Yesterday Sarah Rae wrote about her distaste for the absurdly high prices of duvet covers on the market right now. We completely agree that some retailers price their duvet covers a little high and frankly, we're in no position in this economy to succumb to those prices no matter how much we love the design. So, we've found five budget and design friendly duvet covers for under $100.
• OFELIA VASS, $49.99 at IKEA: We actually own this duvet cover and absolutely love it (the king size in the master bedroom, queen in the guest bedroom!). We've had it for a little over a year and it has stayed just as crisp and perfect as the first time it was put on the bed. It stands up to frequent washes with bleach as well.
• Fieldcrest Luxury Hotel Duvet Set, $79.99 at Target: If we saw this duvet cover on a bed we would immediately think it was super expensive. It has the traditional and sophisticated look of high priced bedding but with a budget friendly price. It's 400 thread count Egyptian cotton which is nothing to frown upon, especially for $79.99.
• Black Trace 3-piece King-size Duvet Cover Set, $59.99 at Overstock: Sophisticated yet young and modern, we really love this duvet cover. It's 100% cotton with an all over black and white print. This duvet could be dressed up with elegant bedside lamps and a chandelier or can be dressed down with painted white wood floors and rustic chairs that serve as bedside tables.
• Stripe Duvet Cover With Shams, $79.99 at West Elm: We are completely in love with this duvet cover, and we haven't even seen it in person yet. Of course we're obsessed with gray on Apartment Therapy and this duvet cover is the perfect combination of rustic and chic. It's of slightly less quality than the others (200 thread count cotton) but maybe we could look past that since it is so fun!
• Marimekko Ruutukaava Full/Queen Duvet Cover, $89.99 at Crate and Barrel: We really love the modern and artistic elements of this duvet cover from Marimekko for Crate and Barrel. It's a great opportunity to get a reasonably priced piece of art from a big name. Made from 300 thread count 100% cotton — this duvet looks great when paired with simple white bedding and a white bed. There's so much pattern that you'd want to keep everything else really simple.
What's your favorite budget & design friendly duvet cover?
Images: 1. Flickr User CityPix, 2. Target, 3. Overstock, 4. West Elm, 5. Crate and Barrel
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Duvet covers are a snap to make if you have even the most basic of sewing skills. I often shop white sales, off retail stores (i.e. TJ MAX or Marshalls) for designer flat sheets and sew my own. ALWAYS WASH THE FABRIC BEFORE SEWING. IKEA has great bold prints in their fabric dept. also.
modernsteven is absolutely right. Making a duvet cover is about the simplest thing in the world to sew. Two flat sheets sew on three sides. for the fourth side you can 1) buy tape with snaps or velcro and just stitch it on; 2) use ribbon to add ties; 3) make an envelope closure like you see on some pillows, where one end folds over itself making a sort of pocket, and the other overlaps it.
I imagine you could even get a tailor to do it for you for not much money. It's easier than hemming trousers.
I have the Ofelia Vass from IKEA and I actually like it better than my crate & barrel duvets. It has a bit of a crinkly look to it, which is great for me because duvets always come out of my tiny dryer all wrinkled and I hate to iron them. It just got a bit stained from getting caught somewhere in the wash, but I have yet to try bleaching the stain. The IKEA duvet is also great because it has 4 simple snaps instead of 10 buttons like most duvets I've owned.
I have the first one, the one from ikea, after one wash though the snap buttons broke. It's still comfortable though!
the 2nd one looks great and it's 400 count?
that's awsome..i gotta look for them when i go to target.
Another idea is to go to the factory outlet stores for bed linens. @modernsteven : I have also made my own from flat sheets and I use velcro instead of buttons as I find the button holes pull and buttons fall off duvets easily.
These are all so... greyscale. What about something with color?
I really like all of these but I have a suggestion for a post since so many have suggested sewing your own duvet covers: why not list a bunch of awesome printed inexpensive flat sheets that would be great for DIY duvet covers?
I like the first one, need a new duvet cover!
@jrossi1217 that's a great suggestion! I should have mentioned that my first ever duvet was sewn by my mother! we went to bed, bath & beyond and found these really expensive flat sheets that I absolutely loved. Of course we weren't willing to spend $70 per sheet, so we wandered over to TJ Max and found the exact same flat sheets for $12 a piece. Needless to say, we scooped them up and she made them into a duvet cover with silver snap buttons from AC Moore!
i agree with jrossi1217!
