Best-Dressed Beds: How to Choose and Style Bed Linen

How has linen style evolved over the years? Does this remind you of your great-grandmother's home? Is this the linen style you got married with — remember those matching towels with frills? If you're smirking, you're giving away your age.

The trend has moved away from busy floral and paisley designs towards a more sophisticated, elegant, clean look — getting the pattern off the beds and onto the walls, window treatments and bed accessories.

The first question I ask

When I renovate an existing master bedroom, my first question to clients is: show me your current linen sets. I use them as a springboard, or as the concept of the room.

This most often gets complicated, because each set is so vastly different from the next that arriving at a cohesive colour scheme is hard. But when the bed linen is neutral in colour and understated, it allows us to give more attention to the walls, window treatments and accessories — which simply isn't viable with a busy linen design.

Now that is a well-dressed bed. Notice the colour is everywhere except the bed linen.

Embroidering your initials on any linen set gives an instant personal touch.

A tip on scale

If you have standard beds of 90 or 100cm, an easy way to lift the look is to use a king-size pillow that stretches across the width of the bed. It's not only comfortable, it gives the bed a far more luxurious, upscale look. You'll need shams that fit king-size pillows, but you'll often have that option for very little extra.

What to look for when buying

Some expert advice on choosing linen:

"There are many things to consider when buying new bed linen. One of the most important is how comfortable the fabric is. While most high-end bedding is 100% cotton, that won't tell you much. With cotton there are many factors that determine what the end product will feel like: how the cotton is grown, what type — long staple or short staple — how many ply, how it's treated, and more.

Thread count is an important factor in the quality and feel of the fabric, but it is not always a reliable way to judge. While it's true that a higher thread count will produce a softer sheet, there are many tricks today that allow manufacturers to label products with a higher thread count although they are of inferior quality. The most reliable way to purchase is by trust or experience.

Styles come and go with everything today, and bedding is no exception. Today, while decorating bedrooms, there are so many options with walls, furniture and lighting that you don't want the bedding to take over or be too much. That's why the simpler yet extremely elegant hotel styles are so popular — they offer a beautiful, finished, classy look while remaining understated.

Just remember that if you purchase quality bedding it should serve you well for a long time. You might easily buy clothing that lasts one or two seasons and wear it only a handful of times; for a similar price, luxurious bedding can be slept on and enjoyed every night for many years." — In Clover, Jerusalem