I’m all about making the bed in the easiest way possible. I have a coverlet and two large Euro shams (they match). Plus, we each have two regular pillows. I have a long bench at the end of the bed where I keep the shams when we’re not using them.
@Massmomm — only one?
@FlyMeToTheMoon , that’s what I said. Now I’m redecorating and looking at pillows! Besides our sleeping pillows, I might go down to 3, mainly for the color contrast.
@conmama , I bought into the whole “throw pillow” fad when I was younger, but now I ask myself, why am I doing this? The throw pillow fad is a way to get us to spend more money. No. Not doing it anymore. I think you motivated me to redecorate and make my life easier.
I think they’re pretty. 
I will answer this seriously now. I have dust mite allergies, so even though we have a lovely framed bed, we will never have a canopy or any decorative pillows on it.
No (decorative) pillows on the bed, although we have some pillows on the sofas in the family room. In a hotel room, one of the first things I do is toss the extra pillows aside.
Yes, I’m “basic.” And I’m ok with that.
We have lots of dust more allergies in our home so as few pillows as possible for everyone. I have 2 regular pillows and H has one. We have them in pillow encasings to minimize allergens.
No decorative pillows. But the older we get, the more pillows we’ve put on our king size bed. We used to have 2. Now we usually have 4 or 5.
I like the look of decorative pillows, and they do make a bed looked more dressed up, so to speak, but there is the matter of where to put them? And if you have a dust allergy?
We stayed at an inn in July that had so many in such a small space that there was no place to put them and still have our suitcases open anywhere. And I figured that the other guests did what we did, and just made a few columns on the floor. And then the cleaners put them right back on the bed. Where we were sleeping. The whole thing grossed me out.
In your own home, of course, you can put them on a chair, but they do absorb dust and after a while, become rather allergenic. We have a 4 poster bed with a canopy frame, but I have never used a canopy with it for the same reason. The less dust in my sleep space, the better.
We have two euro pillows with a standard-size bed pillow in a sham in front of each one. They look nice, but the primary function is to keep the “sleeping” pillows clean when the dog jumps up on the bed during the day after having been outdoors or the cats get up there (with occasional hairball issues.) Ditto for the quilt/coverlet we have over the rest of the bed during the daytime.
We have two bed pillows, two shams that we put behind our bed pillow at night and just one larger decorative pillow.
We spend no time other than sleeping and putting away laundry in our room (no tv in it or anything) so our goal is just to be easily able to make the bed in the morning and put it in daytime condition quickly!
I do. And I love decorative pillows. Our king bed has two regular, two shams, and four decorative across the front. All eight of the pillows are covered/cased to reflect the decor of the room. Our other bedrooms follow a similar pattern. I enjoy making the beds and the time it takes to make them perfect (see duvet thread). It pleases me to walk into our bedroom every night and enjoy that little bit of luxury.
I also love a beautiful bedroom. Though I don’t have a ton of decorative pillows, I do have a few that coordinate with our bedding (two shams and two small throw pillows), and my bedroom looks like something out of a magazine. It makes ME happy to see it every day even if no one else does. It’s very large but cozy, so it’s conducive to drawing me in. There is a sofa and ottoman, and I have a recliner that I sit in (one of those big leather chairs that doesn’t look like a recliner) while I read, watch TV, or surf the web. I spend a lot more time in my room than many of you do because of that. So I like it pretty.
I guess my whole house is like that. It’s decorated beautifully (I think so anyway) because I’m a major homebody and it pleases me to walk around in a clean and aesthetically pleasing environment (NOT suggesting that people who don’t decorate or have throw pillows don’t have clean homes). 90% of the time I could accept a drop in guest. The rest of the time I could manage with 10 minutes notice.
I guess it’s just a personal preference thing, like the difference between me(jeans and t-shirt is my preferred uniform) and someone who loves clothes, shoes, bags, and accessories. We are both clean and well groomed, but one values being put together in a certain way over max comfort. I love that look, but I’m just not willing to put in the time required to achieve it or tolerate the lack of comfort that being that fashionable often brings.
I have throw pillows on my family room sofa, too. Dh thinks it’s silly. 
I don’t have decorative pillows on our bed per se, but we have two regular bed pillows each and I make my own pillowcases so they’re kind of decorative. They’re certainly colorful and occasionally match the curtains.
None! Never! I don’t get putting forth the effort of placing/removing- twice a day task for a room no one else sees and we use for sleeping. I had a bedspread- to cover things as no bedskirt either and blanket/comforter (seasonal) don’t cover all but abandoned it awhile ago at H’s suggestion. It was cotton (can’t find lightweight polyester) and with a king sized bed taking it off/replacing it was a time taking chore.
All for simplicity. Any couch/sofa throw pillows used for leaning against. Also not into junking up a room with tons of photos/pictures or other stuff. Less is best.
I don’t have decorative pillows on my bed, though I do on my sofas. On my bed, I have six regular pillows (2 are slightly larger) and the back four have shams and the front two have pillowcases that are part of the sheet set. None are removed for sleeping.
I considered pillows in shams to be “decorative pillows.” They aren’t?
I think it depends if you “use” the shams while sleeping. My husband is one to like to use the pillow sham while sleeping - he needs MULTIPLE pillows - it’s a bit annoying!