How To Dress A Bed Like An Expert
14th Sep 2022Posted by Alice Ewens on 14th Sep 2022
Knowing how to dress a bed with linens, throws and cushions can make a world of difference to your bedroom. Whether you're giving your bedroom a style overhaul or you just got a brand new bed, soft furnishings can really affect the mood and character of your entire bedroom. And the possibilities are endless!
The great thing with all the current bedroom trends we're seeing is that there aren't any hard and fast rules. You can mix and match colours, fabrics and textures, and have as much or as little going on as you please. But, for some more specific and streamlined inspiration, check out our ideas below.
Dress A Bed To Suit The Mood & Style Of Your Home
Generally speaking, we want our bedrooms to feel relaxing to us. Our bedrooms and our beds should feel safe, and luxurious so we can get a good night's sleep. But that can look different to different people. Is your personal style calming and neutral, cosy, monotone, glam, or bold and bright? If you’re not sure where to begin, start with a bedframe that you love, and get some high-quality bed linens with subtle and soft colours, as it’s easier to work up from there.
This 'Glam Neutrals' bedroom is dressed with matching white and grey linens with some gorgeous texture to them. These are our Italian Mirrored Bedside Tables.
This 'Relaxed And Bold' bedroom is more Scandi-inspired, utilising more wood. The yellow complements the warm wood tones and the grey contrasts beautifully to make the colours pop. This is our Mystique Linea Laid Back Rustic Rug in Ochre.
Dress A Bed Using Layers!
In the same way we layer up our favourite outfits, you can do the same when dressing your bed. Darker shades at the bottom with lighter shades or patterns on the top create depth. Notice how the image on the left also matches the bed frame colours with elements in the wall art!
Some stunning layering here featuring our Pavo velvet Chesterfield-style bed in blue.
Some gentle grey and pink layered over white, against the darker bedframe creates depth and dimension. This is our Vienna fabric upholstered Chesterfield-style bed in 'Oatmeal'.
How To Dress A Bed Using Colour, Pattern & Texture
If you’ve got a neutral or plain bed, you can really jazz it up with your choice of sheets, throws and cushions. Soft furnishings will all look like they belong if you stick to one colour family. Keep pastels with pastels, bolds with bolds and deep with deep etc. You could also go for all shades in one colour palette but in different fabrics.
You can create a harmonised style by picking colours that match the wall colour or curtains, for example.
Alternatively, if you’re the adventurous type, don’t be afraid of clashing entirely and making your bed stand out from the rest of the room. Just remember that you want where you sleep to feel relaxing to you.
All the contrast with our Pavo velvet bed in teal. The contrasting mandala effect on the headboard is carried through in contrasting fabrics of velvet, satin and cotton. The pop of orange and black also catches the eye. But it all looks like it belongs as the satin and velvet sit together as luxurious finishes, and the colours sit together tonally.
Here, interest and dimension is added through different textures in the fabrics. All of these throws, linens and cushions sit so nicely together through a shared colour palette and sumptuous theme. That's one of our Diamond Mirrored Bedside Tables to the left, too.
Here, there's a mix of fabrics but they sit well together by sharing a tonal colour palette that also matches the wood partition wall and flooring. This is our striking Jakarta velvet bed frame in 'Blush'.
Some beautiful layers of different textures and patterns here, all tied together by a common tonal palette that gives a lovely rustic feel. So cosy and inviting! This is our Vienna fabric-upholstered bed in ‘Ice’.
How To Dress A Bed Using Complementary Fabrics
Wools, linens, fluffy faux-fur and cottons work nicely together to create a cosy, rustic feel. Leather, satins, velvets and silks also work well to create a more sumptuous and luxurious feel.
The soft cotton throws complement the bedding and the velvet headboard here as all have a gentle sheen to them. The matching tonal palette helps to create a sense of calm. This is our Manhattan Art Deco velvet bed in 'Cream'.
There's a mixture of fabrics here, and contrasting colours, but the sheen of the velvet is mirrored through the satin-finish to the bedspread, pillows and throw. We sadly no longer sell this bed BUT our Stockholm roll top Chesterfield-stye bed in black is very similar!
How To Dress A Bed Using Complementary Colours
Complementary colours are those that are opposite each other on the colour wheel, so you could go for a general palette and then throw in some bright pops of its complementary colour. Examples of complementary colour combinations are red and green; yellow and purple; orange and blue; green and magenta.
Here, @hausofbishop has perfectly illustrated blue and orange as complimentary colours! Those are our Italian Mirrored Bedside Tables in the photo!
Our Kensington King Ottoman Bed in pale purplish 'Heather' Velvet looks stunning with some soft yellow accents. Each colour makes the other pop.
How To Dress A Bed To Soften Or Add Structure
If you’ve got lots of straight lines and would like to soften the overall feel of your room, go for an oversized and thick duvet or a big throw in a soft draping fabric. Plump cushions will also help create that sink-into, squishy vibe. If your bed is all curves or if you want a more structural look all over, keep things straight and neatly folded. Heavier (but less textured) sheets and throws will tend to stay folded easier than something more slippery/shiny or fluffy.
There are a lot of straight lines here, so the gorgeous plump cushions in a V-shaped arrangement soften it all. Those are our Porto Mirrored Bedside Tables on either side of the bed.
The symmetrically stacked pillows and neat, tucked-in throw here mirror the vertical stitching on the headboard, which is also reflected in the curtains and the photo frames above the bed. Structure with some luxury, here! This is our Madeleine velvet upholstered bedframe in 'Asphalt'.
Dress Your Bed To Match The Season
Remember that the joy with bedding, throws and cushions is that you can swap them out to match the season. How about going for that pumpkin spice vibe in the autumn? A bit of tartan in the winter for Christmas? Some fresh spring blossom shades or easter egg colours, and then some sunny or bright cool colours for summer?
Below, we've got 4 examples all from @athomewithfifi, showing how she's styled one of our 'Madeleine' cream velvet statement beds.
Spring - some pale pinks evoke blossoms.
Summer - keeping it fresh, cool and bright with mostly white accents.
Autumn - bringing in some deep burnt orange with those cushions, and autumnal accessories.
Winter - getting festive with extra 'snow' themed cushions, a sparkly star blanket and some silver Christmas decorations!
Remember: However you style your bed, make it yours, not anyone else’s. Do what makes you happy, because if your heart’s in it, we guarantee, it’ll look amazing and you'll get the best sleep!
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