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
Sheets | Duvet Cover | Shams | Velvet Quilt
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.
left: design by jess bunge, styling by emily bowser, photo by sara ligorria-tramp, from: the feel-good modern romantic bedroom makeover jess did for her dear friend | right: design by emily henderson, photo by kaitlin green, from: a beautiful bedroom makeover reveal for my friend, with some of my favorite bedding
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
Stripes is good, solid is good, gingham is good, a mixture of these is good. But, for me, floral with a carpet just goes all fuddy-duddy and reminds me of my Auntie Sylvia’s house in the 80s. Sorry, Auntie Sylvia, you made delicious Yorkshire Parkin this is where your creativity peaked.
I must agree with you.
Nope! Not over it! But I do use colored sheets in the upstairs rooms so it’s easy to know where they go back to when we’ve had houseguests and all the bedding needs washing at once. BUT I am intrigued about king sheets on queen beds. What about the fitted sheet? And pillow cases since king pillows are so much bigger? PS Many thanks to the EHD person who admonished “just get the king pillows already” some time last year when I was moving us from queen to king. GREAT ADVICE! PPS My favorite source for pillows, bedding etc is hotels, most recently I got the whole mattress/bedding set from the boutique chain 21C. I’d been sooo overwhelmed with decision fatigue, we already loved their towels and duvet, we knew we slept so so well at their properties …. a year later, very happy with one decision, one delivery … and excellent sleep. Our sheets are still white-white. A tiny splash of bleach makes a difference.
The pillowcases are the easy part, you just tuck the ends in kind of like an envelope.
This was such a bright and pleasing post, especially for this time of year. Thank you for all the ideas and links.
Love patterned and colourful bedding, especially quilts and pillow slips. I’m addicted to buying them!! I have many beautiful ones from Yves Delorme to Kerry Cassill to Sheridan to ones I’ve bought travelling or online from Etsy (mainly from Rajasthan in India!!) over the years!
I will also forever love white though. And I find I cannot sleep on dark or overly bright sheets – softly patterned or plain white, then I go crazy with the quilts and pillows and decorative cushions. #addictedtotextiles
Part of the reason white is traditionally common for sheets is that it DOES show the dirt (or so I’ve been told🤔). In days gone by made it easier to ensure bedding was clean and no bedbugs etc. I believe that’s why hotels still use white sheets and towels.
The Anthro duvet set is beautiful!! Eyeing it off, even though I’ve already got enough linen to run a small hotel…
Nope, forever a white sheet girl. I like that I can bleach the heck out of it and not worry about fading. I don’t go for solid white though, but something with a little printed pattern, or even woven pattern, but the base is bright white. I do have fun with the duvet though. Also, certain face creams can bleach the color from sheets, pillowcases, towels, etc… so white is safe, and I know if won’t be ruined by acne or other medication.
Love the pink and white stripe sheets! Do you have a source for them? Thanks so much!
They are more pink beige than pink, but the link is right under the photo.
Just fyi for us peri menopausal women, linen sheets are the answer along with a breathable top layer, its worked for my night sweats. Ive gotten to the stage where not just any bedding works for me!
What, exactly, is a breathable top layer? Intrigued …
I would think it’s a linen or cotton top sheet and blanket…
I love colorful sheets!
My experience with Brooklinen has not been great. I find their sheets poorly made and itchy, especially compared to luxury brands like Libeco. I get it, Brooklinen is a very cheap alternative, but I can’t say the sheets are worth the money. I’d rather sleep on cotton percale or sateen instead of low-quality linen.
Definitely Team Patterns here! I love our Marimekko Ojakellukka duvet cover in the winter and then switching to the Modshapes Quilt (a super fun, color blocked comforter) for the warmer months.
I pair both with a small-print sheet set (like Thistle or Imperfect Plus from Schoolhouse; C&B has cute patterns too!)
Have always loved patterned and solid color sheets, never been a white sheet or towel girl.
I found my colored linen sheets to fade faster than my white ones get permanently stained (and from the same splurgey brand, Cultiver). But strangely I’ve found the opposite with towels — my white everyday bath towel is washed weekly and has permanent body-oils stains that laundry stripping hasn’t been able to remove, although I admittedly haven’t pulled out the hardcore bleach yet. The older colored towels did get stained from certain things like no-rinse oil-based wool wash, but otherwise they lasted longer.
I love all bedding, floral, solid, white, light, dark…just wish I had more beds to dress! I am partial to solid coverlets with patterned sheets and a patterned throw on top (for the kitty to lay on).
Our master bedroom has a large floral mural behind the bed so anything on the bed can’t be too busy.
Loving all the prints and colors! We don’t use a top sheet, and have linen sheets and duvet. I’d love a printed duvet but they’re hard to find in linen unless it’s just striped or gingham. How comfortable would a cotton slub for example, be on the skin if I were to get a duvet in that material? Or would I have to use my linen flat sheet in between?
I like white or unbleached linen for the bottom and top sheets and then pattern with pillow cases, coverlets, throw blankets etc. I WANT to know when the sheets are dirty, and I find it easier to keep them nice with oxygen bleach (or peroxide) and the occasional real bleach. Colored sheets fade unevenly for me, which looks really terrible imho. It might be okay with a stripe on a white ground.
I guess that is more of a laundry perspective than a style perspective, because I am all for mixing things up. My house has queen and full beds, and I just buy queen-sized flat sheets and use them on all the beds. Some people think this is insane, but it’s not that hard to tuck the sheets in. The elastic on fitted sheets seems to die before anything else, and they are a pain to fold, so that’s how I got here.
I admit, the river house primary bedroom really inspired a refresh in our bedroom! I have been camp printed or solid colored sheets for years! But now I have navy or deep mauve sheets with a tobacco colored linen duvet (from Quince! Another good source for linen bedding) and then a Schoolhouse patterned quilt in navy on top. That last one was a gift last year – and felt like a splurge, but is one of our fav things we ever bought!!
Pact organic cotton sheets ftw! So soft and gorgeous. And they have the labels so you know which is the side of the fitted sheet. Qualityyyy
has anyone been able to find fun pattered split top (king) sheets? i’ve been dying to get rid of our white sheets because of everything mentioned in about dingy whites but i cannot for the life of me find anything cute
Just use bluing fluid to brighten up the white sheets!
I have white linen on my bed but I am bored to death of white bedding. I live in a jr. 1 bedroom so my room only gets natural light from a cutout from the living room. So, white bedding helps the room not feel so cavernous. I don’t love it but it works for my rental. That said, colour gives a room personality and not boring beige or 50 shades of brown either. I appreciate that this blog doesn’t follow the dull, sad beige styles we’ve seen beaten like a dead horse all over social media. And floral bedding, done in the right pattern, will always look good.
Love the colors.
I bought printed cotton sheets on Spoonflower years ago. They’ve held up well after many washings.
You have lots of choices.
I recently had the privilege of setting up bedding in a family cabin. We chose to use all queen sized beds- even in the bunk room- so we didn’t have to keep track of different sizes for different rooms (who wants more work in a vacation house, right?). I bought 8 sets of beige-y sheets (100% cotton from Costco) so we didn’t have to worry about staining/fading or over-using bleach with a septic system. With the basics covered, I’m now playing with duvets, quilts, throws, bolsters, shams etc. and each room has its own distinct personality that is definitely not beige. It’s even creeping into the curtains. I have 2 different plaids plus a pretty wild rag rug in the bunk room and we’re loving it.