How To Create A Luxurious Bed…Without Busting The Budget!

I love rounding the doorway of my bedroom to feast my eyes upon a bed that even a queen would love. Well actually, I’m not big on formality, so maybe it’s a bed more suited for a duchess; or better still for a stay-at-home mom turned blogger who decided she wanted a fabulous-looking bed. At any rate, there’s just something about gazing at a soft, cozy, elegant bed that causes all the muscles in my body to relax and say, “ahhhhh.”

I’ve always loved the lavish beds in those high-end home stores. Their beds are puffy and posh and oh, so inviting. But, they’re high-end, so I usually just peruse.

Then one day when wandering around in one of those boutiques, I asked myself, “Why not try to create a bed like that at home, but without spending a small fortune?”

I quickly got to it. I fashioned a luxurious bed and did it without the premium price tag! And in the process, I discovered the key components to this endeavor.

MULTIPLE TEXTURES

The most important factor I found for creating an elegance for my bed was to use numerous lush fabrics that vary in texture.

The two fabrics that take up the most square footage on my bed and lend most to the elegance are silk and “velvety satin.” I’m calling one “velvety satin,” but I don’t know what it actually is. In my non-seamstress mind, it appears to be “velvety satin” so that’s what I’m going with. It has a nice sheen to it, but it has a soft, warm finish, almost like a lightweight velvet. And, by the way, I’m pretty sure neither are genuine silk or satin…just “silky” and “satiny.” 

My favorite textures of all, the ones that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, are the ones that are…well, warm and fuzzy. My bed is topped off with a chunky, loose-knit throw and two furry decorative pillows.

An additional textile is the flat, cotton material of the sheets.

To really highlight this assortment, I repeat each fabric in two different places. My cotton sheets are visible on the top third portion of the bed and also on the back row of pillows. The silk and satin show up on both pillows and comforters. And my cozy textures are prominent, with the furry decorative pillows up front and the super soft, loose-knit blanket draped across the foot of the bed.

All in all, I’ve used five chic textures to invoke a luxurious quality, and each is nice to the touch. 

I’ve used fabrics that are soft, warm, cool, velvety, plush and furry. (Ahhhhh, makes me wanna go snuggle up!)

LAYER UP

Now that we know what fosters elegance, how do we make our beds look inviting? I’m convinced layering is the overriding determinant in achieving an irresistible bed.

Here’s how I layered my bed. I love the way it turned out!

First, the bed linens and comforters:

To accentuate my layering as well as expand color and texture, I expose my sheets at the top third of the bed. 

Next comes the fun part. I knew I wanted my bed to have that soft and plush look that you behold in the bedroom section of a swanky home store, so I went with two comforters. 

For the first comforter I chose a silky material. This comforter lays flat, without a duvet insert. I fold it down about a third from the top of the bed in order to show off a portion of my sheets. This comforter is different on the inside, so I fold it down and then back over itself to keep the right side visible.

Now for the second comforter. I wanted this one to have a lot of “poof!” I purchased a “velvety satin” comforter that has an opening for a duvet. I researched duvet inserts and from the description online, it sounded like the one I purchased was really puffy. When it arrived, I was so disappointed. Even folded in half at the bottom of the bed, it wasn’t up to snuff. I got online and found a tip that said to use two duvet inserts. So that’s what I did. It worked perfectly! In my satiny comforter I inserted two duvets. This satin comforter is folded in half at the foot of the bed giving just the right amount of “poof.”

(Hint: I always pin the inserts with safety pins to the inside of the comforter at the four corners and in the middle-top and the middle-bottom to keep the insert from sliding around.)

The icing on the cake is an incredibly soft, knitted, king-sized blanket that I lay kind of messy-like across the middle of the bottom comforter.

The bottom comforter and throw are all for aesthetics, so I roll them up together in a ball each night and plop them in my bedroom chair. The next morning, I place the blob on one edge of the bed, unroll it and simply fluff the comforter a bit. These are too heavy and hot for our feet while sleeping, plus taking them off the bed at night keeps them from getting disheveled.

