• Mattress Guides
    • Best Mattresses

    • Best Mattresses of 2023
    • For Side Sleepers
    • For Back Pain
    • Mail Order Mattress
    • Cooling Mattresses
    • Eco-Friendly Mattresses
    • Mattress Types

    • Fiberglass Free Mattresses
    • Memory Foam Mattresses
    • Hybrid Mattresses
    • Innerspring Mattresses
    • Soft Mattresses
    • Firm Mattresses
    • Mattress Reviews

    • Amerisleep Review
    • Zoma Review
    • Vaya Review
    • Avocado Review
    • Eight Sleep Review
    • Mattress Guides

    • Mattress Buying Guide
    • Mattress Sizes
    • Mattress Foundation Sizes
    • Bed Frame Sizes
  • Bedding Guides
    • Comforters & Blankets

    • Best Comforters
    • Best Down Comforters
    • Best Duvets
    • Best Blankets
    • Pillows

    • Best Pillows
    • Best Memory Foam Pillows
    • Best Pillows for Side Sleepers
    • Best Body Pillows
    • Comparisons

    • Cotton vs. Microfiber
    • Duvet vs. Comforter
    • FAQs

    • How to Wash Pillows?
    • How Often to Replace Every Type of Pillow
    • How Long Does it Take to Dry Clean a Comforter?
  • Mattress Resources
    • Mattress Comparison

    • Memory Foam vs. Pillow Top
    • Memory Foam vs. Spring
    • Memory Foam vs. Latex
    • Hybrid vs. Memory Foam
    • Gel Memory Foam vs. Latex
    • Size Comparison

    • King vs. California King
    • King vs. Queen
    • Queen vs. Full
    • Full vs. Twin
    • Twin vs. Twin XL
    • Solutions

    • Mattress Quiz
    • How to Fix a Sagging Mattress
    • How to Fix a Too Soft or Too Firm Mattress
    • How to Dispose of an Old Mattress
  • Sleep Health
    • How-To

    • How to Power Nap
    • How to Stop Snoring
    • How To Wake Up Early: 8 Benefits To Waking Up Early
    • How to Sleep on Your Back
    • Dreams

    • How to Lucid Dream: Techniques, Benefits, and Risks
    • Night Terrors vs. Nightmares
    • What is a Fever Dream?
    • Natural Sleep

    • Natural Herbs For Sleep
    • Essential Oils for Sleep
Home / Bedding Resources / What Is A Bed Sham?
Bedding Resources

What Is A Bed Sham?

by Kiera Pritchard Comment on What Is A Bed Sham?
what-is-a-bed-sham

Eachnight may earn commissions for products you purchase through our links. Our articles and reviews include affiliate links and advertisements, including amerisleep advertising. Learn more

Updated March 2, 2023

If you’ve ever read anything about bedding fashion, you’ve probably run across the term “pillow sham,” and while you might’ve known what it meant, you might not be more familiar with the word than that. Below, we’ll talk not only about what a sham is but what it’s used for, where it came from, and who should use it.

Sham vs. Pillowcase

Like pillowcases, shams are meant to cover pillows. Unlike regular pillowcases, however, shams are not functional in the sense that they’re intended for sleeping. Rather, shams are decorative covers used to complete the look of decorative accent pillows.

These decorative pillows could be one of the standard sizes, or they could be smaller or larger. They could also come in lots of fun shapes and bold colors, depending on the look you want.

SEE ALSO: Bed Pillow Sizes

Sham Styles

what-is-a-bed-sham

Pillow shams got their name from the false front they featured in the 18th century. Shams were originally designed to add decorative touches to the elaborate bed linens, bed covers, bed skirts, dust ruffles, and other intricate bedroom decors of the period.

As we said above, shams can have tons of different looks, but there are a few categories most of them fall into: standard pillow sizes, boudoir, and European shams.

