_{This is a sponsored post, however all opinions are explicitly my own. This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, you can read my full disclaimer here.}

Want to learn how to layer and style your bed like a designer? This is something I’ve had to teach myself along the way. I used to look at inspo photos of pretty bedrooms in magazines or on Pinterest and think “my bed will never look like that”. I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit standing in the bedding aisle, using my buggy as a makeshift bed, trying to visualize how all the layers, patterns, and throw pillows might look in our home.

But over the years, and through lots of trial and error, I’ve learned a few tips and tricks make it easier. Tips that have helped me layer and style my bed like a designer! I’ve grown more confidant in my ability to pull it all together, and to create a designer style bed without the designer. And in today’s post, I want to show you how you can do it in your home too!

Also I created a few made-for-you style guides that will show you three different farmhouse style layered bedding looks. All of the looks in the style guides are looks that I personally curated for our farmhouse! I can’t wait to show you the looks… but first things first. I have to share the most important part of learning how to styling your bed like a designer. This is where you’ll want to start!

The Key to Styling Your Bed Like a Designer: know your style!

The first step in styling your bed like a designer, is knowing what your personal style is! It’s helpful to first figure out the overall look you’re going for in your bedroom. Then you can apply the tips and follow the steps in this post to help you create a designer bedding look that also fits your own personal style and taste. So first identify your personal style, because knowing that will help you to choose bedding colors, patterns, and styles that coordinate and go together.

Don’t overcomplicate this step! You can make this as simple or as detailed as you like, as long as you have a rough idea of what you like. You can choose a color palette, or choose a pattern that you love, or go all out and choose a whole design style that fits you and fits your space. For our bedroom, I chose to go with a French country farmhouse look, which I’ll share more about below.

French Country Style

I am drawn to many elements commonly used in French country style. Especially the warm neutral colors, the use of wood furnishings, and the overall rustic but refined feel of this design style. I also love many of the patterns used in French country fabrics like stripes, ginghams, checks, plaids, florals, and of course… toile!

Early American Farmhouse Style

Our home is very much an early American style farmhouse. I try to style our home with that in mind, so I’ve incorporated lots of wood tones in the flooring and the furniture, classic clean lines, antiques and vintage furnishings, and lots of white to tie it all together. (If you’re new to the blog, we re-built my grandparents’ 1800’s farmhouse. Click for a tour of the old house and all the before photos.)

French Country Farmhouse Style

By mixing French country elements with early American farmhouse style, we’re able to create more of an eclectic look that still suits our home and it’s history. I’m excited to show you how this all played out in our bedroom decor!

The key design element that gives our bedroom a French country farmhouse look is the toile pattern in our new bedding from Red Land Cotton! Our bedding is a part of the vintage toile collection from Red Land Cotton, and it really plays up the French country feel of the entire space.

what is toile?

Toile is a French word meaning “linen cloth” or “canvas”. Toile de jouy, commonly abbreviated as “toile”, is a pattern in design. It often depicts pastoral scenes, scenes of country life with people and animals, and sometimes even with trees and floral designs, etc. Toile patterns are typically very detailed and intricate, with a white or off-white background, and with the design printed in a single color. Often blue, black, red, brown, or green. The toile pattern is most commonly seen on fabrics and wallpaper. In my opinion, it’s a very pretty french country farmhouse style fabric!

history of toile in design

The toile pattern was originally produced in Ireland in the 1700’s, and it quickly grew in popularity in Britain and in France. The term “Toile de Jouy” came from France, and quite literally means “cloth from Jouy-en-Josas” which is a town in France where toile was made and produced.

toile in our farmhouse

I have always loved toile as a pattern in design! But I loved it even more when I came across this old photo of my Granny in the kitchen of the old house. If you look closely at the right side of the photo, you’ll see a pretty blue and white toile wallpaper. Ever since I noticed that little detail, I have wanted to incorporate more toile in our farmhouse!

So far, I have added toile in the dining room on the chair cushions, on this DIY microwave cabinet curtain in our kitchen, and now on our bedding in the main bedroom!

How to Style a Bed Like a Designer: it’s all about the layers!

Now that you know your style, we can talk about actually styling your bed. In my opinion, styling your bed like a designer is all about the layers you choose. I’ll walk you through each bedding layer below, just be sure that for each layer, you’re sticking to your overall style, vision, or color palette for your bed!

8 Steps to a Perfectly Layered Bed

1) START WITH A QUALITY MATTRESS PROTECTOR.

This is the mattress protector I use and love. It has grippy dots that hold it in place and keep it from sliding, which is great if you like to sit up in bed to read or watch tv.

2) THEN ADD A FITTED SHEET.

Red Land Cotton’s sheets come in either 14″ depth or 16″ depth. We always order the 16″ depth fitted sheets and I find that it’s a lot easier to actually put it on the mattress!

3) NEXT ADD A FLAT SHEET ON TOP.

I once read that 15% of people never use a flat sheet. What?? I’m honestly still in shock from that one. For the record, I’m in the “I always use a flat sheet” club!

4) OPTIONAL: FOR EXTRA WARMTH, ADD A BED BLANKET.

We love our bed blankets from Red Land Cotton! They’re buttery soft and add the perfect weight for comfort, but because they’re cotton they’re still very breatheable. They keep you warm without making you feel too hot to be comfortable.

5) TOP WITH A QUILT.

I am a big fan of quilts, instead of comforters, because quilts tend to hold their shape better and last longer. The filling in comforters tends to shift in the washing mashine, and they can end up looking lumpy and misshapen.

6) ADD AN EXTRA LAYER FOR LOOKS & COMFORT!

