Yesterday’s international news is devastating. We are watching with the rest of the world. This scheduled design post will be published but know that we are also concerned and not oblivious to the situation. Hoping for swift peace and minimal lives lost. I’m a mom. We are caring compassionate women. Watching destruction, close or far away is simply hard and terrifying.
In case you haven’t noticed, there’s been a pillow trend happening right now in the bedroom and we are very into it over here at EHD (as you will soon see). Although we covered it a few years back on the blog here, it still remains just as relevant, functional, and stylish which is why we wanted to introduce it to any new readers or any of you out there that are still trying to perfect the “how do I style 12 decorative throw pillows on my bed every single morning” routine, which may or may not be working for you. Plus there are a lot more out there now (perhaps they read the blog?).
Bed styling is tough, and something that I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy. And although the Pinterest-worthy beds floating around on the internet may seem like they have simply tossed the duvet perfectly across the bed and draped a blanket casually on top in one swift easy go, said process can sometimes take rounds and rounds of revisions to get that “effortless casual” look that we all want. And because no one has the time or the mental capacity to spend more than a few minutes making their bed every morning, for you we introduce the “extra long lumbar pillow” to help simplify the process.
Forget the three, six, nine, twelve…. decorative pillows and just throw on one of these long decorative rectangular pillows IF you want a decorative pillow at all. You may lean more simple and not even want to add a decorative pillow at all to your current bed setup, but if you are looking to add something decorative without the complications of all those extra pillows, then the pillows that we have pulled together for you below can help you out. We have one currently on our bed and lay it in front of our two sleeping pillows when we make the bed in the morning, and at the end of the night we can just grab it off super quick. Which is much easier to deal with than a handful of decorative pillows on the floor. Actually most every bed I’ve (or my team) have styled has been with the single extra long lumbar. Example A. is Julie’s bedroom with that cute pom/tassel guy.
Then for Emily Bowser’s primary bedroom she chose to contrast her darker bedding and shams with that gray extra-long pillow. It’s modern but still super inviting.
Then most recently, Jess picked out this lumbar pillow (that Emily Bowser styled) for her friend’s bedroom makeover. The pillow is actually velvet so it adds another fabric and texture to this romantic traditional bed look.
It really is just so easy, looks awesome, and frees up more time doing well, anything other than making your bed.
All of the pillows we’ve pulled together below are at least 30″ long which means that they are large enough to use for either a queen or king-sized bed, and although we can’t promise a better night’s sleep with them, we can promise a far easier bed-making routine in the morning. So, here are a few of our favorites divided up by price.
1. Cotton Canvas Oversized Lumbar Pillow Cover | 2. Lumbar Faux Leather Channel Stitch Decorative Throw Pillow | 3. Oversized Bolster Woven Uneven Stripe Decorative Throw Pillow | 4. Oversized Oblong Tufted Diamond Throw Pillow | 5. Sage Green Oversized Lumbar Throw Pillow Cover | 6. Manifold Glyphs Pillow Cover | 7. Lumbar Heavyweight Linen Blend Throw Pillow | 8. Paloma Cotton Velvet Decorative Pillow Cover | 9. Beige Brown Cream Flax Large Stripe Extra Long Lumbar Pillow Cover | 10. Dash Stripe Oversized Lumbar Bed Pillow | 11. Oversized Oblong Embroidered Decorative Throw Pillow | 12. Soft Corded Pillow Cover | 13. Lumbar Modern Stripe Decorative Throw Pillow | 14. Ticking White Long Linen Lumbar Pillow Cover
Target really has the monopoly on affordable extra long lumbar pillows but we aren’t mad about it. Look at how great all of these are?! #2 is an EHD go-to. It works with nearly every style and looks so good in person. Then to stay on the Target train, #3, #7, and #13 are also simple yet very special:) But Target isn’t the only one, Etsy and West Elm have incredible options too. I mean #1 and #12? Each of those also comes in a bunch of other colors. Then for Etsy, #5, #9, #14 are good. The other great thing about Etsy is that most of the pillows sold have a ton of size options so don’t be discouraged if the size on the graphic doesn’t work for you.
