Choosing the right accessories to style your bedding spaces can be both, fun and confusing. A lot needs to be figured out on what and how to pick. Having enough knowledge of the credibility, usage pattern and correct placement of the accessory you are about to add to your relaxing zones is also necessary. Concerning the factors of style and comfort, each element has its own significance. Conforming to the experts of home décor, pillowcases and bed pillow shams are the most commonly confused bedding accessories. In the light of specific utilities, understanding the difference is of great importance.
Coming to the query of what is a pillow sham bedding, you can see this as a luxurious resting space that conforms well with your bedroom interiors. Using a pillow sham to style your sleeping areas is both, trendy and economical. You can go ahead with the idea for a spic and span way to highlight the otherwise customary look of your home décor.
1. Pillowcases vs. Shams: What to Know
In the language of interior styling, pillowcases and white bed pillow shams are seen as separate elements that make your bedding spaces look great. They are however, often confused as one and the same thing by most of us. Let us have a clearer insight about each of them in what follows next:
(1) What is a Pillowcase?
In simple words, pillowcases are the outer shells that keep your bedding pillows safe against dust, germs, facial oils and stains. Ahead of this, such covers are also known to add elements of style and comfort to your bedding spaces. These are a wholesome set of bedding accessories that adorn your cozy sleeping hideouts with an attractive look and feel.
These are a rather simple piece of furnishing element, with a straightforward fabrication. Generally open at one end, pillowcases often don’t have any form of closure. These meekly crafted fabric shells can complete your bedding décor, but are relatively lesser ornate. Most of the pillowcases you come across are crafted from the matching bed sheet fabric they come along with.
Over the series of innovations and modernity in the home furnishing industry, pillowcases have also witnessed modifications in design and materialization. With an increased focus on comfortable styling, the decorative side of pillowcases is coming to light. Pillowcases today, come in appealing varieties of design and construction to suit the widest of bedroom décor preferences.
You can get them with the zipper arrangement or a lavish touch on the open cuff. Modern day pillow designs experiment with hemstitching, embroidery and patchwork of matching fabric on the cuff areas. All said and done these shells make bedding pillows a cozier and more comfortable surface to relax and doze off in peace and tranquility.
(2) What is a Bed Pillow Sham?
Explained literally as a false cover, pillow shams can be commonly understood as decorative coverings that hide your regular pillows. To be clearer on the query of what is a bed pillow sham, these are a stylish alternative for the customary pillowcases. These conveniently removable pillow shells can spark up your bedding spaces with the missing touch of class and elegance.
Pillow shams generally come with a back opening, most of the time with overlapping fabric pieces and hidden closures. These decorative shells are complemented with a 3 or 4-side flange bordering, which is a flat section of the sham’s fabrication material. The basic sham designs come with a simple flange. The super stylish and posh ones often have an ornately embroidered flange. Some shams also use motifs and allied accents to style their flanges.
Unlike pillowcases, shams are commonly fabricated to serve a decorative purpose of your bedding spaces. These are often used as a mix and match utility to suit the pattern play of duvet covers, bedspreads, coverlets, etc. Shams are sometimes explicitly fabricated to complement a thematic bedroom setting. They are used to highlight specific shades, add vibrancy or simply give a chic look to the bedding arrangement.
Talking of the design and style varieties, pillow shams are available in an expansive range of standard and custom shapes and sizes. You may choose matching pillow shams and bed skirts in line with your specific requirements and décor preferences. The zipped and buttoned sham designs are however, one of the most widely preferred styling alternatives.
(3) What is A Bed Pillow Sham Used for?
Speaking in a liberal sense of interior styling, quilted bed pillow shams serve a good number of purposes to uplift your home décor. You can experiment with their huge varieties to complement your bedroom settings with modernity and grace. Let us have a look into some common uses of pillow shams in what follows next:
a) Beautification of Your Bedding Spaces
The sole purpose of including pillow shams in your bedding arrangements is to beautify the latter’s look and appeal. These are often placed ahead of the regular pillowcases to make your sleeping spaces reflect the essence of finesse and style. Ahead of being your cozy resting space, the bedding spaces are important elements of home furnishings. You will therefore, want them to look classy and stylish, and shams are the simplest solutions.
b)Style Your Sofa Sets
Sofa sets and couches are other elements of your home interiors that can be styled up with decorative shams. You can use these ornate covers on the cushions and squares of your living room furniture to make them stand out with grace. The next time you think of reinventing the look of your sofas, get in a set of matching shams for their pillows.
c)Pillow Protection Is Ensured
Leaving the bed pillows uncovered makes them dirty and shabby, putting forward recursive laundry needs. To escape the hustle, you can cover them with stylish shams. The latter will work as a protective layering for the pillows, keeping them safe against dust and bacteria. Ahead of this, the decorative shams will render a posh and stylish look to the pillows, which is bound to be appreciated.
