Classic blue and white makes an appearance in an aqua-loving farmhouse.
APPLE GREEN
In a Florida getaway, walls in Benjamin Moore's Salmon Peach contrast with curtains in a green Norbar Fabrics linen and a Dash & Albert rug. "The palette is based on the apple painting, which I inherited from my mother," says designer Amanda Linderoth
BLUE FLORAL
The light-filled master bedroom designed by Anne Maxwell Foster and Suysel dePedro Cunningham is covered in Sandberg's Raphaël wallpaper. A Tilton Fenwick for Target headboard is upholstered in the duo's Jax fabric for Durable.
PINK AND TAN
In this girl's room designed by Matt O'Dorisio, custom rails and stairs make it easy to reach the top of Pottery Barn bunk beds. Linen curtains and pillows are in Tulu's Keban.
FUCHSIA
In this Ann Pyne-designed New York house, the "eye-popper" bed is a luxurious sea of pink satin — Cowtan & Tout's Salsa silk satin on the canopy sky, the headboard, and the coverlet. The bed curtains, valance, and skirt are in the same fabric as the curtains, Klotz by Country Swedish.
1. Gather your bed linens. The type and quantity of linens you use depends on the style of both your room and your bed. However, most include the following:
• Mattress pad with elastic edging • Fitted sheet • Flat sheet • Pillowcases • Blanket (lightweight or heavyweight, depending on your climate and the season) • Quilt, comforter or duvet • 2 standard pillow shams • 2 European pillow shams (optional) • Accent pillows (optional) • Throw or coverlet (optional) • Bed skirt or box-spring cover (optional)
2. Break out the iron. If you're anything like me, you'd rather walk through Death Valley at high noon in a parka than put your iron to its intended use. (Full disclosure: The last time I unearthed mine, it had cobwebs on it.)
But pressed linens are crisp linens, so face your nemesis. A standard ironing board is too small to handle sheets with ease — cover an inexpensive folding table, or even a large sheet of plywood, with heatproof foam or batting to give you more surface area to work with. Don't forget the bed skirt and shams while you're at it.
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3. Center and straighten the bedskirt. If your bed style doesn’t require a skirt, you can skip this step, though you may want to invest in a box-spring cover if your box spring is exposed.
If you’re using a bed skirt, center it in place, making sure the edges are even at the foot and sides. Use unobtrusive pins to anchor it in place.
4. Pull the mattress pad smooth.Nothing ruins bedtime comfort faster than a lumpy bottom layer, and pads are notorious for bunching in the center of the bed.
Elastic edges help, but for extra insurance, hold them in place with safety pins around the bottom edges. Or use corner fasteners, found at major bed and bath retailers.
5. Tuck the fitted sheet tightly. For optimal fit, use an extra-deep sheet if you have a pillow-top or an especially tall mattress; otherwise a standard size should work fine. Pull it taut and tuck the edges beneath the mattress.
As with the mattress pad, corner fasteners can keep the sheet from creeping inward.
6. Drape the flat sheet. Now the tricky part begins. Center the flat sheet on the bed, with equal overhang on either side. Align the top edge with the top edge of the mattress.
7. Add the blanket. If your blanket is slightly shorter than the sheet, pull it down from the top of the mattress rather than up from the bottom. You want the bottom and side edges to be as even with the sheet as possible.
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8. Tuck in the flat sheet and the blanket together. Make your best attempt at hospital corners at the bottom. Hold the long edges of the sheet and blanket away from the bed and pull them atop the mattress to form a 45-degree angle at the corner. Lift the foot of the mattress slightly and use your hand to slide the draping bottom edges of the bed linens beneath it. Be sure to smooth them out as much as possible to avoid the "princess and the pea" effect.
Now tuck in the side edges so that they form a crisp crease. Can't get the corners just right? Don't lose sleep (ha ha) over them; simply do the best you can.
9. Turn down the sheet and the blanket tops. Fold the flat sheet and the blanket down about 12 to 18 inches (roughly the width of a pillow). Then tuck the long edges under the mattress along the sides.
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10. Add your desired topper.Whether you go with a cozy quilt, a puffy comforter or a downy duvet, spread it over the bed and center it so that it hangs evenly. Leave the folded-down sheet and blanket exposed at the top, but be sure to cover their bottom edges.