1. Candlewick Oversized Lumbar Pillow Cover | 2. Extra Long Lumbar Pillow | 3. Luxe Linen Blend Pillow | 4. Corded Zigzag Pillow Cover | 5. Long Lumbar Pillow | 6. Stonewash Grey Linen Pillow | 7. Lush Velvet Oversized Lumbar Pillow Cover | 8. Olive Colorblock Pillow Cover | 9. Handwoven Thai Pillow No.14 | 10. Marilla Stripe Body Pillow Cover | 11. Floral Long Lumbar Pillow Cover | 12. Pink Stitched Lumbar Pillow | 13. Montara Pillow | 14. Salmon Pink Lumbar Pillow Cover
Now we are moving up the budget needle. We’ve used #1 before and it adds so much fun texture. Then I’ve used Jillian Rene Pillows (#8) for years and they never disappoint. Some of these other Etsy ones are really doing it for me. I’m looking at you, #5, #9, and #11.
1. Shepard Pillow Cover | 2. Gigi Pillow | 3. Alcove Pillow Dusk | 4. Garrit Leather Lumbar Pillow | 5. Black and Cream Dash Pillow Cover | 6. Suri Lumbar Pillow | 7. Long Cushion in Kapok | 8. Sueno Lumbar Pillow | 9. Manolo Pillow | 10. Hand-Blocked Artisan Lumbar Pillows | 11. Chand Lumbar Pillow | 12. Vadala Long Lumbar Pillow
While spending over $150 on a singular pillow is not for everyone (except remember this one is in lieu of say, maybe five). It’s 100% understandable. However, these pillows are pretty special if you can/want to. I love the simplicity, size, texture of #1. The patterns of #3 and #6 are right up my alley. But just like the other roundups, I love them all.
If you are into this, then your life and bed just got easier/better. Which ones are your favorites? Have you already been doing this?
Opening Image Credits: Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp | From: Mountain House Reveal: Our Calm Scandinavian Master Bedroom
So you’ve convinced me that I need to buy a lumbar pillow, but my biggest question/conundrum still remains…. WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THESE DECORATIVE PILLOWS WHILE YOU ARE IN BED??? Chuck them on the floor? Pile them on a chair? Get some kind of giant basket to put them in that takes up prime space? It all seems so messy… and even a single lumbar pillow is bulky and takes up room… As much as I want to have a nicely styled bed, I also don’t want to wake up each morning to see my bedroom floor cluttered with discarded decorative pillows…. Please share some solutions!!
Agreed. We pile ours up on a chair. A big mess.
Also, I bought the same pillows that are in the Curbly bedroom. The fabric is so wonderful and expensive that I feel like I can’t actually use them.
Bedroom pillows are a design conundrum.
I’m with you, other Lucy. I just have no interest in dealing with extra pillows. I actually like the look of a simple bed with a normal number of pillows. If someone ever plans to photograph my bedroom maybe I’ll consider buying my bed a special outfit.
For us, we put the pillow between the headboard and the mattress, which actually makes it really nice for sitting up in bed and gets rid of that weird space/gap. The only downside is that you have to fluff the pillow every morning to get it back to its original shape.
That’s why everyone has benches at the foot of their beds; just put the pillows on the bench.
We have a cedar trunk at the end of the bed and stack our pillows on that. The trunk is not my favorite thing in the bedroom but it’s been so useful.
I definitely just fling them on the floor, ha! It’s definitely not the greatest look, but we make the bed right away in the morning so I don’t have to actually stare at them on the floor. We also only have 2 that are decor only, so it’s not out of control or anything. A bench would definitely solve the problem if we had room.
