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Post by crazy4scraps on Jul 13, 2025 18:49:37 GMT
As I was making the beds in the guest room at the lake this week, I wondered where the Peas land on pillow shams. Do you like them? Do you use them?
I have them on the guest beds and like them for the aesthetic but do not use them on our personal beds. When I make the beds, I always put a plain pillowcase on the pillows first, then the decorative sham on the pillows that I put at the front but I don’t think a lot of people (especially young people like DD’s friends who stayed with us this week) realize you should take the sham off if you want to actually sleep on that pillow. The pillowcases are much more comfortable to sleep on than the quilted shams. Of course I always wash everything anyway between guests.
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Post by lisae on Jul 13, 2025 19:03:41 GMT
I no longer have pillow shams on my beds. I made a lot of these for customers when I was in business. I enjoyed making them because I would use contrasting fabric on the reverse side often with covered buttons and some other details. My clients loved them. We always used the pillow shams decoratively. There were regular pillows on the bed to sleep on.
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Post by MichyM on Jul 13, 2025 19:04:09 GMT
I have two pillows on my bed with decorative shams, but I don’t actually sleep on them. I use three other pillows, one for my head and two for support since I sleep on my side. The sham-covered pillows are either placed upright at the head of the bed or moved to the side when I sleep. They match my patterned duvet, and I wash them whenever I wash the duvet.
All of my pillows, including the ones in the shams, have hypoallergenic covers.
If I were using solid-colored bedding, I’d probably skip the shams and just go with coordinating solid pillowcases to keep things simple.
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naby64
Drama Llama
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Post by naby64 on Jul 13, 2025 19:42:24 GMT
I am the odd man out here. I do use shams on the "sham" pillows and regular pillow cases on the sleeping pillows. But then I also have white shams that are truly just sham, go in front of them all pillows. And then two 20x20 covered with a textured pink sham. Every night I take the pink and white ones off the bed. The green shammed pillows go in the back against the headboard and the pillows go in front while I read or watch TV. Once I get ready to sleep, I usually will throw off the one on the side I am sleeping.
Here is how I make my bed: quilt or duvet, flat to the headboard. Back sham pillows, sleeping pillows, white decorative shammed pillows and the pink smaller ones.
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Post by Zee on Jul 13, 2025 19:58:40 GMT
There are shams on one set of pillows that goes against the headboard, and the other set has pillowcases.
They're all soft enough to sleep on. It wouldn't occur to me to take off shams for sleeping when I'm a guest, as I have never done that at home or seen it done.
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Post by gar on Jul 13, 2025 20:23:14 GMT
What is the difference between a sham and a standard pillow case for you? Is it just more decorative?
I put a plain white pillowcase and then a pillow case that matches the duvet cover on top.
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Post by Delta Dawn on Jul 13, 2025 20:38:34 GMT
I love the look of pillow shams but don’t own any. I just can’t be bothered. Love the appearance.
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Post by Zee on Jul 13, 2025 20:46:57 GMT
What is the difference between a sham and a standard pillow case for you? Is it just more decorative? I put a plain white pillowcase and then a pillow case that matches the duvet cover on top. They're more like a decorative envelope and usually match the comforter or quilt, while the sheets and pillowcases match each other. |
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Post by Zee on Jul 13, 2025 20:50:34 GMT
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Post by jenb72 on Jul 13, 2025 21:27:05 GMT
I'm the same - I use them on the guest bed which has four pillows, two shams, and two pillow cases. But our personal bed just has pillow cases.
Jen |
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Post by gar on Jul 13, 2025 21:38:16 GMT
Your link just takes me to the home page. |
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Post by melanell on Jul 13, 2025 21:48:42 GMT
I no longer use pillow shams at all. I prefer to have only the pillows I will likely actually sleep on on my bed. I don't like needing to have a place to put the extras so I don't use decorative pillows at all. Now, my eldest kid is a maximalist extraordinaire and they have a bench at the end of their bed where they pile up all 967,000 pillows they keep on their bed.  |
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Post by Zee on Jul 13, 2025 21:51:51 GMT
Your link just takes me to the home page. Odd, it takes me to the Pottery Barn site. |
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Post by cmpeter on Jul 13, 2025 22:34:42 GMT
Our shams on our bed are quilted. They go to the bench at the end of our bed when we sleep.
