OT Home Decor- can we talk bedding?

chewyspaghetti

With the work that I have been doing on finishing my bedroom, I am starting to think about new bed linens. What we currently have is not working. I like to have multiple blankest so that I can adjust the warmth level (hot flashes anyone?), but really we need something warm for winter and then a sheet and light blanket for transitional seasons. In the summertime we don't use anything because it's too hot. My kids like to have a duvet and a sheet and nothing else. It looks cleaner, but I don't know if I can get rid of the other blankets. We also have a problem of finding blankets big enough to accommodate our extra deep mattress (and two bodies). Sometimes I buy a King size flat sheet, but I don't know if a king duvet would just be too big. What do you guys use?

14 years ago

General

16 replies

Latest reply was from DonnaF

Anonymous

I use king sized comforters and blankets on a queen sized bed. For winter you might like fleece sheets.
For hot flashes you might try a tower fan next to your side of the bed with a remote control. A woman I know at Curves swears by one. She says she can hit that remote without even opening her eyes.

14 years ago

Kari

Veteran

This is a trouble spot for me too. My boyfriend and I have completely different sleeping needs. He runs very hot and gets sweaty in his sleep; I run cold and wake up shivering, and I have a tendency to steal the covers and roll myself up in them. He likes one pillow, and I like as many as possible. He likes firm mattresses (which is what we're sleeping on now), but since I sleep best on my side, I need a soft mattress and actually get quite sore on our bed. Oh, I dream about a Sleep By Numbers bed, but that's nowhere near in our budget!
I HATE using top sheets because they just get tangled up around me, and I never used one when I lived on my own. My preference is a thick down duvet cover but B. gets too hot. So what we end up with is several layers of blankets in summer covered by a very large, off-white knitted blanket, and in winter we have a velvety chocolate brown duvet cover & pillow set that we use with hot pink/maroon pillows, and I simply keep extra blankets on my side to cover up with. It's messy, though.
So anyway, I'll keep an eye on this thread to see if anyone comes up with better suggestions.

14 years ago

(website)

Veteran

For those who are sweat prone, try modal/bamboo blend sheets and/or sleep wear. It makes a difference, I swear. My BF often quips that I'm the furnace at night and will let me get into bed first to warm it up for him lol. We use down comforters in a velvet duvet cover with just sheets underneath both in Tahoe and here in FL. Tons of pillows. We have CA King beds and use King size bedding from Bed Bath and Beyond.

14 years ago

Anonymous

I use a real down duvet and a %100 percent cotton coverlet as a blanket. On the Oregon coast I remove the blanket in the summer and sometimes add a knit throw in the winter. I find both the down and cotton breath.
We also spend time in the caribbean and there we use just the cotton coverlet, it adds a nice weight for sleeping but also breaths and of couse both places we use always only %100 cotton sheets.

14 years ago

elpgal

Veteran

We have a king size bed and use separate comforters. We had a extra-deep mattress with a plush topper and Charter Club (Macy's) king size sheets worked well. No extra blankets; I wear a sweater and socks if I am cold.

14 years ago

Patty

Veteran

Wow Kari you first paragraph could be mine!!
We're just fitted sheet and comforter and an extra throw for me.
I'll have to check on the modal for my sweaty man!
And on that note--- I find that a tight thread count sheets is like sleeping in a plastic bag!
I don't want to highjack but do your pillows snap crackle pop in your ears when you lay on them?? GGGGGGrrrrrrrrrr!!!

14 years ago

Makrame

Veteran

I like various comforters and duvet covers from Ikea - I bought a few inexpensive comforters there for a about $20 each, they are very lightweight and good for warmer time of the year. They also have some heavier weight ones. The downside to using Ikea duvet covers is that they don't have buttons (one end is completely open) so they don't look as neat as covers with buttons. The upside is that they are very easy to change (just stick the comforter in and you are done). I bought enough comforters and covers so that it is easy for me to change linens when we have houseguests, and we also use one of these for our bedroom in the summer, spring, and fall. In the winter we switch to a king-size down comforter and a heavier weight cotton cover; both were bought on Overstock.

14 years ago

velvetychocolate

Veteran

We have a nice duvet as well - but it's usually too hot for my husband. I'm always the cold one.

Our solution is a duvet cover, without an actual duvet in it, plus blankets. There's sheets, one cotton (recommended) blanket, then two additional blankets folded in half on my side, then the duvet cover on top of that.

