Silk Designer Bedding: 3 Luxe Looks

I’ve come to believe that everyone should come home to a luxuriously made bed. But if you’re anything like me, usually the only bed that gets that luxurious treatment is the guest bed.

This practice generally involves saving those special luxury bedding sets for your guests, a good idea…unless of course you don’t want your guests to stay too long. 😉

When my best friend was visiting, she mentioned that she thought it was odd that I reserved these. She did appreciate that I cared to have her slumber like royalty, but why would I purchase these nice linens and then not utilize them 90% of the year?

In other words, why wasn’t I too reaping the benefits of the luxe bedding? Well, did you know that Shakespeare willed his “second best bed” to the love of his life, Anne. Why would he not bequest the best bed you ask? Or my friend might ask. 

Because by tradition, the best bed was reserved for the special guests of the household. The second best bed would normally be the matrimonial bed so being of great sentimental value. But back to the discussion of my personal and guest bed selection…..

Fortunately, I had some assistance styling the bed from Silk Magnolia. I’d been casually dropping hints I’d like to work with them with just a couple emails explaining that I’d been stalking their website for the past year…or more (wink, wink).

There are a couple keys to creating a beautiful bed no matter how you left it.

1 .The base: Buy your basic luxury bedding in solid neutral shades

As with any decor, a neutral base is versatile and gives way to a variety of styles. So with the investment of luxe silk bedding, it would be wise to go with a choice you can use and reuse for years. This justifies, I think, the investment in good quality bedding. Perhaps, invest in one light neutral and one dark nuetral to keep the base fresh and interesting in and out of seasons.

2. The surprise: Enjoy patterns in seasonal colors and designs

If the goal is to have fun with your style and be able to transform your bedroom to express whatever mood and fashion you might want to display. Then the best way to for a fun fresh look is to push the edge on contrasting colors and patterns. 

Call me crazy, but there’s just something therapeutic for my designer eyes about creating interesting pockets to look around me. So don’t be afraid to let loose a little on adding in accent color and prints. This is a creative way to dress up your bedroom for holidays and seasons. Subtle or not so subtle hints of festivity.

3. The texture: Silk, linen, velvet, cotton, and fur

With my chosen designer silk collection, I must then mix in a fabulous blend of texture. Brushed cotton, sherpa , flannel, mohair, ALPACA….. Yum. After all, it gives you just the excuse you need to wander the bedding isles and come away with a new patterned pillowcase, a beautiful throw blanket, to keep the dream alive.

4. The season: Have a summer and winter weight blanket option and decorative pillows

I love every season, getting to update the “looks” around the house. One of the easiest ways to bring in a new season is to put away the cool/hot fabrics and usher in the new.

Just like with color and texture, the weight of the blankets, duvet covers and throws can not only add beauty but function. It’s the same welcomed feel of the first time you need to wear that cashmere sweater that you save for the winter chill to breeze in.

Once you’ve established these things, it’s incredibly easy to mix and match to create the perfect look for your personal sleeping space!

3 Ways to Style a Luxe Bed

1. Chic, Modern, and Layered

This look is more than the basics, but it’s the perfect look when you want a fresh looking bed every morning, when you are giving a home tour to your friends and family, showing off you collection of designer luxury bedding collections for Elle Decor or MyDomaine home tours (heyyyy), or just because you want to come home to a beautifully made bed when you’ve worked all day.

Layers always allow for a great mix of textures and patterns as well as new looks for seasons and your bedfellows preferences. Keeping the same basics and then layering in a variety over the year can be a fun and easy way to reimagine your bedroom space without a big cost. Seems like you’re ahead of the designer game, when your guests arrive to a fresh bed each visit.

It’s been said that making your bed is a pathway to success. The reasoning is that when you leave your house with your bed made, then upon returning home, regardlss of how the rest of your day went, you can rest knowing that at least you accomplished one task.

 

2. Masculine Glam

Silk is great for wrinkles! Skin wrinkles that is. A great base bedding set includes both fitted sheet and flat sheets and with my choice of grey neutrals and blue velvet, my husband was completely hooked on silk bedding. It feels amazing and is pretty hard to want anything else after you’ve slept on these awesome sheets. 

Apparently, we’ve come a long way from Elizabeathan times where the pillow was considered only for women in childbirth, and not something a real man would use. It was suggested that perhaps a rounded log would be the luxe choice of sleep aid for the gentlemen in the 1500’s according to the “Description of England” by Harrison. I doubt if they’d convince my husband of that concept. 

On the other hand, it was not hard to convince my spouse that the feel of designer silk was preferable to the touch as he falls into a deep sleep at night. Or the occasional cat nap.

 

3. The Messy Look

This is my absolute favorite way to dress the bed in the summer! No hospital corners needed when you spend your day at the beach. Both silk and linen are breathable fabrics which are great for pillowcases and sheets in the hotter seasons. Which means it keeps me warm and my husband cool. 

Sometimes it’s the small, thoughtful, details that can enhance a marraige. They should probably add silk designer sheets to the list of every soon to be couples registry items.

Inside tip: This linen blanket is actually a duvet cover, but I don’t stuff it in the summer. It feels like a weighted blanket, but without the overheating. Don’t be afraid to put an unstuffed duvet cover on as a throw blanket on the top of the bed. Messy is still totally gorgeous when you have great luxury linens!

 

How to make your bed basics – according to Martha Stewart

Here’s Martha’s step by step instructions for making the perfect bed:

“Step 1: Add a cotton cover to protect your mattress. Martha also like to add a wool pad.”

“Step 2: Either use a fitted sheet, or make hospital corners with the bottom sheet. To make the hospital corners drape the sheet evenly over the bed, and leaving about one foot of fabric hanging over the head of the bed. Standing at the side of the bed toward the center, pick up a side hem, and pull it toward you in a tight crease. Raise the creased section over the mattress so the sheet makes a triangular tent over the bed.

“Using your free hand, smooth the sheet flat along the mattress’ side. Then fold the creased section down over the side bed, and tuck the sheet neatly under the mattress. Repeat this at the foot and other side of the bed. Trust us, it’s less confusing than it sounds, head here for a great video tutorial of the process.”

“Step 3: Add the top sheet, and make hospital corners at the bed’s foot, but leave the sides untucked so it’s easier to get into bed.”

“Step 4: Finish with a blanket or down comforter. Interestingly, we learned that Martha has her blankets tailored so there’s no excess that hangs over the sides of the bed.”

For the most part everyone, regardless of where or how they live, looks forward to crawl into bed at the end of the day. And equally as common is waking up in your bed every morning.

So you’d think that with the bedroom being where you spend at least half of your life, that it would be the first place that you’d invest in around the house. But, so often it’s not; it’s left to the end of the list and you push everything out of the way, sometimes, literally, to retreat to sleep.

May you rethink the importance of your bedding……

More than anything, remember you spend 25 years of your life in bed. Make those years as memorable as your awake ones.

Cheers,

Michaell