Some people have precisely as many pillows as people are sleeping in the house. One pillow per head is a good, practical number. If it's the right pillow, one pillow can be sufficient enough to support your head and neck for a night of healthy comfortable sleep.

But, let's face it. We rarely stop at just one.

Most people have at least two pillows per bed, even in twin beds. You might be a two-pillow sleeper, using two pillows of different densities to get the perfect support for your sleeping head, or you might be a stack-sleeper using several pillows to sleep sitting slightly upright. Some people like to have a knee-pillow to keep the hips aligned in the night while others are pillow-snugglers who sleep best wrapped around a body pillow.

Even if you only sleep with one favorite pillow under your head, having a pile of pillows gives you a fluffy versatility for supporting some different sleep positions that may not be your primary. While we all use our pillows differently, you'd be hard-pressed to find any household with less than a handful of pillows, especially if you count decorative throw pillows and the backup pillows in the linen closet for guests.

But other than sleeping comfortably, what else can do with an enormous pile of pillows? That's what we're here to explore today.

1. DIY Pillow Top

The first and most natural thing to do with a collection of pillows, something we have all done at least once, is making a DIY pillow top on any surface large enough to hold the pillows and support your weight. With a lot of extra household pillows you can, for instance, make a great sleepover pad for the kids sleeping on the floor, or you can turn movie night into a big comfy pillow-top pile on the floor for better snuggling, play, and popcorn throwing.

2. Cat Bed

As any cat owner will tell you, cats will sleep on anything soft. They will also rest on anything warm, anything up-high, and anything you're paying too much attention to. It is why they adore both keyboards and laundry baskets. One way to make your cat feel welcome anywhere is to make them an especially cozy bed made of two to five pillows wrapped in a cat-friendly blanket, possibly with a hot water bottle tucked inside.

3. Pillow Fort

Pillow forts are one of the great joys of childhood, and their popularity is proof of our point that almost every house has a pile of pillows that can turn into such a fort. No matter how many pillows you have to start with, a pillow fort will inevitably expand to include chairs, blankets, cardboard boxes, hampers, and anything else that can add to the pillow fort's comfy construction.

4. Stairs Toboggan

If you ever lived in a house with two or more stories as a child, then you are more than familiar with the urge to slide down those stairs on some makeshift sled or toboggan. Depending on whether or not the stairs (and the landing) have carpeting, a cardboard box may or may not make a great vehicle, but a pillow suggests itself for multiple reasons. First, it's smooth and form-fitting, so it makes a remarkably comfy sled. A fluffy enough pillow can also help you slide safely to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. The rest of the pillow pile? Either at the base as padding or back up at the top of your stairs with friends about to slide down.

5. Reading Recliner

Childish fun aside (for a moment), there are also some delightful adult activities that you can do with a pile of pillows and reading in bed is one of them. With a single pillow, eventually your elbows, neck, or lower back get tired, but with a pile of pillows, you can recline on a stack, prop your arms up on two more and even elevate your feet for optimal relaxation while reading or writing.

6. Stunt Fall Landing Pad

Okay, back to childish fun. Have you ever wanted to play the game where one person kneels behind another while a third push them over? What about pretending to faint in the middle of play-acting? Or jumping off the top bunk onto something soft? As you may have guessed, a pile of pillows is perfect for stunt falls. While only a few adults are still doing stunt falls after the age of about 22, if your children are going through the stunt fall phase, remind them that even the pros use padding and bring out the pillows.

7. Pillow Fight

We saved everyone's favorite pillow-based activity for near the end our list, but don't think we forgot the epic pillow fight. It is the one great outlet for the childhood urge to shriek, leap, and ambush. Jumping from bed to bed, running around the house, and battering each other with fluffy pillows are among the great joys of childhood and we know a few of you adults are still pillow-fighting on the sly. Just remember to use your fluffiest pillows for a big 'poof' with not a lot of 'oomph.'

8. Illness Recovery

Of course, the relaxation one can get from a pile of pillows isn't always purely recreational. Sometimes you need it. Sick with a head cold, for instance, is the perfect time to break out all those extra pillows you don't normally need. Rather than waking up to blow your nose every half hour, sleeping propped up with a pile of pillows behind your back can allow you to breathe clearer, sleep better, and therefore recover faster during an illness.

9. Fake Body

And if you're not sick, that same pile of pillows can be used to fool other residents of the house into thinking you're sound asleep in bed when you're eating ice cream and watching movies in the basement or sneaking out like a teen in a sitcom. It can be used to prank friends sleeping over, fool particularly unaware parents, or create optical illusions in places people don't expect to see someone sleeping.

10. Booby Trap

Finally, if you're very smart, patient, and have a  little harmless revenge in mind, you can use a pile of pillows to build a classic doorway booby trap. To prank a friend or relative, prop a door open a bit and pile a few pillows on top of it. Then call your friend into the room and watch the pillows tumble!

Every house should have a full stock of enough pillows for each sleeper, plus a few extras for guests. For more great ideas on what to do with your pillows or how to choose the perfect pillows for your household, contact us today!