I just bought my first duvet last month. I went to TJMaxx to buy a bed set, and found the same thing in a duvet for half the price! ($50!) I just threw my old comforter in there and called it a day. It makes sense, they take up less space and I have the whim to change my bed every year or so.
I've owned duvets from Crate and Barrel before and they are nice quality- especially on sale at the outlet. My most recent one is from Urban Outfitters- not great quality but pretty enough for the guest room.
I own two of the Ofelia Vass duvet covers and love them. They're super versatile and stand up to the wear and tear of daily use.
I also have the Idea one in the 1st photo. It is still perfectly white after a year's use. I haven't used bleach on it yet, even when the cat's puked. Thankfully, hanging it outside to dry is all it needs. Instead of leaving it crinkly, I prefer to hang it dry & then iron it. It still has beautiful texture. I just prefer it ironed.
Pottery Barn has a page on their website for Duvets and Shames for $99 and under (for Queen size) - There's quite the selection there...
http://www.potterybarn.com/shop/bedding/duvet-covers-shams/queen-duvet-covers-value/?page=viewall
Great post! I'm in the market for new white bedding. Any suggestions for the best thing to put in the duvet covers? My current comforter is blue so I'm afraid it will show through anything white. Is down the best way to go or just a simple, cheap white comforter? Many thanks.
I just got a sewing machine for Christmas, and I'd really like to sew my own duvet cover as soon as I can find the perfect white and girlie sheets. I'm thinking I might improvise and just buy plain white ones and then attempt to sew some kind of ruffle on...we shall see.
Anyway, my question for you seasoned duvet makers: how do you purchase sheets to make them with as a far as sizing? I have a full bed, so would you buy queen sized sheets?
Is $100 really that much money? The ofelia vass king size dimensions work out to approximately 7'x8.5'; multiply by 2 to get two sides (even if many duvets are not two-sided), and it's about 120sqft, which is a bit more than 13sq yards. Even if you buy your own fabric, isn't it usually at least $6/yard? Assuming the fabric comes a yard in width (fudging lots, now XD) that gets you to $80, easy. You probably can't just buy 13 yards straight, since you have to sew lengths together so it will be wide enough. And if you want it to have a nifty pattern, then....
Anyway! I have probably sworn off duvets/comforters. I recently got a berkshire blanket in purple; it is quite warm, and I have a berkshire throw if I need more layers (as well as older blankets I have insufficient reason to get rid of). I like being able to just wash the whole thing, since I'm sure ppl sweat through the duvet covers. Though obviously cannot change the look of anything so easily. Is there a market for single flat sheets in cool patterns? :\
"Assuming the fabric comes a yard in width..."
@lepidoptery --
Most fabrics come in 54" widths - tho there are always exceptions.
@bepsf
I think someone more educated than me puzzled through these calculations earlier (seeing as there have been so many duvet cover posts recently). It was still 8-10yards, no? So $60 in raw materials on the cheap end. I know there are economies of scale at work for large companies, but $100 doesn't seem excessive. Not that I can bring myself to spend that much, necessarily.
Are there places the public can easily obtain fabric that comes wider?
I bought the West Elm stripe duvet cover the day they released their spring collection. It's even better in person, though I don't love the euro shams. The opening is at the edge instead of the back, and it makes it really difficult for them to fit in well.
I have the west elm stripe sheets, and I would not recommend. You will get the look of certain more expensive bedding, but the lower quality definitely shows. They even had a couple tears after only a few months!
@ckal: I just bought this one from Ikea: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60174926 The picture doesn't really do it justice because the green is much brighter like spring green. Ikea has lots of beautiful cheap (less than 50$) duvets in all colours. I bought this dark grape purple sheet http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80185325 to go with the green duvet cover and shams and it looks absolutely amazing.
just found some plain ones on overstock http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Pima-Ivory-600-Thread-Count-Queen-size-Duvet-Cover-Set/5085942/product.html
pretty good deal! 600 thread count!
I've always been amazed at how expensive duvet covers get.
That being said I loooooove a duvet. I swore it off for years and then finally caved. We got the 2-in-1 down duvet insert from Ikea: 1 thin for summer, 1 thick for spring and fall, clipped together for winter.
It's amazing!
We also went with the sort of satiny grey Ikea cover. I forget the exact name. It's meh...but I don't like brilliant colors in the bedroom.
I know this is kind of irrelevant, but I'm moving into a new apartment and I was wondering what other stores there are that are similar to ikea as far as selection goes, and maybe cheap-ish too?