Standard Pillow Sizes

Standard size shams are the same size as standard pillowcases. They’ll fit all the regular pillow sizes, including standard, queen, and king pillows. Standard pillow shams are 26 by 20 inches, queen shams are 30 by 20 inches, and king shams are 36 by 20 inches.

Boudoir Pillow Shams

Boudoir shams are for decorative throw pillows. Boudoir pillows are normally smaller, measuring around 12 by 16 inches, and most should come with their own shams. You can also buy boudoir shams on their own to change up the pillows’ look.

European Pillow Shams

Euro shams are for square pillows. Usually, they’re 26 by 26 inches, but they can be larger or smaller as long as the pillow is square. Like with boudoir shams, European shams can come with a pillow or be bought independently.

Sham Uses

The primary use for pillow shams is to provide decorative accents, so they’re not going to be something you’re sleeping on every night. Most of the time, people place their sham pillows on the bed during the day as they make the bed to create a more fashionable look when not in use. They then remove the sham pillows at night to sleep.

This is common with queen or king size beds, which are large enough to accommodate a pile of eye-catching pillows. Anything smaller than a queen bed may be dressed with one sham pillow, maybe two.

Sometimes decorative pillows can double as functional pillows. Some people may use them as lumbar pillows or body pillows, placing them in the middle of their backs or hugging one to their body. Others use them to prop themselves in bed during the day. Smaller bed pillows can also double as neck rolls.

Just make sure, if you’re using your sham pillow for extra support or as a sleeping pillow, your decorative pillowcases don’t have features like lace or sequins that can be damaged. It’s also important to make sure you wash your sham often, even if you’re not sleeping on it. Ideally, bedding should be washed about once a week.

SEE ALSO: How to Sleep with a Body Pillow at Night

FAQs

Do I need pillow shams at all?

That depends on how you want to decorate your bed. If you want a simple arrangement that you don’t have to fiddle with every night, shams might not be for you. However, if you want a fashionable bed that adds to the look of your room, shams are pretty much a must.

There are tons of great ways to incorporate shams into the look of your bed. If you’re going for a rustic or antique look, lace, quilting, or embroidery might be for you. Those who want a more modern or minimalist look might consider bold accent colors, geometric patterns, or print.

What kind of pillows should I use with shams?

Since you’re not going to be sleeping on the pillows in your shams, you don’t have to worry much about getting supportive pillows. You’ll want the pillows to be thick enough to fill out the sham and stand on their own without collapsing or folding over.

As you’re also going to be moving them around every night to go to sleep, you will probably prefer a lighter pillow that’s easier to toss aside. And because they’re just decorative, you may not want to pay too much for them.

Firm/thick pillows in lighter weight, cheaper materials like cotton or fiberfill are likely your best bet. If you’re planning on using the pillow as a head or backrest while you lounge in bed during the day, memory foam may also be a good option for you.

Can I sleep on pillow shams?

While you can sleep on pillow shams, whether you should is a bit more controversial, as shams frequently come with decorative features, brighter colors, and wrinkle-resistant fabrics that might be less able to wick away sweat. In other words, you might not sleep well. Cooling pillows designed to wick away heat can help you sleep undisturbed.

Plus, means your movements during the night could tear your shams’ decorations, and products you put on your hair or face might cause the shams’ patterns or colors to fade. For these reasons, it’s usually better to reconsider sleeping on your shams.

Will shams come with my sheet set or duvet cover?

Maybe. Some sheet sets come with every piece of bedding included and may feature several shams or even decorative pillows. Some sheet sets come with just the sheets, and comforter or duvet sets may consist of matching shams. If none of the bedding sets you look at include shams, you can always purchase them independently.

Are my shams machine washable?

That depends on the material they’re made of and the decorations they have. Shams made of machine-washable natural or synthetic fibers with no delicate decorative features like lace or fringe can probably go in the washing machine. If your sham doesn’t fit this description, you might want to hand wash or dry clean.

As with all sheets and other bedding, check your pillow shams’ tags before tossing them in the washing machine. The care label won’t just tell you whether the pillows are machine washable, but their ideal washing temp and cycle.

