• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Annie Elliott Design

Greater Washington DC

  • About
  • Portfolio
  • Team
  • Press
  • Contact
  • Bossy Color Blog

The best (easiest) pillow arrangements for beds

Annie Elliott | May 1, 2022

Oh, Gentle Readers. Anyone who says the pandemic is over hasn’t stopped by my house recently: 3/4 of our household is COVID-positive right now. I have been spared so far, but I fear my luck can’t last forever. Sigh.

ANYway, for obvious reasons, BEDS have been very much on my mind. Beds and the pillows that adorn them.

Colorful, sophisticated bedroom with headboard
The undisputed queen of bedrooms, Kit Kemp (the genius behind Firmdale Hotels)

Some people don’t like too many pillows on their beds, and that’s fine. But some sort of decorative pillow situation on a bed is necessary. Therefore, here are a few tried and true formulas that might help.

KING BED: 3 Euro pillows + a lumbar

(A lumbar is a short, long rectangular pillow. The dachshund of the pillow world.) Euro pillows are quite large: 26″ square. It takes 3 of them to fill a king bed, and then you don’t need much else.

Many off-the-shelf bedding sets offer Euro shams to match the duvet cover, which makes Euros an easy, affordable pillow option. Then take the money you just saved and spend it on a custom lumbar pillow to pull it all together.

King bed with blue floral bedding and pillows
Custom bedding. The inset tape trim is the giveaway ;)
Bedroom with matching headboard, bedskirt, window treatments
Sorry for the side view. Annie Elliott Design

QUEEN OR FULL BED: 2 or 3 large pillows, with or without one smaller pillow in front

The large pillows could be Euro-sized, as described above, or they could be 22″ or 20″ square. The pillow in front of those just needs to be smaller — square or rectangular. (Or a bolster, but more about those later.)

2 large + 1 small, by Annie Elliott Design
Bed in front of black drapes
2 large with a front pillow, by Melissa Rufty
Bed in aqua turquoise bedroom
…and 2 large without, by Katie Ridder
Red and white fancy bedroom
Also without a front pillow, at Manoir Saint-Calais

TWIN BED: Anything goes

Seriously. From a single pillow to a whole pile, you have maximum flexibility with a twin bed. And if you have 2? They can be different!

Bedroom with twin beds
Euro in back, then sleeping pillow in a sham, then bolster, by Katie Ridder
Child's pink and light blue bedroom
Assorted off-the-shelf pillows with 1 monogrammed, by Annie Elliott Design
Bedroom with twin daybed and dog
My daughter Ruthie’s pile ‘o pillows

SLEEPING PILLOWS: Flat or standing up?

The rules used to be inflexible: position your sleeping pillows upright and then stand the decorative pillows in front of them.

Navy bedroom with red headboard
Standing-up pillows by Nick Olsen

But times have changed, and now I actually prefer the sleeping pillows to be flat, with the decorative pillows standing guard in front.

Sophisticated pink and purple bedroom
Sleeping pillows flat, with 2 large + 1 smaller pillow in front, by Jamie Drake

WHAT ABOUT BOLSTERS?

Those are the round tube-like ones. Don’t worry about them. They’re cool, but don’t waste precious brain space on those ;)

Fancy bed with blue and white canopy
This was our ASPIRE Showhouse bedroom, complete with bolster. We just went for it

The bottom line? Fear highly transmissible viruses, Gentle Readers. Do not fear pillows.

Annie Elliott Design is based in Washington, DC, with offices in St. Michaels, Maryland and Middlebury, Vermont. Our style? Where classic and modern hang out and drink gin.

