have a nice sized window seat in my living room. There is a nice thick fabric covered cushion on the window seat and I have three pillows on each end. They are decorative, add color and warmth to that area. Our pup (RIP!!!) loved to sit up there and would put his head or chin on the soft pillows. This I guess would be my pillow “splurge” area.
Joking aside, I do think it is smart to let a bed air out after sleeping in it 6-8 hours. It is common in Europe and you’ll even see the duvets/feather beds hanging out windows in places like Switzerland.
I’m a little perplexed by the comments of not putting pillows on the floor. Maybe because it’s a no shoes house but I feel my bedroom floors get as much cleaning attention than any other surface in my bedroom, maybe more.
@abasket - my dh is just basically anti-pillow in general. I am certain if he had his way we would have no decorative pillows anywhere. As we were sitting in our living room he tossed one OVER me on our sectional as it was “in the way.” I gave him the stink eye. He says it’s fine for me to have them, but it’s also fine for him to move them aside.
I like decorative pillows for aesthetics, primarily to bring color into a room. All of our large furnishings, walls, and floors are neutral. It is much less expensive to change out a color scheme with pillows than with furniture. Additionally, I am not super tall and like one behind my back for support and better posture. I suppose any old pillow could do that, but it might as well be pretty
Right now, with all the crap in the world, I’m finding myself delighted by how we’re lining up on either side of a pillow issue. Thank you for the diversion. And laughs. (That includes thumper needing to take a photo. I’m still smiling.) ?
Most of our couches have come with 2 decorative pillows. I use them when I lie down on the couch. I also can’t share the couch. If I don’t get the couch to myself, I’ll take the floor and use the pillows to cushion my rear and my head.
If anyone starts talking about a pillow with a pineapple on it, I’m OUT… haha.
I usually don’t care for the pillows that come along with a couch for instance. I do love looking at the rows of pillows at HomeGoods - the colors, shapes, textures, plushiness,… but I don’t want them in my bedroom - just carefully chosen and practically placed on other pieces of living furniture.
Our two sofa pillows have a well defined purpose… because cats. Kitties hate the feel of leather but gladly sit on any fabric surface. I also bought a large log-like sofa pillow with Seattle skyline embroidered on it that has a couple of local landmarks misplaced - we use it as a puzzle for our out of area guests. Guess what is wrong with the picture?
Family room couch has 11 pillows:(. They did not come with the couch- my family laughs about this all the time- but I love the way it looks and the pillows get used!
Living room and finished basement couches only have 2 or 3.
i only have 2 decorative pillows on my bed! they really have no purpose other than for style purposes, but they are useful to lay against and lean on when im not sleeping
If they aren’t actually used as pillows, I’d say they are decorative pillows. If people sleep on them, then I’d say they are functional pillows that just happen to match the coverlet.
Regarding pillows elsewhere in the house, the worst in our house is the ratty old pillow my husband leaves sitting on the coffee table, because you know… his feet need to have a place to rest. When our old cat was alive, there were 2 on the coffee table, one for husband’s feet and one for the cat. The two grumpy old men hung out together.
I just heard a radio commercial for GEICO where they say something like “having decorative pillows on your bed, when just making your bed is work enough is crazy.” I thought immediately of this thread!
I “won” the decorative pillow battle in the bedroom. From the living room chair I am sitting in right now, I can see 5. There are many more throughout the house. There is no reason for this. I won a battle, but lost the war.
Also, @momofsenior1 I am happy tonight that momof4kids is not on this board, otherwise her eyes would light up at your suggestion and she would go “fall decorative pillow” shopping tomorrow. Actually now that I think about it, there may be a couple extra that show up every year around Christmas. I try to block these things from my memory. At least my bed remains decoration free.
Kitties hate the feel of leather but gladly sit on any fabric surface. I also bought a large log-like sofa pillow with Seattle skyline embroidered on it that has a couple of local landmarks misplaced - we use it as a puzzle for our out of area guests. Guess what is wrong with the picture?