One of the great things about sham pillows is you don’t have to wash them all that much. Because you don’t sleep on them, you can get away with washing shams as often as you wash your comforter or duvet cover rather than as often as you wash your sheets.

Bottom Line

Shams can be a great addition to the look of your bed due to their infinite design possibilities. They can add a pop of color to your down comforter, a shot of spice to your duvet cover, or a fluffier look to your bed.

If you’re looking to turn your bed into a bold statement piece rather than just some furniture you sleep on, you can’t skip out on the decorative shams. For a greater impact, you could dress it up further with a new skirt or dust ruffle along the edges of the bed.

About the author
Kiera Pritchard

Kiera Pritchard’s curiosity about dreams and dreaming sparked her passion for sleep science. In addition to writing for eachnight, Kiera is also a physical trainer and strives to help others lead healthy lives while asleep and awake. Since joining our team, Kiera has compiled multiple sleep health guides offering our readers advice on how to improve their days and evenings. 

Find more articles by Kiera

Comments

Cancel reply

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

What’s the best mattress?

Best Mattress

We’ve spent countless hours finding the best mattresses out there so you don’t have to hunt for them.

See Our Best Mattress Picks

Bedding Resources

murphy-bed-sizes-and-dimensions-guide
Murphy Bed Sizes and Dimensions Guide
Jasmin Lee
what-is-a-bunkie-board
What is a Bunkie Board?
Jasmin Lee
How to Sleep with a Body Pillow at Night
Malik Karman

EachNight Fact-Checking Standards and Processes

The EachNight writing team is devoted to creating articles that are not only entertaining and easy to understand but also as impartial, accurate, and well-sourced as possible. Whenever possible, we strive to have our articles fact-checked by our independent review board. We also do not tolerate plagiarism or ill intent from our contributors.

Here are the medical and factual guidelines that a EachNight article must adhere to:

  • We draw upon only reputable and respectable sources when researching our articles’ topics and endeavor to only link to highly authoritative sources. Such sources would include peer-reviewed medical and academic journals, medical and academic associations in good standing, and interviews with or blog posts from certified medical professionals.
  • We may link to news articles or peer-reviewed medical blog posts about studies when appropriate, but always attempt to connect directly to the studies these pages discuss.
  • Our scientific information, conclusions, and analysis are always supported by at least one reputable source.
  • We strive to make any potential conflicts of interest attached to any studies or sources clear to our readers. When applicable, we also try to include conflicting research or questions that may throw a study’s conclusion into doubt to clarify that scientific understandings often change and progress over time.
  • Our articles typically link to other articles and resources on our site. This is solely for easier navigation, and we do not promote our website as a medical resource. Try to speak with your physician if you have medical concerns.
  • Any necessary background information on a topic will be included when appropriate.
  • Our goal is for every one of our medical-related articles to be reviewed by our independent board of experts. Should they spot any medical or health-related misinformation or errors, we will strike it out from the final published article.

What’s a Certified Sleep Coach?

Our writers are sleep coaches certified by the Spencer Institute, which has been training coaches since 1992. Becoming a certified sleep coach means that our writers are well-versed in various sleep science matters, taking us beyond being just a group of mattress reviewers. The certification allows us an in-depth understanding of what we’re talking about when it comes to advising readers on better sleep habits.

About Us

Our simple goal is to provide the information you need to get better sleep each night. We provide a full-circle approach to sleep and wellness that incorporates mental, physical, and environmental well-being.

Company

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure
  • Expert Review Board

Our Guides

  • Mattress Guides
  • Mattress Reviews
  • Best Mattress
  • Mattress Quiz
  • Sleep Health
  • Sleep Calculator
  • Mattress Sizes

Newsletter

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to find out about content, features and more happening at eachnight.

You must enter a valid email.
Each Night Logo

Copyright © 2023 eachnight. All rights reserved.