One guest bed has quilted shams as well and most guess toss them in a basket we keep near the bed. The other guest room has shams that match the duvet. My kids will sleep on them. Other guests are mixed. Most of the time I find those pillows stacked on a shelf in the closet.
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Post by littlemama on Jul 13, 2025 22:35:39 GMT
They go straight to the donation pile
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Post by tmarschall on Jul 13, 2025 22:36:38 GMT
Here is how I make my bed: quilt or duvet, flat to the headboard. Back sham pillows, sleeping pillows, white decorative shammed pillows and the pink smaller ones. This is the way. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jul 13, 2025 22:53:13 GMT
What is the difference between a sham and a standard pillow case for you? Is it just more decorative? I put a plain white pillowcase and then a pillow case that matches the duvet cover on top. The shams I have have a wider flat border around the outer edge of the slipcase and typically an overlapped envelope style back on one end where the pillow slides in. Mine came in sets with the quilted coverlets I bought for that room. The shams are also quilted and definitely less comfortable to sleep on than a standard pillowcase because of the quilting, at least on the quilted side. The back side is flat and the same pattern as the reverse side of the coverlet. On the infrequent occasion when I’m a guest in someone’s home, if there are shams on the bed pillows I will check to see if 1) there are other pillows on the bed I can sleep on comfortably without using the shammed ones and just set them aside. 2) If there are not I will check to see if there is a standard pillowcase inside the shammed one I want to use and remove the sham before sleeping on it. 3) If not, I just sleep on it. Here is an example, hopefully this takes you directly to the page: www.kohls.com/product/prd-7046997/brylanehome-lily-pinsonic-damask-sham.jsp?color=Sage&prdPV=7&isClearance=false |
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pilcas
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Post by pilcas on Jul 13, 2025 23:10:41 GMT
What is the difference between a sham and a standard pillow case for you? Is it just more decorative? I put a plain white pillowcase and then a pillow case that matches the duvet cover on top. The sham matches the comforter so the fabric is different than a pillowcase. |
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pilcas
Pearl Clutcher
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Post by pilcas on Jul 13, 2025 23:13:01 GMT
I use the shams that come with the comforter and I think it makes the bed look nicer when it’s made. My sleeping pillows are behind the ones with the sham.
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Post by Neisey on Jul 13, 2025 23:29:53 GMT
We like our pillows and shams in this house! Our bed has 4 pillows we use for sleeping so all have pillow protectors and then pillow cases. During the day these stand against the headboard, 2 per side. Next comes 2 pillows in shams (no pillow cases or protectors), followed by decorative pillows - 2 square pillows, 2 smaller square pillows and a smaller rectangular pillow. We like the stacked look and we each just move our half of the extras to the bench or chair when we go to bed, its not a massive chore so we don’t mind.
Our guest beds also have shams but also regular pillows in pillow cases. I think most of our guests take the shams off the bed.
If we are elsewhere, if a bed has shams and other pillows we just take the shams off the bed, or, if the sleeping pillows are a bit on the thin side we might put the shams under them, but not sleep with our heads directly on them.
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Post by AussieMeg on Jul 13, 2025 23:43:53 GMT
I didn't even know what a sham was until I saw it on a thread here some years ago.
I don't have any shams, and I don't have a ton of pillows or cushions on the bed either. DSO and I each have two pillows - one to sleep on and a second if we want to sit up in bed. The pillow cases that match my doona (duvet) cover go on one set of pillows, and co-ordinating plain pillow cases go on the other set of pillows. I put the plain pillow cases on the pillows we actually sleep on, so the patterned pillow cases don't get stained and worn.
