I have a love/hate relationship with our king sized bed. I love the extra space so I don’t feel crowded by the dogs and kids when they occasionally climb into bed with us, but I hate the king sized pillows that are made for a mattress that size. I find them too large, and I much prefer two standard pillows to one king pillow. Aren’t you glad you are finding out so much interesting information about me?
The problem with standard pillows on a king sized bed are the pillowcases. A king sheet set normally comes with two king cases (although I’m starting to see some that come with 4 standard pillowcases – woohoo!), and they are far to large and droopy. I can’t stand this look.
Short of buying extra standard pillowcases, which I have been known to do, I developed my own way to fit standard pillows inside of king pillowcases. It keeps the pillow from shifting in the pillowcase, and makes it look crisp and tailored on the bed. I’m sure everyone else in the world already knows how to do this, but I was so proud of myself for figuring this out a few years ago.
How to Fit a King Pillowcase on a Standard Pillow
1. Put the pillow inside of the pillowcase, and lay it on your bed with the open end facing you.
2. With your thumb and index finger, pinch the pillowcase right above the end of the pillow itself.
3. Using both hands, tuck the loose portion on the top of the pillow inside the pillowcase.
If I were to remove my hands at that point, it would look like this:
4. From the inside of the case, smooth it out by running your hands from the center and out to the edges. It should look like a little envelope when you are finished.
The whole process takes about 5 seconds, and it leaves you with a nice, crisp lines on your pillows.
Once they are behind my other decorative pillows, I think they look so great. No more droopy pillowcases!
Oh, wait. That bed is really missing something – like a head board and some color. Oh, no! That doesn’t look great, Lindsay. Distract them! Quick!
Whew! I think it worked. Much better, don’t you think?
What are your thoughts on droopy pillowcases?
Love it! I just fixed all four of our pillows. They look so much better!
I have this same problem! We like our tempurpedic standard pillows but the king size cases are too big. Thanks for the quick fix. Also I was totally distracted by the beauty in purple!
Sarah
I used to do the same thing! But a couple months ago I actually sewed a new end seam and cut off the excess so the pillowcase is juuust riiight!
I have the exact opposite problem. My kids all use King size pillows so when I buy twin sheet sets, I have to purchase extra sets of King pillowcases. They do have some standard pillows as well as the kings though, so now I know how to put all of those king cases to use. Thanks!
Great tip. The king size pillows make my neck hurt. I have two standard and Hubs has one King, one Standard. Not the greatest look, but we sleep well.
Yes! They make my neck hurt, too.
Sorry but after I have ironed my pillows I hate to squish them by folding them unnecessarily- plus the monogram won’t show I don’t think.
this is how my mom taught us to make our beds each morning. It does look nice and crisp!
I have been doing this for years….thanks for sharing. Because we have 6 pillows on our bed, I went out and bought 1 twin flat sheet in a coordinating color for my bedding and actually MADE 6 regular sized pillow cases….cheapo me….and I love the way they look too.
I’m a king pillow lover.. but before we splurged on nice king sized pillows for our new bed we had standard ones…that drooped! Wish I would have known this trick then.. lol p.s. your daughter is too cute for words!
Thanks for the great tip! And the extremely cute baby! She is growing VERY quickly.
I bought a set of thrifted white sheets a few months ago for my queen sized bed. They’re perfect – except they came with king sized pillow cases! I’ve been pinning them , but this method sounds much better!
i love your corrected version of the photo. it sure distracted me!
thanks for the tip!
I had been tossing the idea of going back to standard pillows but thought that for sure I would be the only one that had standard pillows with a king size bed. I have yet to find a comfortable king size pillow and if I do it somehow doesn’t hold its shape for long. Your post has made me realize its time to go back to standard! What an adorable distraction on your bed.
LOVE this, would you mind if I shared this over on my site? I think my clients would love this quick DIY. Of course, I would give credit where credit is do 🙂
Susan
http://www.susansutherlin.blogspot.com
ssutherlin@decoratingden.com
Of course!
That is such a ‘duh’ thing…as soon as I saw the first step I knew what you were doing and thought “why hadn’t I thought of that?!” haha! Thanks for sharing!
