by: Patricia Bowlin

Decorative pillows can add just the right touch to any room in your home. Whether you choose the bedroom, living room, den, or office, you will find many places that just the right pillow that is decorative as well as practical can fit into your decorating scheme.

Monotone or tone on tone decorating is all the rage today for smaller rooms.

The clean, uncluttered effective of monotone decorating schemes expands and opens up the space so that it appears much larger and more airy.

Yet monotone color schemes can end up being rather blah- without the right touches of color here and there. That splash of color can be added through the use of a brightly colored decorative pillow here and there. Even two-toned color schemes, such as the ever popular black and white, can be greatly enhanced by adding wondeful color by using decorative throw pillows in bright red, forest green, ocean blue or yellow.

Place these color accents in areas that you want to eye to travel to such as underneath your favorite print or painting, near a piece of sculpture or in a corner that would be rather dark without the added color.

Pillows that are decorative can also add a varoiety of interesting detailing and texture to a room.

Crushed velvet makes a rich feeling pillow for decorative placement. Smooth, soft suede or faux suede will be an inviting addition. Braid, tassels, interesting architectural details such as buttons or pleats add just the right touches of texture and softness to any room in your home! Simple and elegant.

Boudoir pillows or neck pillows placed on the bed or in a chair near the bed add a beautiful elegance reminiscent of days gone by.

These pillows are not only decorative; they are very useful for comforting a sore neck. You'll often find boudoir pillows in soft, smooth satin, rich velvet, lace, crochet covers and more. These can be used in a lady's bedroom but also have a place in the more masculine bedroom design.

For a less feminine look, simply select suede, leather, corduroy, denim or another masculine feeling fabric in a darker color. The man of the house will be happy to rest his tired neck on these pillows- and when not in use, they of course add a nice decorative touch.

Floor pillows are often overlooked- but are great near the fireplace or in the den.

These large comfy, cushy pillows, stacked in different colors and fabrics, can be pulled out and made into a comfortable pile of cushions for enjoying a fire and playing a board or card game on the floor. Fringed edges, piping, and buttons add detail to these pillows.

Choose sturdy construction and covers that can be zipped off for washing so that your floor pillows will be decorative and practical for years to come. Floor pillows come in a huge variety of sizes, so consider creative a stack of tapering sizes to create a colorful accent in a corner where the decorative cushions can become comfy pillows at a moment's notice. An unusual and unique touch, wouldn't you say?

Pillows that are decorative can be found in just about any price range that fits your budget. Elegant satin and silk coverings with braid and lace can cost quite a bit. Pillows that are just as decorative and colorful but made from less expensive materials can also be used if you have to stretch your decorating dollars.

One of the great things about pillows being used decoratively is that once you purchase a good quality pillow, you can recover it should you ever change your color scheme or get tired of it.

You can purchase pillow covers or make them yourself easily at home. It doesn't even require much sewing skills to put together a simple, practical, yet unique pillow cover for decorative cushions. You can also embellish a plain pillow with your own buttons, ribbons and pieces of lace. As you wear out clothes that have unique buttons, save them for just such a project.

Your friends will all ask WHERE you got that unique designer pillow that is so decorative and different!

Pillows, whether decorative or practical, need to be aired out and cleaned periodically. Depending on how much use the pillow receives, you may need to add this to your spring cleaning or do it several times per year.

When you purchase a pillow for decorative purposes, read the label to learn about cleaning instructions. Many pillows that have decorative covers that zip off can have the cover machine washed and the inner pillow form placed in a cool dryer with a dry sheet to fresh it.

Other covers must be dry cleaned and almost all pillows that don't have removable covers must be dry cleaned. It's always nice to place your decorative cushions, soft pillows and even your bed pillows outside on a warm spring day to air out in the breeze. This will bring the freshness of the outdoors right into your rooms.

Using decorative pillows make it very easy to add some instant pizzaz to your home decor!