I always thought of the pillows on my mom's couch as just pillows. I always held one on my lap when I was feeling a bit insecure, or I would put one under my head when I would lie on the couch. I never thought of them as decorative pieces, and that is probably because they were not really thought of that way by my mother either. They were in a way, but they were - in her eyes - meant to be more functional than decorative. What is great is that decorative accent pillows; can be both if that is what you wish.

When choosing decorative accent pillows, you have to first decide if you want them to be for show only, for comfort, or for both. You also have to think about who lives in your home. Do you have pets? Do you have children? Do either you or your husband have a job or hobby that might mean you come in and flop down on something with less than clean clothing? Just how much do you want to spend on these decorative accent pillows anyway? Once you have answered all of these questions you can then go shopping.

You can find functional decorative accent pillows anywhere you find home accessories. What you should look at is the material of which they are made, and how well sewn they are. Delicate accent pillows are generally made for looks more so than for toughness, so they will not stand up well to rough handling. The sewing might be the first to go, and the fabric may stain easily. Look for tough materials and take a peak at the stitching for extra strong yet decorative accent pillows. Don't worry, these are pretty common and you can usually find exactly what you want.

For decorative accent pillows that will not be used for anything else, you can usually have your pick of anything that you find. When choosing either type, go for a color that is in your room of choice, but that is not once of the main colors. Think of matching your decorative accent pillows with your accessories in the room. Don't match them up with the carpet or wall colors. If you really can't seem to find what you want, you can always make these on your own very easily. Find the fabric you want, and make as many as you want. You may even want to make pillows for every room in the home.

While most of us can't be redecorating our rooms every year, there are little tricks, known to professional decorators that can give you a fresh look at very little cost. One such technique is to build a stock of decorative pillows, representative of every season. These throw pillows should not be matched sets. You'll tire of these selections quickly. You want to aim for a selection of mix and match candidates, which you can rotate by room or by season, or both.

For example, in winter you may use a heavy quilt on your bed, with matching pillow shams. Decorative pillows for this scenario might include some heavy brocades, patchworks or a varied collection of calicos edged with lace. Coordinate your colors to avoid a cluttered look. If you tire of this selection before spring, you can simply redistribute these pillows around the house. The brocades might be nice on your reading chair or sofa. If you've got a daybed, the calicos have a new home. Keep the patchworks in the bedroom and augment them with some romantic lacy decorative pillows.

Come summer, you replace that heavy, too-cozy quilt with a light duvet with an airy flowered pattern or a simple pink plaid. Lace is always good with a summer theme. Fill out that selection with some patterned pillows in rose, pink or leaf green shades.

For sofas, decorative pillows make couch-potatoeing all the more comfortable. A solid color sofa allows you to plaster it with pillows in several patterns in colors relating to or contrasting nicely with your sofa's color. A patterned sofa calls for a more restricted palette of pillow colors and patterns.

For example, if your sofa is adorned with a flowery pattern set on a dark blue background, pick out the shades of the patterned portion. Let's say there are reddish roses in your sofa pattern. Match that red shade with a patterned pillow containing the same hue, but a different pattern. This might include a plaid edged in that red shade of piping. Find another pattern in a complimentary shade of green which matches the green vines of the sofa pattern. Your effect will be better if you don't choose another plaid. Maybe a geometric pattern of a contrasting scale will look good.

If you've got a rocking chair, almost anything looks good, because you only have the wood and a single decorative pillow to deal with when making your choice.

Kid's rooms are enhanced with bed pillows to slouch on while reading or watching TV. Let kids pick what they like. Girls love pillows, but boys may want a manlier looking pillow.