Tyranny of the Bedroom Linen

Tyranny of bedroom linen. Its probably a problem in many homes. I’m just perplexed at the constant need for change in decor when all I want is to be moderately comfortable with livable temperature.

My mom made me a comforter out of 200 weight polar fleece that I’ve had since high school. It was perfect in the spring/summer/fall, and adding a wool blanket underneath provided the additional insulation during the winter.

Like most of my belongings, its a very functional, utilitarian item. It isn’t meant to be attractive unless you’re the kind of person who is drawn to utility as a style.
Old Blue

After Michelle and I were married, we started using a down comforter. It was great during the winter, but a little warm for the spring, summer, and fall. Michelle, who is always cold, needed additional blankets during the winter.

It took some time to agree upon a duvet cover, and the denim was both attractive and provided some utility (resistant to dog puncture). But its kind of dark, and blue isn’t everyone’s favorite color (losers).
Denim Blue

For Christmas this last year, Kathy made us a beautiful quilted comforter. Its absolutely gorgeous, and looks great in our room. The colors please both Michelle and me, but during the coldness of winter (we only heat to 62F), additional blankets were needed.

Now that spring is here, its the right weight without any extra blankets. Which is why I was surprised to come home one day to find the down comforter back on.
Kathy's Quilt

It turns out that one comforter is too fall/winter, despite looking good and being the appropriate weight for spring/summer. The Spring duvet cover may look more like spring, but I’m sweating like a cell mate on death row in my sleep. And its not even summer yet!

The tyranny part is that my sleeping comfort is completely at someone else’s whim. Not only that, but the reasons for the changes are rarely about utility – something I can understand.
Spring!

6 thoughts on “Tyranny of the Bedroom Linen”

  1. Sounds like someone needs to put his foot down, or you could just sleep on the couch.

  2. First off, based on everything you said duvets to comforters and their appropriate styles, I think that you are more than qualified to write for “Better Homes and Gardens”. However you may want to question your manhood. Secondly, I know exactly what you mean. I could give a hoot about what blankets look like, and furthermore I wake up sweating year round do to the overabundance of blankets, down comforters and the like.

  3. Manhood, shmanhood. It would be difficult to hear the terms over and over and not know what they mean. Besides, and appropriate vocabulary is important in conveying feelings. The addition of fabric swatches is icing on the cake.

    Btw, I’m more of a Sunset reader. Now that’s a magazine. Appropriate attention to local activities, architecture, cuisine, and gardening. Its much more my pace than BH&G.

  4. I definitely see the reason behind spring colored duvet covers – color coordination with the seasons is very important to the atmosphere of the house – right?

  5. Could you put the spring duvet cover on the quilted comforter? Who ever said that duvet covers can only go on down comforters!

  6. For the record….color coordination with the season is very important (who wants to go from gardening, grilling and meals outside, to a quilt with pine cones and holly on it?)

    I think putting the season-appropriate duvet over the quilt is a great idea- I suggested it to Andy as soon as he started whining about being too hot, but he shot the idea down…so sweat away.

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