When you look at decorating
magazines and linen store catalogs and see those
beautifully made up beds piled high with layers of
pillows, do you sigh with envy and desire?
My interior design clients often say they'd like to
have the sumptuous pillows-piled-in-layers look on
their bed. But unless they're living in a hotel with
turn-down service, people don't want all the work.
To accommodate my clients' requests I designed a
solution that seems to work for everyone (including
myself).
Let's start with the first layer, the largest
pillows.
In the design world they're called "Euros," short
for European pillows. They are 26-by-26 inches and are
placed against the headboard or wall behind the bed.
For a queen-size bed two pillows are normal, but I use
three to give the first layer more dimension. On a
king-sized bed, four will have the same visual
interest. Instead of laying them flat on the headboard
or wall, I overlap them so they stand away from the
flat surface a little bit.
The next layer is created from the pillows that you
use every night to sleep on. They're 24-by-18 inches
and have pillowcases that are part of your bed linens.
This layer stands up in front of the Euros. Typically,
I work with two standard-sized pillows for this layer
but if a client needs more pillows, then we just stack
them in front of each other.
Now you're probably wondering how these sleeping
pillows will look made up on your bedspread with just
bed linens on them. Do we coordinate the pillowcases
with the bedspread or duvet? Not necessarily. Here's
my secret: Instead of using pillow shams that
coordinate with the bedspread and have to be stuffed
and unstuffed everyday, I have pillow wraps made for
them. These are covers for the pillows that will wrap
around the sleeping pillows. They're not shams, so you
don't have all the work of stuffing and unstuffing.
Instead they wrap over the top and bottom of the front
on the pillows as they lean against the Euro.
If you're having your bed covers custom made,
they're simply large squares 32-by-32 inches made from
one of your coordinated fabrics and are made with a
plain fabric for the back of them. If you're buying
your bed covers, ready-made Euro shams are the perfect
size. You just buy an extra pair for the pillow wraps.
At night when you take your bedspread off, you take
off the pillow wraps too. In the morning they are put
back onto the sleeping pillows as part of making your
bed. No stuffing and unstuffing, no creating extra
storage in a closet for sleeping pillows.
Finally, place some smaller throw pillows at
different angles in front of the wrapped sleeping
pillows to give the appearance of having been casually
thrown onto the bed.
If you'd like a finishing touch, add a small neck
roll pillow as the last pillow layer. This little
pillow adds a touch of elegance and whimsy at the same
time.
With your bed made up this way, it will be both an
inviting cloud for you to fall into at the end of each
day and an easy bed to make up every morning. You no
longer have an excuse for not having that beautiful
and welcoming bed you so desire.
