(Originally written for Budget Living as a part of their Decorating RX column, our tips get to live on here with the kind permission of the folks at BL. Pic: Chad Hunt)
Beefing up your bedding options is a fun and affordable way of adding pizzazz to you bedroom. The trick is to make sure that you keep it lively by mixing your colors and to gear your choices to the season you are in.
We first learned how to mix bedding by copying our favorite photographs in catalogs. If you notice, catalog stylists rarely make a bed in only one color way or even with one style of sheet. For stunning beds, they mix it up. Here is a simple guide.
There are three bedding elements: four pillow cases, two sheets and a duvet cover. To create a lively mix, spread a range of color through these areas:
1. Choose two colors in addition to white (which goes with everything). The bolder color is your anchor and the lighter is your mid ground color. Select warm colors for winter (reds, yellows, browns) and cool colors for summer (blues, grays, greens)
2. Use the anchor color in either the sheets or the duvet
3. Use the mid color in the remaining sheets or duvet and two pillows
4. Use white in the two remaining pillows
This recipe gives you a range of choice, but ensures that your room comes alive with color. Once you are comfortable, feel free to improvise. And dont limit yourself to sheets and pillowcases. Introduce throw pillows and blankets to the bedding mix.
Choose bright varied colors and textures add even more pop to your bed.
A deeply colorful throw blanket and some small playful pillows will make the colors in your bedding pop even more.
Finally, spring is a good time to shop. This is when get colorful. Here are some good resources:
Garnet Hill
CB2
Targets Isaac Mizrahi line
Area
Dwell
The Company Store
Kmarts Martha Stewart line
LL Bean
The Garnet Hill percale sheets are a great value, and well worth their price. They are very smooth and sleep like much more expensive sheets. I've had less satisfaction with the Martha Stewart, LL Bean, Target and CB2 lines, all of which tend to pill and lose their color.
fwiw
Slightly off topic: what's the deal with Budget Living? Are they no more? I have heard word to that effect. (No, I don't know why I'm writing like that)
I was looking for a personality test that would provide insight into the difference between those of you who would happily live in your pajamas and those of us who loathe the things to the point of avoiding that section of department stores -- but the best I could find was how your choice of pajamas reveals your personality (and it's not very good, even as free quizzes go):
http://www.themommies.com/Pages/JammiesTest.html
Budget Living has indeed folded. I know this because my brother is a photographer who did some work for them, and they stiffed him for a lot of money. Guess they couldn't stick to their budget.
I'm an idiot -- my message above is on the wrong thread. Oh well. It's Friday.