Fold a duvet, or an extra quilt, and layer it across the foot of the bed. This extra layer adds visual interest to your bed, especially when you opt for a different color or pattern than the first quilt. But it also is nice being able to pull that extra layer up over you on chilly nights. (Much better than getting up to grab an extra blanket from the linen closet in the middle of the night.)

7) PILE ON THE PILLOWS.

For our bed, I like to style 2 euro, and 4 standard size pillows. So three pillows on each side. Sometimes I’ll add a lumbar pillow in the center, or a couple smaller coordinating throw pillows. The more pillows, the better!

8) FINISH IT OFF WITH A COMFY THROW BLANKET.

Adding the throw blanket at the foot of the bed is the perfect invitation to rest, or even take an afternoon nap without having to get under the covers. Red Land Cotton carries bed blankets, as well as throw blankets with a fringe edge, and either option would be great to drape at the foot of your bed.

Pro Tips to Make Your Bed Like a Designer

How you actually make your bed can make a big difference in how your bedding looks! And if we’re going for that “designer look”, you’ll want to pay a little extra attention to the details.

TIP #1 – LEAVE THE QUILT AND BED BLANKET A LITTLE DISHEVELED

You know that feeling you get when you see a perfectly made bed? Like it’s almost too pretty, and too perfect to mess up. That’s the opposite of what you want. An intentionally disheveled bed = an inviting bed! So when you make up your bed, lay the sheets nice and smooth, but pull back the quilt and any bed blankets a little. This makes your bed so much more warm and inviting aesthetically! It will also create a little peek-a-boo moment to let you show off the fun color or pattern of your sheets.

TIP #2 – SIZE UP YOUR QUILT

In the past when I have used a queen size quilt on our queen size bed, it never felt big enough. I’ve found that sizing up your quilts makes the world of difference in the overall look of your bed! Your bedding will actually hang down long enough on the sides, and it will fit it so much better. So if you have a queen size bed, consider using a king size quilt.

TIP #3 – SIZE DOWN YOUR DUVET COVER

When it comes to duvets, you want to make sure you size down your duvet cover. Or size up your duvet insert. Basically you just want to be sure the duvet insert is one size larger than the duvet cover. This will give you a full and fluffy bedding look. If you don’t size up the insert, your duvet insert is more likely to shift and move around. It could end up looking flat, and like it’s just swimming around in the duvet cover.

We use this down alternative duvet insert in a king size, and our Toile duvet is a queen size duvet cover from Red Land Cotton.

How to Layer Bedding for Summer

Summer time calls for less layers overall, and lighter weight bedding. Opt for a down duvet and some crisp, cool cotton sheets. Using lighter weight bedding will allow you to keep the layered bedding look without getting too hot to sleep comfortably. This of course depends on how hot or cool you keep your home in the warmer months of the year. So you’ll want to adjust your bed’s layers based on what is most comfortable to you.

How to Layer Bedding for Winter

Winter time calls for warm cozy bedding, and all the layers! Double up on the quilts, and add a bed blanket in between the sheets and the quilt for extra warmth. And again, this is all dependent on the temperature inside your home. We like to keep our home cooler in the winter, so piling on the layers feels cozy to us in the cooler months!

I was a bit worried about how hot it would feel with the bed blanket, the quilt, and the duvet currently layered on our bed. (It’s October right now and we’re in the Carolinas.) But honestly, it’s felt amazing and I think that’s all attributed to the material and how the bedding was made.

What is the best material for bedding?

For many reasons, the best material for bedding is cotton! It’s easy to wash and care for, and Cotton is said to keep your body cool during the summer, and warm during the winter! Layering your bedding can make your bed beautiful, but it’s important that those layers are still breatheable! And that’s a big reason why I like to use 100% cotton bedding. My favorite go-to brand for that is Red Land Cotton.

3 REASONS WHY I LOVE RED LAND COTTON:

• Red Land Cotton is a small, family owned and operated business.
• All their cotton bedding is 100% grown and made in the US – from the seed to the sheets. The cotton is grown on the family farm, and throughout manufacturing, it never leaves US soil.
• They make the most beautiful, heirloom quality bedding, modeled after a 1920’s bedsheet! (That’s the kind of quality that’s hard to come by these days.)

I could go on and on, but the long of the short is that Red Land Cotton is an amazing company, and their bedding is 100% worth the investment.

Farmhouse Style Guides to Help You Style Your Bed Like a Designer

I created three different layered bedding looks using our bedding from Red Land Cotton, and I thought it would be a fun way to show you how I put the tips in this post to use. So no matter if you prefer a white country cottage bed, a striped farmhouse bed, or a vintage french country bed… there’s a look that you will love below!

White Country Cottage Bedding

This neutral farmhouse bedding look features Red Land Cotton’s solid white quilt and white quilted euro shams, paired with their ticking stripe layers mixed in for added visual interest.

Another neutral bedding look, but with a little more contrast and farmhouse feel. This look highlights the simple lines and the texture of the ticking stripe quilt from Red Land Cotton.

Vintage French Country Toile Bedding

Last but not least, this look features our new green toile bedding! This bedding is part of the vintage toile collection with Red Land Cotton. I styled our toile bedding for Christmas in the photos in today’s post, but this bedding could easily transition into spring by taking away the winter garlands and adding in some spring stems or fresh cut flowers in a vase.

 

Shooooooweeeeee! If you made it this far, I truly hope you enjoyed today’s post, and I hope it was helpful! I had so much fun on this one, and I loved sharing my best tips on how to layer and style your bed like a designer. Be sure to grab the style guides above and thanks for stopping by the blog today! Until next time…

Brittany (White & Woodgrain)