Bedroom

Bossy Color Blog

Don’t miss a single post

 


Categories

  • Art + accessories »
  • Bedroom »
  • Color + paint color »
  • Dining room »
  • Furniture + upholstery »
  • Kids »
  • Kitchen + bath »
  • Lighting »
  • Living Room + Family Room »
  • Renovation »
  • Rugs »
  • Wallpaper »
  • Window treatments »

View Portfolio

view Bossy Color's portfolio

Instagram

annieelliottdesign

View

Apr 29

Open
Window treatments don’t have to be fabric, of course. My favorite non-fabric window treatments are natural woven Roman shades, which are made of bamboo or natural grasses. They’re terrific alone, but they also look great as a first layer, under drapes.⁠
⁠
How great do they look under these green drapes? 😍⁠
.⁠
.⁠
.⁠
⁠
#DCInteriorDesigner #DCInteriorPhotographer #DCHomeDesign #InteriorDesign #washingtondc #dmv

annieelliottdesign

View

Apr 25

Open
As your friend, it is my duty to tell you: **you must have some wallpaper in your home.**⁠
⁠
Choose your paper first — or 2 papers, so you can compare costs. Then I STRONGLY recommend bringing in a professional hanger to tell you how much of *that particular paper* you’ll need. The amount depends not only on the size of the room, but also the scale of the design, the fragility of the paper (to allow for mistakes), and how the rolls are packaged. Manufacturers literally cannot make it more confusing!⁠
.⁠
.⁠
.⁠
⁠
#DCInteriorDesigner #DCInteriorPhotographer #DCHomeDesign #InteriorDesign #washingtondc #dmv

annieelliottdesign

View

Apr 23

Open
If you see a lamp you like, BUY IT. You will never be sorry. You WILL find a place to put it. ⁠
⁠
The hard truth is that you may not know whether a lamp will work in a certain spot until you try it. It may not be the place you originally had in mind. It may not even be in your current house. But you will find a great place for it, somewhere, someday.⁠ ⁠
.⁠
.⁠
.⁠
⁠
#DCInteriorDesigner #DCInteriorPhotographer #DCHomeDesign #InteriorDesign #washingtondc #dmv

annieelliottdesign

View

Apr 20

Open
Natural woven Romans can tone down the formality of a room... and they work in modern or classic interiors, as you can see ;) ⁠
⁠
Both photos by Angie Seckinger⁠
⁠
📸  #angieseckingerphotography⁠
.⁠
.⁠
.⁠
⁠
#DCInteriorDesigner #DCInteriorPhotographer #DCHomeDesign #InteriorDesign #washingtondc #dmv

annieelliottdesign

View

Apr 17

Open
Listen. Your backsplash should make you happy every single day. Ya gotta love your home. Ya just gotta. If yours isn’t your favorite place in the world, you need to call me. Right away ;)⁠
.⁠
.⁠
.⁠
⁠
#DCInteriorDesigner #backsplash #DCInteriorPhotographer #DCHomeDesign #InteriorDesign #washingtondc #dmv

annieelliottdesign

View

Apr 16

Open
A tip for styling a Bohemian room? Lots of different pillows! ⁠
⁠
Boho is all about colors, textures, and patterns! The more the merrier, so pile on those pillows ;)⁠
⁠
.⁠
.⁠
.⁠
⁠
#DCInteriorDesigner #boho #bohopillows #DCInteriorPhotographer #DCHomeDesign #InteriorDesign #washingtondc #dmv

annieelliottdesign

View

Apr 16

Open
Whether it’s a bowl of fruit or a bouquet of flowers, don’t forget a centerpiece for your Easter brunch tomorrow 😉 💐

#Easter #EasterBrunch #dcinteriordesigner #DChomedesign #InteriorDesign #washingtondc

annieelliottdesign

View

Apr 14

Open
You know I love roman shades. ⁠They’re great when you have a really beautiful fabric you want to feature. Look how great they look with this matching custom headboard! 😍⁠
.⁠
.⁠
.⁠
⁠
#DCInteriorDesigner #DCInteriorPhotographer #DCHomeDesign #InteriorDesign #washingtondc #dmvhairstylist

annieelliottdesign

View

Apr 12

Open
“There is no magic in magic, it’s all in the details.” - Walt Disney 💫⁠
.⁠
.⁠
.⁠
⁠
#DCInteriorDesigner #DCInteriorPhotographer #DCHomeDesign #InteriorDesign #washingtondc #dmv
Load More Follow

Looking for something?

Annie Elliott Design
2802 Cathedral Avenue NW
Washington DC 20008
202-265-0443
info@annieelliottdesign.com

Where classic and modern hang out and drink gin.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Houzz icon

2022 Best of Houzz Design 2019 Best of Houzz Design

© 2022 Annie Elliott Design · privacy policy