I’m with you, standard size is better! We just got a king size bed and I’ve been using sheets from other sets that didn’t match. Now with this tip I don’t have to anymore! Thanks ! Your little girl is precious 🙂
This is a great idea! And oh my goodness Emma is absolutely adorable! I can’t believe how big she’s getting.
I could have written that first paragraph. LOL We do the same thing here; my husband briefly worked at a hotel and that’s how housekeeping would do the pillows and once he showed me that little trick…the rest is history. I know a lot of people will be glad you shared this!
You are a genius!
LMBO, I thought I was the only one that did that. Great minds think alike : )
Yep, I’ve been doing this for years! King-sized pillows are ridiculously large; I could never sleep on one. 🙂
love the distraction – cutey!
WHAT PRECIOUSNESS!!
SCRUMPDILLYICIOUS!
WHAT AN ADORABLE BUNDLE!
I WANT TO HOLD HER.NOW.
Hi Lindsy, Would you know what a long pillow case open at either end is used for?
Now if only you could show us how to fit a large pillow in a too-small case, I’d be all set.
She is adorable!
Some problem here. I just turned the king pillowcases inside out and ran them through the sewing machine about 6 inches up from the hemmed edge (is that even what that edge is called?). With that said, I think this idea is even better because folding creates an even more finished look than an open end. Good to know for when we purshcase new sheet sets! Thanks
We sleep with larger pillows and can’t use the pillow size that comes with the bedding. What I do is use two smaller pillowcases on the larger pillow. I put one on each end and then they are matching and the whole pillow is covered. I use mostly generic pillowcases but it works.
I’d love to link to this post on our next Tip Tuesday. I’d like to post a linked photo and direct visitors to your post for the full info, if you don’t mind! 🙂
http://www.egyptiancottonbedsheets.com/egyptiancottonbedding/
I’ve been doing this also. I (like so many others) thought I was the only one that like standard pillows on a king sized bed. However, I have to admit your’s looked much neater that mine. I’ll have to try harder. Thanks for all the fun ideas. Have a great August.
I love this! I only WISH I had a king sized bed, but seeing how tidy this looks make me totally want to go out and buy king pillowcases, just so I can tuck in the edges! Head slapping simple! Thanks for sharing!
Awesome!!! You just solved my problem.
Thank you so much 🙂
Thank you! This had been driving me crazy, to the point where I actually cut the extra off and re-sewed one set of king sheets. We just purchased another sheet set and this’ll save me that hassle and look nice a neat. Thank you!
Thanks! I’ve been dealing with droopy king size pillowcases for too long. Such an easy fix.
Oh my goodness…you do not know how long I’ve been trying to figure this out. My brain was hurting. Thank you so much for sharing. It is so true that you can find what you need on the internet thanks to people like you. Thanks, again…
You are my hero. <3
Ha! Thanks! It’s sort of life changing, isn’t it? 🙂
I have the same problem. I just googled “fix pillowcase too big” and found your post. I love that you wrote a blog post about this! So helpful, so simple.
Oh, cool! Glad it helped!
Wow, thank you for this suggestion. It worked so well and easy to do.
Great! You are very welcome, Lisa!
I can’t get over the timing of reading this as I just updated my 2x King sheet sets and got 4x King cases per set [that’s 8x total] and was googling: “shorten king to standard pillow cases” and you came up – I ran to the bdrm and it works wonderfully – oh thank you so very much for saving me time and money – it’s still cheaper to buy by the set, but like you said, you only get King cases and I don’t know one person who actually “sleeps” on a king pillow [only for decoration]
Thank you !!!!!
Sure thing! I’m so glad it helped you.
love it. thanks.
Love ur chevron wall ! And your daughter is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing this I’ve tried everything! Ur the best!
I’m not joking, I saw this while laying on my regular pillow that’s been drowning in a king size case for years. Turned around, tried your trick and it worked perfectly. Now I just feel sheepish for not figuring it out on my own 🙂 thanks!!
Oh my gosh! Guess I’m not the only one who hates the king pillowcases!! I was searching for sheets when I ran across your great tip. Thank you! Can’t wait until manufacturers get our message. Give us an option for standard cases. Thans again!