I actually keep mine on the bed while I sleep! I either hold it through the night which helps me sleep or I just keep it in between my boyfriend and I because its summer so the pillow acts as a sort of buffer for our body heat. When I nap I usually just nap on the pillow as well. Mine was from a marshalls/tj maxx store and it has held up really well to daily use!
We slide our lumbar pillow under the bed at night
Bahahaha!!!🤣🤣🤣 Throw a leg over it and go to sleep!!
Love this post! This is one of those design tricks I wouldn’t have picked up on my own but is so simple and easy to implement that of course I’m going to implement it. Who would have thought one long pillow would be so effective?
Oh that blue bed though… always loved that one.
I know that’s an old photo up top, but I’d love to know where those sheets are from (the flowered one)- they are gorgeous!
Me too please!!
I seem to remember Emily saying something about vintage fabric at one time????
she made them
HA. you guys know me 🙂 yes, they are vintage fabric that I made into pillows 🙂 I don’t know where they are now!
Pretty sure that was some Vintage fabric that Emily made into pillow covers.
The last two days have been awesome- I have been debating painting our entryway console and buying an oversized lumbar pillow for our bed. These are things I think about and no one else seems to care about- and yet EH addresses them AND makes me want to follow my trivial décor dreams. 🙂 love the examples.
Styling the bed is always so tricky for me. Especially because I bought the opposite of what I see everywhere: My duvet is coral, my sheets are blue/teal… so nothing similar to the lovely neutrals I see in your blog and all my pins! (At one point in my life I’ll stop been driven to all bright and colored… being 35, I hope that’s soon!) And then I always see that the bed is open, but I prefer to cover EVERYTHING with the duvet (I do feel it protects the sheets more from dust), plus the pillows we use for sleeping are the memory foam ones, that while I find so comfortable, they are a styling horror… So I’m always struggling with the view of my bedroom… A perfect example of how random and not driven decisions affect the look of a room! 😉
And sorry, I realize that my comment is not really about the lumbar pillow…
I hear you! I’m drawn to bright colors too, while pinning neutrals. Ha. At least my house is moving toward blues and grays instead of completely wackadoodle, but it’s a process! I just bought the most boring white plates so my dining room table will look a bit less chaotic.
Okay, not to hijack the thread, but can we talk about these memory foam pillows? I found this page because I was looking for styling tips to help hide them. My husband has one and his only dictate for styling the bed is that I absolutely under no circumstances can even touch that pillow. I don’t have one, so the bed ends up looking a little lopsided because our pillows are so different. It’s such a dumb problem to worry about, but it does bother me when I walk into the bedroom.
I hear you on the lopsided thing. We have the sleeping pillows in the back, king size pillows in textured white shams in front of them, and then one long lumbar pillow in front of that. The pillows in the shams hide a lot of the lopsidedness but not all of it. I will say that it’s much more noticable when we’re using our dark purple sheets compared to the cream colored sheets.
This is exactly what I needed! Amazed you found so many etsy sources–i was having no luck. This is why you guys are the besttttt
I like to use one long lumbar pillow on a sofa also. Instead of all the square ones. I think it makes your space less cluttered.
Ooh! Great idea!
I love this styling trick. I went out and bought these pillows after you posted about it the last time. One additional tip for others searching for the perfect pillow: If you find one you love on Etsy, but they don’t make it in the right size, you can sometimes contact the seller for a custom order. I did this for the pillow currently in my master bedroom, found here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/511502542/african-mudcloth-pillow-covers-available?ref=shop_home_active_1 . It looks like she has an actual listing for one in 14 X 36 now though!
Good post! Could you please do a post on bedroom dressers? I’ve been looking for one online for a year and I’m stumped.
https://stylebyemilyhenderson.com/blog/my-38-favorite-dressers-in-the-world-and-where-to-buy-them
Pillow envy. I already have a long pillow I like, but now I’ve seen several I love..
I obviously have an inner granny too cause I LOVE me the florals!!! I’m really, really liking this lumbar pillow trend.
