Thursday, March 3, 2011

Creative Bedding

***Lauren's got something wonderful cooking over in The Kitchen today! Be sure and check it out!
***Don't forget to enter our Living Graciously Giveaway!

Do you ever find yourself looking wistfully at those beautiful magazine pictures with beds all plumped and inviting? Then you go around the corner to your own bedroom and look sadly at your flat, boring, always-the-same bed? Well, today I thought I'd share a few ways to make your bed look a little different and exciting using what you already have. I hope it will inspire you to play around with your own pillows and blankets to make your bed fresh and new today - might even make you want to jump in right after you make it!

Ok, let's start with the basics: For a beautifully made bed, I recommend a comforter or duvet, two sets of cased pillows plus a set of shammed feather pillows, and preferably sheets that match (or at least don't clash!). Bonus points for accent pillows! Here is a basic plain-'ol-made-bed pic:
Yup, kinda boring.
 But if you have sheets that don't match, this might be what you need to start with. Pull your comforter up over your sleeping pillows like so:
 
 Then stack your support pillows on top (make these cases match your comforter), and prop your shams in front:
 But! Just making a few small changes will make your bed a little more interesting. Here, I just turned down the comforter so that the reverse side shows, added a throw at the base (invites naps!), and a rectangle throw pillow. Makes a difference, right?

 Here is a more modern idea. Looks kinda funny with my non-modern bedding, but if you have solid or geometric bedding, this look can be really crisp. Just stack all of your pillows on top of each other, add a throw pillow in front, turn down your comforter halfway, turn down your sheets and blanket, and add your throw in a more organic way.
 Then there's the "messy bed" look. I would've like my arrangement better with that front left pillow not so angled, but I didn't notice it until I posted the pics here! Oh well, you can still get the idea. I just layered the pillows all propped up in a different order on each side. Turned down the comforter and sheets, and turned back up the hem of the comforter for more layer/pattern interest. Added the throw haphazardly.
 There's always the neat, clean, classic layered pillow prop:
 And lastly, this is the way closest to how I usually make my bed: comforter turned down with a pleat (but with no reverse side showing), sheets turned down (I think that sheets showing is the most inviting look), sleeping pillows stacked, and shams propped w/ throw pillow in front, and throw on the corner of the bed.
 One last sideview
 I think it's really fun to switch things up when you make your bed from time to time - helps to keep your current bedding seem fresh and new a lot longer! 

Do you change your bed arrangements or generally make it the same everyday?