Euro Shams and Euro Pillows: Size, How Many You Need, and How to Use Them
A Euro sham is the big square pillow cover you see standing against the headboard on a hotel bed, and a Euro pillow is the 26 by 26 inch insert that goes inside it. Ask a designer how to make a bed look finished and the back row of squares is usually the first thing they'll add. We make both halves, our Euro shams and the Pillow within a Pillow Euro insert that fills them, so the fit numbers below come straight from our own size chart.
The name comes from continental Europe, where a square pillow is the everyday sleeping pillow, so you'll also hear them called European pillows or, in the UK, continental pillows. In the US they're a 26-inch square that adds height to the back of the bed and gives you something to lean on when you read.
What Is a Euro Sham?
A Euro sham is a square decorative pillow cover made for a 26 by 26 inch insert. It has a closed back and stands upright against the headboard behind the pillows you sleep on. Many Euro shams have a flange, a flat fabric border that runs past the pillow, usually 2 to 3 inches. Our Montecito shams are white 300 thread count Sateen with a yarn-dyed band set in from the edge and an envelope closure at the back, and they finish at 28 by 28 inches so the band frames the insert.
A regular sham is the rectangular version of the same thing, in Standard or King, and our guide to Pillow Shams covers that whole family.
What Size Is a Euro Pillow?
A Euro pillow is 26 by 26 inches. That's the standard Euro pillow size sold in the US, and the Sleep Foundation lists it alongside the 20 by 26 inch Standard and the 20 by 36 inch King. Some makers also sell 24 by 24 and 28 by 28 inch squares, and European retailers give Euro pillow dimensions in centimeters, usually 65 by 65 or 70 by 70. So when you match a sham to an insert, check the inches on the tag. The square shape is what lets it stand, since a Standard pillow tips over on its long edge.
Euro sham dimensions depend on who made the sham. Some are cut to 26 inches and some are cut larger on purpose. Here's how our Montecito and Saint Moritz shams line up, with our quilted shams listed by the pillow they fit. The full chart is on our size chart page, and every sleeping pillow size is in our guide to Bedding Sizes.
| Piece | Finished size | Fits |
|---|---|---|
| Euro pillow insert | 26 x 26 in | Every Euro sham we make |
| Our Euro sham | 28 x 28 in | A 26 x 26 in insert |
| Our Standard sham | 22 x 32 in | 20 x 26 to 20 x 30 in pillows |
| Our King sham | 22 x 38 in | A 20 x 36 in pillow |
| Quilted shams | Listed by the pillow they fit | 20 x 26, 20 x 36, or 26 x 26 in |
How Many Euro Shams Do You Need?
You need one Euro sham on a Twin or Twin XL, two on a Full or Queen, and three on a King or California King. That's the usual convention, and the math behind it is mattress width. Two 26-inch squares cover 52 inches of a 60-inch Queen. Three cover 78 inches across a 76-inch King, so they sit edge to edge and hang over about an inch on each side. A California King is 72 inches wide, so three still fit with about 3 inches of overhang on each side. Two on a King leaves a gap in the middle unless you go up to 28-inch squares, and some people like the gap because it looks more tailored.
Where the sleeping pillows and the Standard or King shams go in front of them is covered in our guide to Arranging Pillows on a King Bed.
Euro Sham vs. Euro Pillow vs. Euro Pillow Cover
People use these three words for three different things, and mixing them up is how you end up with a cover that doesn't fit. The Euro pillow is the 26 by 26 inch insert. The Euro sham is the decorative cover with a closed back and a flange or, on ours, a woven band, and some stores list it as a Euro pillow sham or a Euro sham cover. A Euro pillow cover is the plain version with no border. Euro pillow inserts are sold separately because the sham is the part that gets washed and swapped.
| What it is | Back and edge | |
|---|---|---|
| Euro pillow (insert) | The 26 x 26 in pillow itself | No opening; down, feather, or synthetic fill |
| Euro sham | The decorative cover | Envelope or hidden closure; flange or band |
| Euro pillow cover | A plain cover | Often zippered; no border |
Should the Insert Be Bigger Than the Sham?
Whether the insert should be bigger depends on how the sham was cut. The advice you'll read most often says to put a 28 by 28 inch insert in a 26 by 26 inch sham. Down compresses, so a same-size down insert never quite fills the corners, and the sham slumps when you lean on it. Two extra inches of pillow fix that. But that advice assumes the sham's pocket is 26 inches and nothing more. Our Euro shams measure 28 by 28 finished, and that number includes the border. The pocket that holds the pillow is cut for a 26 by 26 insert, and the extra inch on each side is the flange, or on the Montecito the band. So the extra room is already in the sham, the 26-inch insert is the right one, and the border sits flat around it like a frame.
