Buying bedding can be confusing for the uninformed consumer. With infinite options from sustainable bedding to luxury silk bedding, it's difficult to know where to start. The Fig Linens and Home Blog's Complete Guide to Buying Bedding makes the process easy.
In this comprehensive directory, we will go over what pieces you need to make a bed, how to research brands, find the best materials and choose the best bedding colors. Let's dive in!
Table of Contents
The Elements that Go Into Buying the Perfect Bedding
The first step to making a bed is looking at the bed itself.
Whether you own a twin bed, full-sized bed, queen bed or king bed will alter what size and how many pillows and luxury pillow shams you purchase. For instance, a specialty sized pillow cover like a Euro Pillow Sham will fit one on a twin sized bed, two on a queen sized bed, or three on a king sized bed.
Look deeply into bed and bedding sizes to evaluate the pieces you will need before you buy.
The look of your bed will also determine what types of bedding you need. For instance, different types of bedding will look stylish with a wooden bed frame compared to a metal bed frame. A simple and chic dust ruffle like a Sferra bedskirt beneath your box spring can also go a long way to upgrade your bed frame.
The Importance of Researching Brands Before Buying Bedding
The second consideration when buying bedding is deciding what brands to shop. Different brands use different materials, employ different production methods, and use different textile certifications. Choosing a bedding brand that aligns with your values and needs will ensure that your bedding lasts for years to come.
Fig Linens and Home's brand guides contain information about the history, production, and bestselling products for each brand we carry. Many allow you to compare bedding brands. See below to explore further:
- Buyer's Guide to Luxury Sheets: Sferra vs. Frette vs. Matouk
- Frette Linens: Ultimate Italian Luxury Sheets and Bedding
- 5 High End Sustainable Bedding Brands for Eco-Conscious Luxury
- Sferra Celeste Bedding
- Legacy Home: Luxury Custom Bedding and Bath Linens
- Sleep in the Lap of Luxury with Yves Delorme Bedding
- Brands We Love: Scandia Home
- Organic Bedding and Bath Linens: Coyuchi Spring 2021
- Dea Fine Linens Luxury Bedding and Bath
The Parts of a Perfect Bed
If you are wondering how to make a bed like a designer, it is all about layering the right pieces to create an intentional look. An eclectic combination of pieces like custom pillow shams, Egyptian cotton sheets, a high thread count duvet, and more will make your high-quality bedding stand out altogether.
The next part of this guide will walk you through choosing pillows, sheeting, and bedding that support your lifestyle.
Buying Luxury Pillows and Pillowcovers
After choosing whether you prefer a firm, medium, or soft pillow, the most important bedding decision you'll make for your sleep is your pillow covers.
First, it is paramount that you understand the difference between a pillow sham and pillowcase. In general, pillowcases are for sleep pillows while pillow shams are more decorative, but be sure to check out the guide to the subject on our blog for more information.
Once you've nailed down the technicalities, it's time to choose your shams. With seemingly endless options from percale pillow shams to silk pillow shams to patterned pillow shams to simply designed styles, it is important to hone in on your own design style and preferences.
As pillowcases are your sleep pillows, material is of ultimate importance: will you sleep best on a silk pillowcase? A linen pillowcase? A bamboo pillowcase? A sateen cotton pillowcase?
Choose the material and style that will feel best on your skin and work for your sleep style.
Buying Luxury Sheeting
To buy a complete set of bedding, you will need both a luxury fitted sheet and a luxury flat sheet (be sure you understand the difference before purchasing!).
The most important things to keep in mind when purchasing a high end sheet set are breathability and temperature control. Different styles like charmeuse silk sheets, bamboo flat sheets and percale flat sheets all vary in these regards. Check our guide to the best sheets for sleep to decide which style is right for you.
Buying Luxury Bedding
When choosing the decorative bedding for the top of your bed, the first thing you will need is a comforter. Be sure to choose the correct size, decide if you want down or down alternative, and choose a comforter for the correct season.
Now for the duvet. A duvet is largely an aesthetic choice, so you should pick based on what you love, what will look good in the room, and what will match with the rest of the bed.
Finally, you can add finishing touches like bestselling John Robshaw hand-stitched quilts, Peacock Alley blankets, Sferra quilts and Sferra cashmere blankets to create a polished look.
The Best Materials for Bedding
Buying Cotton and Linen Bedding
Some of the finest bedding in the world including Sferra Giza 45 Percale bedding, Sferra Giza 45 Sateen Bedding, Giza 45 cotton sheets, and Frette sheets are made of high-quality long-staple cotton. This is a classic that's here to stay.
If you prefer something a bit cooler, linen sheets can be an excellent, moisture-wicking option. For other cooling bedding, checkout this article on the best bedding for summer.
Silk Bedding
Silk bed sheets and silk bedding is another luxury option to protect your skin and hair. Read all about the silk bed sheets pros and cons here.
Bamboo Bedding
Bamboo bedding is one of the most popular sustainable materials from which to make sustainable bed sheets. Bamboo fabric can be made of bamboo lyocell or tencel. It is popular for its softness, breathability, and sustainability.
The Best Colors for Bedding
After settling on the brand and natural fiber you want to use in your bedding, you have a design choice to make: what is the best color bedding for your space? Each color option has both advantages and drawbacks as follows:
- White Bedding & Light Colored Bedding: The most common choice is white bedding. It can lend a crisp, clean hotel look to any room. However, white and light colored bedding can get dirty easily and be difficult to wash depending on your lifestyle. It is important to consider all of the pros and cons of white bedding before deciding on lighter shades for your bedding.
- Dark Colored Bedding & Patterned Bedding: These more deeply pigmented colors of bedding are popular because the dark colors helps to obscure stains. Dark bedding can also make a room look more dramatic and intentionally designed.
In conclusion, choosing the ideal bedding depends on research. Looking into brands, bedding pieces, and materials will help you choose bedding for your perfect night's sleep.
The Fig Linens and Home team is here to help throughout the buying process. Our friendly and knowledgable team of customer service professionals has combined decades of experience in all things bedding. We can help you choose the best pillows, sheets, duvets and coverlets for your home.
So what are you waiting for? Email us today at info@figlinens.com to get started on building your dream bedroom.
Sophie Edwards
Sophie is the head content writer at Fig Linens and Home. She is a bedding, linens, and luxury homeware expert with an interest is the intersection of interior design with fashion, travel and culture. She has a BA in creative writing and sociology from Sarah Lawrence and an MSc from the Oxford University Department of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography.