Duvet or Not Duvet?

My favorite bedroom from Ideal Home magazine

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately contemplating bedding.

No, I'm not contemplating the usual dilemma of how many pillows.  Nor am I thinking about how to make it look nice.  I am thinking instead about making my bed FEEL insanely good.  I want it to be almost impossible to get out of in the morning!  Considering I am not a morning person, this could be a dangerous proposition.

We need a few new things in this department.  But I am torn between buying a new duvet and duvet cover, or getting us a good woolen blanket or two.

David prefers heavy blankets and layers.  So oftentimes in winter, I make up the bed with a couple of blankets (I have a good cotton one and some inexpensive fleecy ones), a quilt or two, and maybe even our little mini-duvet topper on top!  It is very cosy, but I move around a lot in bed (I have a bad back) and cannot stand heavy layers.  

I am a duvet girl.  The fluffier and loftier the better.  I like a duvet with a flat sheet under it so you don't have to wash the cover all the time.  And duvet covers are much faster to make up for busy working girls!

For winter, we currently use a king-sized duvet (turned sideways) on our queen-sized bed.  I bought it because I couldn't stand how queen duvets seemed to barely reach over the edge (12-14", although Pottery Barn's and some others have a 16" drop) and my flat sheets were always showing underneath (I don’t like having to tuck them in!).  

The king duvet seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I think a king-sized duvet is a little unwieldy on a queen bed.  For one, it hangs down too far at the foot of the bed when we turn it 90°.  When we turn it the correct way, it hangs down too far on the sides and seems to drag heavily off the sides of the bed and not puff up properly and conform to your body.  

So now I am contemplating a queen-sized duvet again.  My last one is a feathery mess and it's time for a new one.

But I also like quilts.  I bought a wonderful silk quilt in Paris (a European size 100”x100”, meaning it overhangs the side of my bed by 20”, which is a little too far, but it just looks more like a bedspread/coverlet).  I would like to use this all year round, but it’s thin, so I really should invest in a new blanket or two.  I thought  a good wool or alpaca blanket might be a nice investment.  A baby Alpaca and merino wool blend blanket goes for about $200 here, minimum.

 So now I’m conflicted.  Easy duvet or heavy blankets and quilts?

I really hate all those layers but Canadian winters are cold and we keep it slightly cool at night, around 62F (17C) and sometimes have the window open for a nice chilly draft!

I am not the kind of person who wants 10 sets of bedding.  I already feel like I have too many odds and ends and it drives me crazy.  I would rather just have one good duvet and cover and a couple of good blankets and a quilt or two.  Not all these mismathced things.  But that is life, I suppose.  It is the nature of humans to gather more and more stuff.

In the meantime, I was curious to know what your preferred bedding is.  

Do you prefer duvets or stacks of blankets?  Do you use appropriate sizes for your bed or go oversized?  Do you use a featherbed (I want one!)?  What kind of blankets do you like (cotton, fleece, wool, synthetic)?   Where do you buy your bedding?

And last but not least, what are your bedding true loves and pet peeves?

 

Perhaps we can discuss pillows in a future post!  I know that is always a hot subject.

Photos: 1,2,9:  Ideal Home

Photo 3: Pappas Miron

Photo 4: Art & Decoration

Photo 5:  David Oliver

Photo 6: Windsor Smith

Photo 7: OKA Design

Photo 8: Shoot Factory