d) Mix and Match Utility
Available in a diverse range of shapes, sizes and colors, pillow shams grant you the maximum liberty to play with your bedding décor. You can include a matching pair of shams to complement the pattern and shades of the bedding elements. A contrasting pair of shams, on the other hand, can make the setting stand out in a different way. The cost effectiveness of these styling accessories is a surplus advantage.
e) Adding Finesse to the Pillow Surface
Most of us have a habit of playing with and cuddling pillows apart from using them as sleeping accessories. These decorative bed pillow shams keep the pillow surface soft and smooth to render a silky finish. Such a texture is friendly to your skin and caters to a gentle feel that is hard to resist. You can thus, snuggle into a bundle of feathery softness whenever you like.
2. When to Use a Bed Sham?
Bed pillow shams are mostly used to enclose your regular sleeping pillows into a decorative casing to give them a rich and stylish look. You can place them in front of the sleeping head rests during the day to spark up the bedding space with a classy and modernized appearance. You can also use them as back supports when sitting or working on your bed.
These are relatively inexpensive ways of renovating your bedroom interiors, without getting in a whole new set of furnishing elements. Used essentially for addressing decorative concerns, pillow shams are generally not used for sleeping. There is however, no harm in resting on a sham. Sticking to the styling purpose, you can leave them behind the regular pillows at night. Some of us may even prefer to keep them out of the bedding spaces when going to sleep.
All in all, the best use that pillow shams can be put to is the decoration purpose. You can use them for protecting and styling your normal sleeping pillows at times when you are not in the mood to sleep. Get them home to receive all the attention for your newly styled bedding spaces!
3.How to Style Your Bed with Pillowcases and Shams
When the talk is about how to make a bed with pillows and shams, there are an infinite number of possibilities to choose from. Planning a new appearance for your bedding arrangement is largely dependent on your specific tastes and preferences. Based on the classic or contemporary, complementary or contrasting, etc., design themes, there are extensive varieties of shams available. Interior décor experts however, recommend some popular styling alternatives to answer the query of how to place pillow shams on bed. Let us have a look at them in what follows next:
(1) Stacking Gives a Decent Look
Stacking your regular and shammed pillows on top of each other is perhaps, the quickest and simplest way to arrange them on beddings. You should start with placing the sleeping pillows near the headboard with their cuffs pointing to the bedside edges. Now simply stack the sham-enclosed pillows over the regular ones.
It is best to choose this styling pattern when you have pillows of the equal size, shape and height. Placing such pillows one on top of the others renders bedding space with a uniform and clean look. You can also lean in a few throw pillows against the aforesaid arrangement to create a more amplified decorative appearance.
(2) Layering Is the New Class
Layering works best to highlight the elusive pattern play of a multi-dimensional interior setting. You can prefer this pillow arrangement, if your bedding space has a diversity of shapes, colors, sizes and textures. Start the layering setup by placing the regular sleeping pillows along their length, making them lean against the headboard.
Follow the same pattern for placing shammed Euro pillows, this time against the regular ones. Bring in a third layer of 2 shammed pillows in the king or standard size to lie in front of the previous layer. You can add some extra elements like decorative boudoirs, neck pillows and bolsters for a more pronounced look.
(3) Asymmetry Can Be Really Cool
For the ones who love to play with creativity, the asymmetrical arrangement is the best option. The pillow placement in this style is quite similar to the layering alternative. You can stick to the same sequence of placing the pillows, but with a size preference. Place the set of smaller pillows on one side of the bedding and land in the row of larger ones on the other.
The aforesaid is a neat and classic style of pillow placement if the latter have similarities of color and fabric. You can additionally, sneak in some throw cushions in the empty space, to add a tint of texture and vibrancy. A pair of pillow shams and bed skirts in a complementing style would improvise the look in a better way.
4. Conclusion
Styling your bedding arrangements is a task of creativity and experimentation that considerably depends on your tastes and likings. When attempting to choose the correct accessories to texturize your sleeping spaces, pillowcases and shams put forward the most confusion. It is, however, necessary to note that pillow covers are protective casings for your regular pillows. Shams, on the contrary, are generally meant to serve the decorative purpose.
As far as the credibility of pillow shams is concerned, you can use them as stylish coverings to protect and spark up your regular pillows. Reinventing your bedding décor with a mix and match of shammed and sleeping pillows in different patterns looks fantastic. These pillows are an inexpensive way to renovate your bedroom interiors with a chic and modernized appearance. Think about getting them home the next time a creative décor idea pops up in your mind.
