We have 6 on our L-shaped sectional. It used to be 4 but I bought 2 new ones as a replacement and I can't bring myself to get rid of the 2 they were meant to replace!

To me, too many pillows get in the way of comfortable seating.

One throw with a pillow holding it down. Even then people using the couch hate it. At Christmas I have more but they always end up on the floor. For a party I would remove them all and give people room to sit.

IMO if you need to move pillows to sit comfortably then you have too many pillows I have one lumbar pillow od each of 2 chairs in my LR and the only pillows other than that are the back pillows for my 2 sofas.At Christmas I add one piloow in red velvet to each sofa and they end up on the floor usually.

Only two cushions on my couch, given it was custom and in addition to the regular stuffing, I requested down be added, so depth of seating is a bit narrower.

In addition to taste/needs, a couch will often dictate what feels right. Also size/shape/style/placement of cushions make a difference ie: the five cushions below feel very different.

palimpsest, as I was careful to note that is my personal opinion. Nothing more.

Since I work from home from the sofa, I have one for my wretched back and two more for when I give up and take a nap.

3 total looks nice when u do a setting or grouping do a odd number

most contentious (entertaining) thread here ever, ages ago, was one where the Q was asked whether or not to ”thwack” n dent a pillow, effectively factioning users, to break it down, down vs synth-fill pillow owners. So the above ahem exchange about ”pretentiousness” (I’m a more the merrier pillow kinda gal - love em, got oodles of em!) made me laugh out loud. funny how pillow talk ;) triggers people far more than many of the other status marking excesses in decor - start w ubiquitous water spigots over stoves where one *still* is left to lug the near boiling pots of water back to the sink to dump em…

Throw pillows are pretentious? Give me a break.

As far as how many pillows someone has on their sofa….who cares. If you want 100 pillows on your sofa go for it. If you want none go for it.

On our deeper sofas, I need the pillows behind me to get comfy. We have just 2 pillows on the shallower seating. 4-5 on the deeper seating.

It also depends on arm style for me. Sometimes I need the pillow to get snuggly if the arm is square or lower.

Depends on the size of the sofa. sectional, love seat, couch 80”-124”. Sectionals and deep sofas need extra pillows for comfort.

Odd numbers work best no matter size

I always have a few because, being short, it's sometimes difficult to wriggle all the way back on a sofa. I appreciate being in homes where the host has provided the choice of being able to sit up straight in a dignified position with my feet on the floor.

Okay, I didn't mean to be obnoxious so I am removing the offending word from my original post and apologizing here. I am sorry!

I didn't know how uncomfortable track arms could be on a sofa until ours was delivered. I use a lumbar pillow between myself and the arm plus one behind me because all sofas are too deep. My husband is tall but still uses a lumbar pillow because of his back.

2 for decpr because my husband liked them, one for my back when i sit bc im short, and the fourth for putting on my lap to prop up a book or whatever. All four are decorative, but two actually get used...

LOL pillow fight…

I have a sofa with a large rectangular ottoman to make it look like a sectional, but with flexibility. On the sofa are two square matching pillows (light beige), two larger rectangular pillows in two-toned turquoise batik, and two small long rectangles (good for back support) in burnt orange. I like to arrange them symmetrically with three on each side.

We have a small dark gray loveseat for just the two of us. The area rug is an antique Persian so busy with lots of color. There are 2 pillows in each corner of the sofa. One is a light gray and doesn't change. But I change the other one according to the seasons, red velvet for Christmas, gold for the rest of winter, and coral to match the rug's main color, for summer.

We don't have any throw pillows on the couch we use most often. We do have throw pillows on the couch in the playroom and some of the chairs in the house.

I have a sectional and have two pillows at the end without the chaise and two more in the middle.

I don’t care for decorative pillows on the sofa as they simply get in the way. And I hate the pillow chop. Yet I have three pillows on our den sofa, a midcentury style sofa. One is a large round pillow for our cats that sits in the middle, and they all take turns using it. The other two are a lumbar pillow and a pillow to support my arm when knitting or crocheting as the sofa arm is too high for that. So the pillows are all functional. We have a similar living room sofa and I do have two feather pillows that have different covers depending on the season that go in the corners and that are comfortable enough to be a backrest when using that sofa.

We have an extremely deep sectional that is best used for lounging. It does not have any arms. I'm a sucker for piling pillows up to prop myself up in various places when I'm laying sideways on the sofa, so we have a bunch. 8 maybe?

I have 4 basic sized pillows. They get moved around and thrown onto the recliner but they do get used.

We almost never sit on this sofa - we use the reclining chairs instead, but the rare guest will sit on it and move the pillows around as needed. The pillows are basically decoration, and I change them around frequently.

I made all of these pillows plus many more that are not shown.