11. Layer the pillows. Start with the pillows you’ll sleep on — slip them into their cases, tag ends first, and align the pillowcase seams with their edges. Plump them up and prop them against the headboard or wall. If you’re using European shams, which are usually between 26 and 32 inches square, add those next. Then come standard-size shams, and finally, throw and bolster pillows (three are usually plenty).
12. Top it off with a coverlet or throw. Fold the coverlet so that it's about 18 to 24 inches across, and place it graphically at the foot of the bed. Or consider rolling it for a fresher twist.
13. Bounce a quarter. Can't do it? Start over. Just kidding ... after all your work, you've earned the right to a little nap in your luxuriously outfitted nest. Sweet dreams!
A cold January is ideal for two things: hibernating and winter-proofing your home. By that, I don’t mean braving face-numbing winds to ‘batten down the hatches’ but rather taking the time to tackle those interiors amendments that you’ve been meaning to focus on. To help, we’ve put together a selection of the cosiest winter warming furniture and accessories to make your home fit for hibernation
Starting small is a good idea for those who are dipping a toe in the interior design pool. When it comes to colourful cushions, there are no faux pas and all that matters is that you choose something you love. These plain velvet ones (below) are wonderfully easy to chop and change with 25 colours to choose from. On top of that, there are more shapes and sizes than you’d think, so do be bold and embrace the idea of mixing and matching.
Rich, jewel coloured shades like purples, dark reds, oranges and pinks are excellent warming colours but also work as lifting and brightening options in the summer. Cotton velvet is a wonderful texture and so these are as comfortable as they are colourful…definitely not the sort that you feel you need to move before you sit down. Create your own set with two large cushions behind two smaller ones in different colour and prop them on a bed or sofa for an instant finishing touch. If you fancy something new, simply change the covers and enjoy a whole new scheme.
Of course, cushions and pillows need homes and a different texture looks simple and smart. Our second choice is a pair of early 19th-century beechwood fauteuils (above), upholstered in a soft pale-blue fabric. These chairs have delicate guilloche detail on the seat frame, so are elegant enough to have in a drawing room but are also subtle enough as bathroom or bedroom additions. Natural wood is wonderful in all its forms and beechwood in particular is soft and works with a multitude of fabrics. Dress these up for colder evenings with dark-coloured cushions or a faux-fur throw and an antique becomes a snug armchair.
Winter wouldn’t be winter without a roaring fire and updating your fireplace can transform the look of a room. If you’ll forgive the slight plug, Jane Churchill has designed two classic and beautiful fireplaces. The Ebury is elegant and understated; simple in its design but with delicate acorn and oak-leaf carving, whereas The Coral (above) is slightly louder. Bianco Avorio limestone is a little rougher in texture and so lends this second fireplace an antique look. The coral pattern comes from fabric weavers in Northern India but doesn’t make The Coral too overly ornate. Both are pale marble, so will fit nicely in either a period or contemporary home and will work with antique furniture as well as more modern pieces.
Even when not in use, fireplaces can add a little grandeur and homeliness to a room; drawing rooms are an obvious choice but fireplaces can really work well in kitchens and bedrooms. A blocked chimney can still entertain a decorative hearth, with log baskets or DIY wine storage in a kitchen and a period fire grate or fire basket filled with decorative objects in a bedroom. Keep walls neutral and wallpaper plain and use bright lamps or frames on the mantelpiece for accents of colour.
Speaking of bright adornments, lamps are now bigger and brighter than ever before and a colourful lamp base can give a brilliant lift where it’s needed. Shades of turquoise, green or fuchsia are great if you’re of the opinion that bigger is better while yellows/golds and blues make excellent table lamps. Large urn lamps with big colourful silk shades are better in pairs on a hall table, for example, whereas smaller, slimmer ceramic lamps look good hidden among photo frames on round tables or on console tables and desks. The only thing to get right is the shade carrier, so it’s worth experimenting to get the height absolutely right.
A combination of the above will ensure that your home is warm and inviting, even in the coldest of winters. So light the fire, sit back on your velvet cushion and read by the light of a colourful lamp.
