I don’t know you guys – it just feels like the all-white hotel-style bed is not really doing it for me, but perhaps it hasn’t for a while and I’m just now ready to announce it. Is it the fault of my year-round spray tan that leaves a body-shaped orange glow on just my side of the bed when I use white sheets? Well, yes. But even despite that, I have been drawn to slightly patterned (but not textured) sheets for a while because they tend to be more forgiving and therefore last longer. TBH I don’t understand splurging on white sheets or white towels for everyday use because they never stay bright white. But even beyond the practicality it just seems like we are moving towards a pattern-on-pattern aesthetic that is making me want floral duvets, striped sheets, plaid anything…little prints, mixed with ruffles, with quilts layered at the end. I actually pitched this post last October and recently we had a bedding refresh partnership with Anthropologie (who does the non-white bedding so well) so we snapped some photos of this extremely fun and soft floral set. It confirmed what I wanted because it just added so much life, and such an immediate impact. So today we figured we’d round up other patterns we love (and yes, you can absolutely mix a big floral with a small stripe like I did).
Big Floral Patterns + Smaller Prints
The large-scale floral with the tiny-scale stripe is really working for me (I know that the stripe will work on Elliot’s bed and our bed – and yes, I put king bedding on queen beds all the time and have stopped buying queen so that we can easily interchange them all).
Organic Cotton Percale Printed Sheet Set | Jawahar Duvet Cover & Shams | RHODE Thistle Sheet Set
All these prints are giving “grannycore” or “cottagecore” or whatever trendy core means old world and more decorative – and I love it. It’s just so sweet. I think one of the reasons our bedding got boring was because we wanted the ease of everything matching (true story) and having bespoke bedding for each room might be too labor-intensive for you to keep track of (also true story). But again it’s just so sweet and maybe you could come up with a capsule collection of different prints that work for all the beds to mix and match?
Poppy in Sunburst Quilt | Luxe Sateen Core Sheet Set | Scalloped Edge Ditsy Floral Sheet Set
Here are some more warm-toned and equally cute/happy options!
Stripes
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of stripes. Simple and can go with anything and any style. So yes, I LOVE how this looks and even though it’s light the stripe adds so much and is forgiving to dingyness. It was from a bedroom we designed for one of my best friends who wanted a modern organic look…but not a boring one. I think we nailed it.
Stripes also work so well with florals. Since both of these rooms have floral wallpaper and we didn’t want only solid-colored sheets, stripes were the perfect contrasting accent! Here are a few shoppable options on the market:
Pine Green Pembroke Stripe Linen Blend Duvet Cover | Organic Cotton Percale Sheet Set | Navy Stripe Linen Sheet Set
I tend to mix stripes with solids or stripes with florals, but if you love a stripes on stripes look it can absolutely look awesome.
European Linen Gingham Sheet Set | Printed Performance 400 Thread Count Sheet Set | European Linen Stripe Quilt Set
I would probably stick with warm tones with warm stripes and cool with cool for sheet and duvet combos.
Solid
For those of you who love linen sheets, there are so many pretty moody colors out there – Garnet Hill, Brooklinen, Anthropologie, and Parachute all have great options. Brian and I are not into linen sheets ourselves because we love a percale, but we do love this linen bedspread (as seen below) that we put on when we have parties and people want a tour of the house. Also, I made my brother buy bone instead of bright white percale from Parachute which is a great alternative if you still want a light neutral base but don’t want white bright…
Underneath those linen spreads are likely the rose or blue brushed cotton from Parachute which is my current favorite for softness and their color palette works so well in our room.
Classic Percale Duvet Set | Pale Blue Linen Sheet Set | 100% Linen Sheet Set
Here are some awesome cool toned colorful bedding options that I really like!
Pink Clay & Terracotta Bedding Bundle | Cotton Velvet Quilt | Raspberry Linen Blend Duvet Cover
If you go on Bed Threads site they have a bunch of really great preset color combos if you have a hard time deciding what colors you might want in your room. Also, velvet bedding accents are definitely having a moment and Quince has some great affordable quilts.
So this is your CTA to rethink the expensive white sheets and opt for a tone, a color, a print, or a pattern. Especially for a more basic room (like our pink guest room that doesn’t have its headboard yet) this bedding really livened it up and just looks so happy now.
Opening mage Credits: Design by Emily Henderson | Photo by Kaitlin Green