Somewhat unrelated, but on our wedding night my husband and I stayed in a hotel where there was a bed-width pillow behind the other pillows. It was lovely! I have been searching for one like it ever since, but no luck so far. Does anyone know what these would be called or where to find one? It was just like a regular pillow but extra wide so it took up the width of the bed.
YES. I love this idea, too. I think that Matteo linens makes a big long round one that is queen or king sized. I forget what they are called. But its ALMOST like a headboard in itself.
Probably just a body pillow: https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=body+pillow&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=181888402540&hvpos=1t2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6712431216295332131&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9008432&hvtargid=kwd-25551540&ref=pd_sl_3a2ob2shfn_e_p19
dearest emily henderson,
im doing my best version of the latest budget bedroom (modern traditional)design posted here. the pink pillow is no longer available. is there one of these (or another) that could replace it and the two green pillows pictured in the design?
thank you!!!!!
i’m almosr done
ohh i dont thinki can buy one for more than $150 i’m in the budget bedroom catagory
Let me check out the post again and see if we know of a substitute …. I LOVE that you are doing that!!! Makes us feel really good.
It looks like the pink pillow is still available through this retailer: https://www.bunglo.co/collections/pillow/products/picos-pillow and they have 20% off going on right now as well. And you could use these green pillows which are also on sale: https://www.westelm.com/products/luxe-velvet-pillow-covers-t3836/?pkey=e%7Cgreen%2Bvelvet%2Bpillow%7C3%7Cbest%7C0%7C1%7C24%7C%7C2&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH
Hope that helps, and be sure to send through pics once you have it all finished up, we would love to see it. xx
it’s my birthday, i’m ganna buy pillows like its my birthday!
yesssss! they’re mine now! thank you!
Question- can you just use a body pillow? Ikea has cheap body pillow inserts and I could probably throw a pillowcase together…
Yes. We thought about adding that! I think that the trick is not having the pillow case look like a pillow case that opens on the side, but instead one that has a zipper or french closure. But I thin that is a great idea.
You can totally do this – I did the same thing, with an old Ralph Lauren floral sheet. I did put a zipper in the back, so I can take it out and wash the cover, because we fling it on the floor at night,, though I am going to try shoving it behind the bed pillows as recommended above.
Love this post. Practical AND pretty, hooray! Now… which one do I want… hmm.
I’m obsessed with finding the right lumbar pillow! I love the Serena and Lily one, just don’t get why it looks so tiny on their website!
#12 of the $50-$150 category and and #11 of the under $50. I love this trend! These are cheaper then I would expect too!
I heart extra long pillows! Two things. (1) I think they work on a sofa too. And (2) buy table runners and sew backs on them and stuff them for a DIY version. You can find some cute embroidered ones at Home Goods regularly that are cute and cheap. And they’re EXTRA long then.
I never thought to use table runners. Thanks for the tip!
Very cool idea!👍
Any excuse to see your blue velvet headboard and I’m in! You used to have the most amazing pieces of vintage furniture. I really miss reading/seeing your vintage finds, craigslist posts, flea, reupholstered pieces you used to write about.
Very beautiful.
I made my own lumbar pillow for 2 €
sewing an Ikea Signe rug !
Yes, my mind is racing thinking of all the vintage fabric/linens I have and inspired by this https://www.instagram.com/p/BV2iRFygMqd/?taken-by=designsponge
and number 7 in the under $ 50’s above to make my own and embellish it!
I’ve ordered a long pillow with vendor #9 – ZDKilim and I highly recommend them. The hardest part was finding an insert, but 2 – 12 x 21″ inserts worked fine for on the bed. It may not look right in high traffic areas like a couch/bench though.
Did you know they sell inserts too?