You might try the duvet cover without anything in it - and layer blankets underneath according to your preferences. It looks neat enough once the duvet cover is straighted on top of everything.

eta: a bedspread will work just as well as an empty duvet cover too. I guess I've been using an empty duvet cover as a bedspread?

14 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Khris, at our place we do what you mentioned in your post: change up the bedding with the seasons. For winter we have a down duvet and cotton sheets. Plus I heat up the bed. My husband makes the same jokes as Mo's BF!

I do get very hot with the duvet, but I just stick my feet out or kick the covers off periodically. It would be the same for me no matter what cover system we were using.

For spring/fall, we have a cotton blanket plus a light quilted bedspread that goes over it.

In summer, we either use the bedspread alone with sheets or the cotton blanket alone with sheets. Or, rather, we kick one or the other of these off!

In the off seasons we just store the things we're not using, much as we do with our clothing.

14 years ago

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

It's so interesting to hear everyone's solutions. When I was at Target today, I picked up a king size duvet cover and down alternative comforter just to see how the sizing would be on my Queen bed. I actually think it's perfect, and am excited to give it a try.

14 years ago

Marley

Veteran

This is an interesting read for me because my husband and I struggle with our bedding - he is the cold one and I'm the hot one. Also, we have a King Size bed (not CA King) and so it seems that it is harder to find blankets that work for both of us to share - usually, there is just not enough blanket! We usually end up with a fitted sheet and a light down comforter in a duvet - no top sheet, because it gets all tangled up and we end up fighting over it! We also have several blankets at the foot of the bed or on the floor next to the bed that my husband can grab if he gets cold during the night. He wears long underwear and a turtleneck t-shirt to bed! (It just makes me laugh!) Meanwhile, on my side of the bed I'm in the skimpiest cami and boy-shorts that I can find, and I have a portable fan on the nightstand that blows full-blast on me 365 nights out of the year. Add our cats into the mix (who seem to think that the bed is THEIRS - not ours - and it is quite the circus and challenge to get a good night's sleep! (Oh, and there is the sleep apnea machine as well.) Its amazing either one of us get any sleep at all!

14 years ago

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I tried out the warmer down alternative comforter last night with just a flat sheet. I kept thinking how nice and cozy it was all night, but hubby said he was cold. So, I guess I will take it back and get the next level of warmth up to try.

14 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Too funny reading these -- it's a wonder we all get any sleep!

My husband is the furnace of the family. He gets into bed in pajamas but has them off a half hour later. Meanwhile I am freezing on my side of the bed in the winter unless I wear socks. If my feet are cold, I can't get the rest of me warm.

However, we have found what works best for us are cotton sheets (one set from Restoration Hardware and another from Pottery Barn), a thin coverlet (the Hotel brand from Macy's) in the summer, and a nice lightweight but warm down comforter with cover (both from Pottery Barn) in the winter. We've gone through a lot of trials over the years and these seem to be the best so far!

We have one of those Sleep Number beds, but we actually both end up using it mostly at the highest/firmest setting. The exception seems to be when I am feeling particularly cold or I'm sick -- them I set it low so it's nice and smooshy and I feel like I'm sinking into it.

The thing I'm really, really picky about is the pillow. I can't stand a stiff or thick pillow. I totally understand people who travel with their own pillows!

14 years ago

Mander

(website)

Veteran

In our old house DH slept near the radiator but I was on the side with the (leaky) window, so I tended to get cold. Putting an extra blanket on made him too hot, so I put a small polar fleece throw between the top sheet and the duvet on my side of the bed, which worked fine. Putting it between the layers kept it in place and it wasn't visible, so it didn't look weird to have this random baby blue rectangle on top of the bedspread!

13 years ago

Sara L.

Veteran

I use a duvet cover and change the inside depending on the season. A heavy comforter inside during the winter and light quilt inside during the summer. I use cotton sheets in the summer, modal in the spring/fall and flannel sheets in the winter.

13 years ago

DonnaF

Veteran

We use the heavy flannel sheets from Lands End and the lightest weight down duvet, I think from Ikea. As a blanket underneath (since we haven't yet turned on the heat), we use a too big Company Store flannel duvet cover which becomes our sole blanket in the summer. I run super cold so bundle up at night. I also use a down throw from Target that covers only my side of the bed. The down no longer has much loft, and Target no longer carries down throws. I've been searching for one for years, but it looks like I will have to use some other type of throw. I'm short, so a throw works for me. Throws tend to be too short to cover the feet of taller folks even if the width is okay.

13 years ago

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