The same goes for our quilted Euro shams. They fit a 26 by 26 insert, and quilting has almost no give, so don't size up there either. If you already own a plain 26-inch sham from somewhere else and it looks slack, that's the case for a 27 or 28 inch insert. Our Pillow within a Pillow Euro insert wraps a goose down outer layer around a feather core, so the outside feels soft and the core holds its shape when you lean back on it.
How to Style Euro Shams
The easiest way to style Euro shams is to start at the headboard and work forward. The Euro shams go in the back, standing on edge, two on a Queen or three on a King. Your sleeping pillows go in front of them in their pillowcases, and the Standard or King shams go in front of those. The Euros are the tallest layer, and the pillows in front rest against them.
On a white bed the Sateen band is the only color, so pick it the way you'd pick a tie for a white shirt. Set white shams with a navy band over our white Montecito sheets with the same navy band, and our guide to Bedding Color Schemes covers how to choose that one accent color. With a duvet, keep the shams in the same collection as the duvet cover, or keep everything white with our Saint Moritz shams and let the pillows add the height. Our guide to Layering a White Duvet Cover covers the all-white version. With a quilted coverlet, the matching quilted Euro shams give you a back row in the coverlet's own color and texture.
Do You Sleep on Euro Pillows?
You don't sleep on Euro pillows, and they weren't made for it. A 26-inch square is too big and too tall to sleep on comfortably. Euro pillows are for sitting up in bed with a book and for giving the made bed its height, and at night they come off along with the shams in front of them. If you want a soft pillow to sleep on, that's the Standard or King version of the same pillow, in a pillowcase.
Our Euro Shams and Euro Insert
Our Montecito Euro shams are white 300 thread count long-staple cotton Sateen with a yarn-dyed band in a range of colors, and they match our Montecito sheets band for band. Our Saint Moritz shams are plain white Sateen in a 400 or 700 thread count. Our quilted collection includes Euro shams too. They're 300 thread count cotton with a 3/4-inch square quilted pattern, crafted in Italy to match the quilted coverlets, and the color is in the fabric itself. All of them fit the same 26 by 26 insert, our Pillow within a Pillow in the Euro size, designed and crafted in Italy.
How to Care for Euro Shams
Our Sateen shams machine wash in cold or warm water. Dry them on a cool setting, take them out right away, and smooth them as you fold. Touch up with an iron if you want them crisp. For the quilted shams and for the Euro insert itself, dry cleaning is recommended.
So measure your bed, count out one, two, or three, and start with the insert, since that's the part that has to fit. Our Euro shams are in our decorative shams collection, and our Pillow within a Pillow in the Euro size fits every one of them.
Euro Sham FAQs
What size is a Euro sham?
Most Euro shams are cut to fit a 26 by 26 inch pillow, so the cover itself measures 26 inches or a little more. Ours finish at 28 by 28 inches and fit a 26-inch insert. Check the maker's finished size and the insert size it fits, because the two aren't always the same number.
How many Euro pillows go on a King bed?
Three is the usual count on a King. The mattress is 76 inches wide and three 26-inch squares span 78, so they sit edge to edge with a small overhang. Two on a King leaves a gap in the middle, which some people prefer for a more tailored look.
Are Euro pillows always 26 by 26 inches?
No, they aren't always 26 by 26. That's the standard size sold in the US, but 24 by 24 and 28 by 28 inch squares exist, and European makers sell 65 by 65 and 70 by 70 centimeter pillows. Match the insert to the size the sham was made for, and for ours that's 26 by 26.
Euro sham vs. Standard sham: what is the difference?
The difference is shape and size. A Euro sham is a square cover cut for a 26 by 26 inch pillow, and it stands upright at the back of the bed. A Standard sham is a rectangle that fits a 20 by 26 or 20 by 30 inch sleeping pillow, and ours finish at 22 by 32 inches. On a made bed the Euros go in back for height and the Standard or King shams sit in front of them.
Do Euro shams come with inserts?
Most Euro shams don't come with an insert, and ours don't either. The Euro insert is sold separately, so you can buy two shams and two inserts for a Queen, or add shams to inserts you already own as long as they're 26 by 26. The sham is the part you wash and change, so the two are sold apart.
