How to Make Your Pillows Look Good on Your Bed

Traditional Bedrooms

• 1

  Lean your pillow shams against in a row against the headboard. You can use rectangular shams sized for your bed or 26-inch square Euro shams. If you use rectangular shams, use two for king, queen and full beds, and just one for twin beds. For Euro shams, use three for king-size beds, two for queen and full beds, and one for a twin.

• 2

  Lean your sleeping pillows against the pillow shams. Use pillows and pillowcases sized according to your mattress size. You'll need one for twin beds and two for all other sizes. If you're using two, turn the pillowcase openings toward the sides of the bed. If you use more than one set of sleeping pillows, hide the flattest set behind the shams.

• 3

  Prop a row of two to three decorative throw pillows in front of your sleeping pillows. For twin beds, try two square pillows. For other sizes, use two rectangular throw pillows, two square versions or a round pillow flanked by a pair of squares. It's not necessary to use identical pillows, but they should share some common element, such as color, pattern type, texture or style.

• 4

  Add a final decorative throw pillow to the front of your arrangement, ideally something shorter in height than the pillows in the previous row. Try a tube-shaped bolster, a round gumdrop pillow or a small rectangle. Traditional bed pillow arrangements should taper in width and height as you add additional layers to the front.

Contemporary Bedrooms

• 5

  Lay rectangular pillow shams flat at the head of the bed. Use just one sham for twin-size beds. Lay two shams side by side for all other bed sizes. Choose shams made for your mattress size so they'll span the width of the bed.

• 6

  Stack a pillowcase-covered sleeping pillow on top of each sham. Lay them flat, with the openings facing outward for full through king beds.

• 7

  Prop identical, square throw pillows in front of the stacked pillows. Use one for twin beds, two for full and queen and three for king-size beds. For all but twin beds, center the throw pillows across the bed's width rather than in front of each pillow stack. Opt for square pillows slightly taller than the total height of the stacked pillows. Choose pillow fabric with a bold color or pattern to make the arrangement pop.