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Post by busy on Jul 14, 2025 0:05:33 GMT
I have decorative shams on European and lumbar pillows on all our beds. Those pillows aren’t used for sleeping and are removed from the bed, shams still on, before sleeping. Those pillows usually stay on the beds with the shams on if sitting in bed reading, watching TV, etc.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jul 14, 2025 1:53:34 GMT
I didn't even know what a sham was until I saw it on a thread here some years ago. I don't have any shams, and I don't have a ton of pillows or cushions on the bed either. DSO and I each have two pillows - one to sleep on and a second if we want to sit up in bed. The pillow cases that match my doona (duvet) cover go on one set of pillows, and co-ordinating plain pillow cases go on the other set of pillows. I put the plain pillow cases on the pillows we actually sleep on, so the patterned pillow cases don't get stained and worn. The pillowcases that match your doona could probably be considered shams since they are more decorative and are different from your regular bedding pillowcases. |
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Post by cadoodlebug on Jul 14, 2025 2:27:43 GMT
We use them in both guest bedrooms and in our bedroom.
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hannahruth
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Location: Adelaide, Australia
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Post by hannahruth on Jul 14, 2025 6:40:29 GMT
I have two pillows on my bed with decorative shams, but I don’t actually sleep on them. I use three other pillows, one for my head and two for support since I sleep on my side. The sham-covered pillows are either placed upright at the head of the bed or moved to the side when I sleep. They match my patterned duvet, and I wash them whenever I wash the duvet. All of my pillows, including the ones in the shams, have hypoallergenic covers. If I were using solid-colored bedding, I’d probably skip the shams and just go with coordinating solid pillowcases to keep things simple. This is how I use shams, I like that little bit extra on the bed it just looks ‘finished’ to me. |
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Post by gar on Jul 14, 2025 7:29:01 GMT
Your link just takes me to the home page. Odd, it takes me to the Pottery Barn site. Yes that's what I meant, sorry  I thought you'd intended to link pillow shams specifically |
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Post by gar on Jul 14, 2025 7:31:51 GMT
So all in all, it's a bit like the decorative towels concept - look nice but don't use!  |
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Post by gillyp on Jul 14, 2025 7:52:29 GMT
I have decorative shams on European and lumbar pillows on all our beds. Those pillows aren’t used for sleeping and are removed from the bed, shams still on, before sleeping. Those pillows usually stay on the beds with the shams on if sitting in bed reading, watching TV, etc. What’s a European pillow? At the risk of sounding very rude, (and I quoted busy re. the European pillow, not to be rude directly to her about her choice of pillows generally, I'm being rude to all, there's no discrimination  ) shams were ugly in the 1970’s and still are, I’m not going back to that! My beds have normal pillow sips that match the bedding and, if I’m feeling particularly arty farty I’ll put 3 small, shaped, decorative pillows on but they immediately get removed each bedtime. |
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Post by don on Jul 14, 2025 10:09:27 GMT
My bed (full size) has a fitted sheet, that doesn't fit, a top sheet a thin blanket, a bed cover for a twin bed and one pillow with a case. I like to bury myself in there. I can also layer on or off depending on the temperature. My bedroom is on the south side of the house and I like to have both windows open all the time so in the winter I add a heavier blanket layer.
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Post by zuke on Jul 14, 2025 11:31:17 GMT
We just have pillow cases on our 2 pillows (one each). I own a bunch of shams but never use them for our bed or the guest beds. I can't be bothered. I'm not a pillow person. If I have to take off and put pillows back on every day, I'd go nuts.
One of my friends has 8 pillows on a queen bed. Only 2 are for sleeping with. In our house, whoever wakes up last, makes the bed. That's typically my husband. He does a good job and everything looks neat. I'm happy that he does it as most men don't. Adding extra pillows would change his demeanor! LOL
I will add that I do use the shams with the pillows that are on our patio sofa, one at each corner. Those are actually on it because if you are sitting in the corner spots, it's more comfortable to have a pillow to lean on.
*** I have only bought our shams from garage or estate sales for a dollar each! We see them at sales all the time. Most have never been used!
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I thought you'd intended to link pillow shams specifically 
) shams were ugly in the 1970’s and still are, I’m not going back to that! My beds have normal pillow sips that match the bedding and, if I’m feeling particularly arty farty I’ll put 3 small, shaped, decorative pillows on but they immediately get removed each bedtime. 