Now for the pillows:

I have four layers of pillows, but it’s not as fussy as it sounds.

We don’t sleep on these. I put our sleeping pillows on a shelf in the linen closet during the day. You could actually sleep on the back row of these pillows if you like plump pillows. We like to sleep on lazy pillows which are too slouchy on the bed during the day.

The back layer of pillows is composed of three firm standard-sized pillows with pillowcases from my sheet set. I bought an extra set of pillowcases since a set only comes with two. If your set came with king-sized pillowcases you could use two of those instead of three standards.

The second row from the headboard is composed of two king-sized pillows, again pretty firm. The cases on these pillows came with the comforter that is flat on my bed.

The next row to the front is also composed of two king-sized pillows, but these match the comforter at the foot of the bed.

This order of pillows ties everything on the bed together.

The fourth and final layer of pillows consists of two furry, decorative pillows that have a warm and cozy quality.

A quick side-note: As you can tell, I’m decorating a king-sized bed. But all the principles apply whether you are putting together a king, a queen or a twin. Just adjust your pillow sizes to fit the width of the bed.

 THE COLOR SCHEME

The last invaluable ingredient of a luxurious bed is the color scheme. I found that using a couple of different monochromatic color groups is ideal. I used silver/greys and oatmeal/creams.

Choose colors that you love, but make sure they are both inviting and calming. With all the layers and textiles on the bed, if we use bright tints or a surplus of color groups it will be hard to achieve the sleek and soothing qualities that are so dreamy for the bedroom.
I’m not saying it should be bland, but to achieve elegance, I think there needs to be some restraint on the color choices. Beautiful, yet serene shades are perfect for the bedroom. Blush or lavender or dark grey would all be perfect choices paired with other hues in the same color scheme. There’s a profusion of great options to choose from!

If you desire a bright pop, the best places to incorporate that would be the middle layer of pillows and that same color for the top throw blanket. 

PUTTING YOUR LUXURIOUS BED TOGETHER

Now that we’ve talked about the hallmarks of a luxurious bed, let’s walk through the steps of putting it together.

First, dress the bed with the sheets, bringing the top sheet all the way to the head of the bed. Pull it tight so when in view, you don’t see a bunch of wrinkles. Tuck in the top third portion of the sheets to give the visible section a tailored effect.

Next, add the first comforter which will lay flat. Bring it all the way to the head of the bed and then fold it back down by a third so that a portion of your sheet is uncovered. If this comforter is different on the underside, extend it down and then back over itself so only the outer side is on display. I also like to tuck this comforter in. It looks seriously professional that way!

Insert one to two duvets into your second comforter and fold it in half at the foot of the bed.

Add a throw across the middle of the bottom comforter, placed a little messy-like to add even more texture.

Back to the top of the bed, put two to three pillows fitted with your sheet pillowcases against the headboard (or wall if not using a headboard).

The next row of pillows will have cases on them that match the first comforter.

Moving forward to the next row, these pillows are outfitted with the cases from the comforter at the foot of the bed. (If you don’t have matching pillowcases for your comforters, you can purchase cases that are very similar in color.)

To top everything off, add a couple decorative pillows that have a soft, warm texture.

HOW TO CREATE A LUXURIOUS BED WITHOUT BUSTING THE BUDGET

This is sounding expensive isn’t it? Although there are a lot of pieces involved, the price doesn’t have to be exorbitant. 

Here is how I kept my project affordable. I had my bottom silky comforter for years. I was going to get rid of it since I was wanting a new and improved design. However, now that I’m using it with so many other items it has a fresh look. I purchased my sheets, the king and standard pillows and the large throw from Wal-Mart and Target so they were very reasonable.

If you were only buying one comforter and it was the main showpiece of the bed, you might want to splurge. But by joining these elements together, you can purchase a few less expensive items and then repurpose another few to accomplish a luxuriousness for a decent price. 
Even bargain shopping works! Just be highly selective with your textures and colors. Lush fabrics and pretty and soothing monochromatic color groups will go a long way in achieving a lavish style without spending an arm and a leg.

Have a great time creating your luxurious bed! Let me know what colors and textures you choose!