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ZDkilimspillow?ref=listing-shop2-all-items-count§ion_id=20297381
my beloved body pillow that got me through three pregnancies was repurposed years ago for this purpose. it’s the perfect length for my full size bed, I use it to lean against when I read (along with a euro size pillow behind. I sewed a cover from some vintage blue and white linen and a sweet trim. It’s a nice touch, to a crisp white bed, in my opinion.
where is the side table/ night stand from on the 4th picture from the top??? PLEASE???
One more reason I am so glad that I sew.
I dig the unipillow, I just push it back a bit and leave it there, with my regular pillows in front of it. If I were taller, that might not work, but I’m totes average, so my feet don’t hang off the end of the bed.
I have been on the lookout for one of these ever since I read that pervious blog post about them. I scored a beautiful navy/cream one with light pink fringe (seriously its so adorable, yet sophisticated!) I got it at a Marshalls/TJ Maxx store for less than $30!!! They make my bed look so amazing AND I love sleeping with it. Its very comforting to sleep with. Also you+your team called this trend waaay before it ever became a thing so good job on that!
On another note, I know there has been alot of discussion on whether this blog is still accessible to the average reader and I just wanna say that posts like these with reasonably priced and useful decor items are something that make this blog worth it to me.
Like, WHOA. I just spent all weekend hunting down the pillows from the older lumbar pillow round-up!!!
I can’t thank you enough for this, The time it takes hunting down so many awesome options is beyond appreciated.
I’ve been doing this for years. I can’t believe no one was?
I am excited to have had discovered YouTV Player. Seriously man, I used to get so bored before coming across this app. It is easy to use and offers tons of cartoons, TV shows and films to choose from. Once a while I end up discovering great shows too, and keep recommending it to everyone. Try out the new app if you haven’t already. To know more about this app please click here http://youtvplayerz.com/you-tv-player-apk/
Where did you find that gorgeous pink and blue aztec style area rug under the bed in picture #4? I absolutely love it!
I’ve loved the uni pillow ever since I saw Jenny Komenda make one from Josef frank fabric for Joanna Goddards bedroom years ago! I actually found a cute one from land of nod last year that’s on my bed now!
I’m with you, other Lucy. I just have no interest in dealing with extra pillows. I actually like the look of a simple bed with a normal number of pillows. If someone ever plans to photograph my bedroom maybe I’ll consider buying my bed a special outfit
VERY STYLISH PILLOWS THANKS FOR THIS COLLECTION.
I make these for my summer bed by sewing a tube, then finishing both ends with full length strips of Velcro. Then I fold my feather duvet into a sausage and stuff the resulting lumbar pillow with it. The Velcro gives the pillow a pleasing structure.
The Burj Khalifa is so tall that it will look out of proportion compared to almost everything else in the city!
Emily and Design Team — My Grandmother Ellie (who made her home with our family) made “lumbar” pillows for all our rope beds in the late ’50’s – early ’60’s when she was making new “tick” coverings for all of our feather/down pillows and feather ticks. Those lumbar pillows were the full width of the beds. We used those lumbar pillows for years when in the ’70’s the feather/down were distributed to pillow sizes to be used in decorative pillows for chairs and the sofa. A few years before the death of my Grandmother Ellie, she helped me redo the ticking fabric on all the pillows and feather ticks I have. The feathers/down were collected by the family as early as the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The quantity of feather/down items I have from the family have decreased as I clean and “retick” them.
Nooooo! I am team “no more pillows.” A couple of years ago, in an effort to simplify, we got rid of everything except our sleeping pillows…and, I can’t say I miss decorative pillows at all! Our bed kind of looks like that new “monk” trend you guys talked about previously….just pillows + a quilt.
I was looking at replacing a few pillows and this is a fabulous idea.
I love this blog and the various voices it supports. It’s one of my only daily reads. I especially appreciate the compassion and not shying away form sociopolitical/cultural events. But…. I’m getting tired of the little drops here and there about that imply moms have some special corner on busy-ness or care for the future of the world.
Yes, thank you for your statement about Ukraine, Emily.
Staying true to you.💞
I like this website. Keep it up.