How To Choose Your Perfect Pillow & Duvet

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to recommend any products, just sharing what I've learned over the years about making a bed comfortable x

Hi Honeys
I love our bed and I love to make it look beautiful.  I feel the same way about bedding as some other ladies do about shoes...although I do love those too 😊  

Buying pretty bedding (and throw cushions... I sooooooo love throw cushions!) is entirely useless though if we don't have the foundations in place.  No one ever got a good night's restful, restorative sleep because their duvet cover was pretty.  So, what are these foundations?

First of course is a good mattress.  It's so important when shopping for a mattress to try it out!  Don't just look at it in the store and press it down with a hand, actually lie down on it (remember to take your shoes off!)  You're making an investment, treat it as such.

Does your chosen mattress support your back?  Try lying on your side, on your back.  However it is you most commonly sleep.  Your body should be supported.  It can be just as harmful to sleep on a non-supportive mattress which is too soft as to sleep on one which is far too firm.

Next, and yes dear ones, before thinking about pretty bedding 😊 we have to choose our pillows and duvet. You'd think this would be simple enough but there is much to think about honeys...

How To Choose Pillows

Pillows should be chosen according to how the user sleeps. Will it be used by someone who sleeps on their side? On their stomach?  On their back?  All of these positions require a different pillow for comfort and to protect the persons neck and spine.

• Sleeping on their side: Sleeper will need a fuller/well stuffed or high pillow in order to keep their spine straight.  It's also now possible to buy pillows which have a firm core with a softer outer level (I bought these for our master bedroom.)
• Sleeping on their stomach: Sleeper will need a much softer, lower/thinner pillow to avoid injury to their neck.  
• Sleeping on their back: Sleeper will sleep best with a softer, medium height pillow.   

It's also possible to buy shaped foam pillows, such as the "V" shaped ones, which offer support while reclining, useful for reading in bed for instance.

In all cases, your chosen pillow should be placed inside a pillow protector, which often resembles a pillowcase which "closes" around your pillow to keep it clean and helps prolong its lifespan.  The ones we have upstairs are from Ikea, are quilted and close with a zip on one end.  Pillowcases are then used on top of these pillowcase protectors as usual.

Mattress protectors should also be used to lengthen the life of your mattress.  It's possible to buy waterproof mattress protectors which can be useful to protect mattresses against accidents when you have small children for instance.  Mattresses can be expensive and should be looked after.

How to choose a duvet

A duvet is so much more than just something to sleep under or the filling for your favourite duvet cover 😊  There are several elements to consider:

• Choose the correct tog:  Duvets are all given a "tog" rating from 15 (the heaviest & warmest, usually reserved for cold, winter temperatures) down to 4 (very light, useful for summer months.)
• Choose the correct filling: Both duck and goose down can be used to fill duvets, commonly mixed with feathers.  These duvets are favoured because they are lighter and more natural but they can be expensive.  Goose down is considered luxurious.  
• Consider any allergies: Allergies may cause some sleepers to have adverse reactions to down filled duvets (or pillows.) If this is the case there are synthetic alternatives which have advantages such as ease of cleaning.  They can usually be machine washed for instance.

Extra tip:  Why not use a duvet one size bigger than your bed size (ie: king size duvet for a double bed) if you find yourself doing battle with a sleeping partner for a little of the bedding 😊

We use synthetic duvets, and pillows, because I like that I can easily wash them. I'm obsessed with laundry honeys... can't help it.  It's what i do for fun 😃  I prefer to dry them by pegging outside on the line given the choice, although the abundance of rain in Scotland doesn't always allow me to! 

A good alternative, which works especially well with pillows, is to pop them into the dryer with one or two tennis balls, lovely clean ones of course, specially reserved for this purpose.  They will plump up pillows again as they dry.   

I hope you're having a fabulous week honeys and looking forward to the weekend.  Whatever you have planned, have fun, smile lots and hug even more.  Till next time dear ones, huggles always xx