Patterned Bedding and Living With It

HOME · GLOBAL

Patterned Bedding and Living With It

Choosing a pattern, fabric and print quality, coordinating and care

A patterned duvet set is the largest single piece of pattern in most bedrooms, which makes it a bigger decision than the price suggests.

Scale matters

A large-scale pattern reads as bold and needs space around it; a small repeating print reads almost as texture from across the room. Look at a photograph of the whole bed rather than a close-up swatch.

Beds are mostly seen from the doorway, so judge from that distance.

Living with it

Pattern is harder to get tired of when the colours are drawn from what is already in the room. A set that fights the curtains and the carpet will be quietly retired within a year.

Buying two plainer sets and one patterned one gives more flexibility than three patterned ones.

Print quality

Reactive-dyed printing sits in the fibre and survives washing; surface prints fade and crack. Check the fabric composition, since heavy polyester holds prints brightly and sleeps hot.

Percale is crisp, cool and creases; sateen is smooth, slightly warmer and shows pattern with more sheen.

Washing

Wash new bedding before use, inside out, at forty to sixty, without fabric softener. Dry in shade where you can, since sunlight fades printed colour unevenly.

Wash dark and bright sets separately for the first few washes, since excess dye runs.

Sizing

Check the pocket depth of fitted sheets against your mattress including any topper, and note that duvet sizes vary slightly between manufacturers.

Building a bedroom scheme

Start from the largest thing in the room and work outwards, keeping the palette limited. Texture — linen, wool, a knitted throw — does more for a bedroom than additional pattern.

Layering a plain duvet with a patterned throw gives flexibility that a fully patterned set does not.

Buying

Check whether extra pillowcases and a matching fitted sheet are sold separately, since sets frequently include only two pillowcases.

Making a bed feel finished

A fitted sheet, a duvet cover, pillows in two sizes and a throw across the end is what makes a bed look made rather than merely covered. Ironing the top edge of the duvet cover takes a minute and does most of the work.

Air the bed each morning by folding the duvet back rather than making it immediately, which lets moisture escape.

Washing frequency

Sheets and pillowcases weekly, duvet covers every one to two weeks, and pillows and duvets a couple of times a year where the filling allows.

Heritage designs

Licensed archive patterns are reproduced under agreement. Check the licensing, since unofficial copies use poorer fabric and printing.

WHERE TO BUY

Ready to shop Bedeck Home? Use the link below to visit the official store.

→ Shop Bedeck Home — official site

Visit this site