Thank You so much!!! I just bought all new sheets and did not realize that the pillowcases wouldn’t fit my normal pillows. Was freaking out that I can’t sew! So glad you posted this!
How creative!!! I will definitely put this to use. Like others, I do not sleep on king pillows….actually i do not sleep on pillows at all! I roll up towels and use as my pillow. Recommended by my chiropractor. Wash day I replace the bath towels with my towel pillow and get fresh towels for a new, freshly washed towel pillow.
Does that help your spine, Connie? I’ve never heard of using a towel. I’d love to hear more!
This was a really great post. Like others, I found this blog post when I did a search, I typed in “king size pillow case for standard pillows”. I just bought a new king size sheet set, but I also bought a set of memory foam pillows and I guess I was in a daze because I didn’t realize they were standards until I put the new pillow cases on them. Womp-womp, they looked pitiful. I followed your tip and they look so nice now! I then did the same thing with my king size pillows (which are pretty floppy, sloppy, and shapeless these days) except I shook the pillow case with the floppy pillows inside until there was quite a bit of hangover fabric, then I did the trick, and they look so much better too, they have shape again, and because they are more compacted they appear the same size as my standards now. They look so much better, not sloppy at all.
Thanks again, it’s always great to find a blog post that is so helpful!
Thank you! This has been driving me crazy.
I just wanted to THANK YOU for this post. We recently moved to a house with a built-in, custom king bedframe, and were “forced” to buy a new king mattress. I was thrilled with the idea of a new mattress, but hated the idea of needing all new sheets (I have SO many pretty Queen sets!) My biggest worry was how in the world would I fit my standard sized memory foam pillow that I’ve broken in so nicely, into my king pillowcase? Get a new pillow in king size, or have a droopy case on my standard pillow? Your post solved this issue, and it works even for shams as long as they’re not symmetrical or zipped. I love the way they look with one edge tucked in!
Id been trying to figure out how to fix it. Super easy and quick!
The problem with this technique is that it hides the decorative trim on open edges of pillowcases. This is my problem. I actually bought my king-size pillowcases for the decorative trim and was considering either letting the ends droop, or altering them by turning them inside-out and sewing a few inches in from the closed edges.
Yesenia, I’m just reading your comment 2-1/2 years later. I, also, have king pillowcases with a lovely frayed ruffle, and I don’t want to lose those ruffles. How did you finally shorten your pillowcases?
I love this idea. I was about to throw them out or make beds for little dogs out of them but no time. This is so great. Thanks for taking the time to show slide by slide what to do. Now if I can figure out how to fold fitted sheets!! Every you tube I watch they do it so fast I am clueless at the end. Your daughter is such a cutie. Thanks again.
Thank you for this! I Used this for the throw pillows on my bed so they match now! This has been the only article I could find that give any advice like this so good job!!
Simple idea and achieves what i want. My husband has a favourite odd sized small pillow that he has owned for ages and i was able to fit my regular queen sized pillow cover on this one and still make it look neat. Thanks for the idea.
Sowmya
Thank you for creating this!
Thanks, practical and useful. Much appreciated.
How to Fit a King Pillowcase onto a Standard Sized Pillow –
great publish, very informative. I ponder why the opposite experts of this sector
do not notice this. You must proceed your writing.
I’m sure, you have a huge readers’ base already!- calator.tel
Thank you! I’ve been wasting my cute King pillowcases because of the droop! I thought if I can fold a fitted sheet there is surely something I can do! And that last reply was correct… You have a writers skill and should use it. Babies and puppies are the BEST DISTRACTION EVER!
I haven’t been able to figure out a fix for my girly pillow cases that have ruffles on the ends; folding them inward removes the detailing. (Argh!) Any suggestions? My alterations lady is making a killing off me. 🙁
Thank You Soooooo Much!!!! BTW Lindsey is precious:-)
Well I’m embarrassed to say how ridiculous happy this made me!! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for posting this! So simple but awesome!!
Thank you! Love my king bed, irritated with the long pillow cases. This helps!
THANK YOU. I felt like such an idiot having to look up how to do this and it even took me a few just to phrase the question right on Google. Thank you for posting this.
Brilliant!