Breaking up with your duvet

Lean and Mean

In my continuing effort to downsize, I relinquished my black rod iron bed (which I used to love to dress up with a big fluffy down comforter and a gazillion pillows) to my daughter, and in its place I bought a new platform bed. The bed has upholstered sides and a very low headboard.  I can still use the same mattress, but visually, the platform bed has a much smaller footprint in the room which gives an illusion of more space.

I also decided to focus my design attention on creating a serene and peaceful haven in the room. I painted an accent wall and on the opposite wall behind the bed, I'm going to place a shoji screen to serve as a headboard of sorts. The placement of the shoji behind the bed instead of pictures or mirrors will also alleviate my fear of any heavy objects crashing down on my body during an earthquake. You always need to think smart! (and always secure your pictures)

Since I already own a standard black and white shoji screen, which I purchased for the purpose of vlogging (video blogging). I experimented by placing it behind the bed. The idea is good but I didn't like my screen.  So this weekend, I will be searching for a screen more to my liking.

Another challenge has been, figuring out the proper way to make up a platform bed.  Yes, there's a method. They are a little different you know, and all sides must be tucked in. I tried using my down comforter and pillows on the new bed but somehow they just didn't look right and then I read the news….."Down With Comforters!"

Did you know that comforters and duvets are now considered passé? I didn't. 

What emerged in France in the 1700s as a year-round bed cover didn't gain popularity in the United States until the late 20th century, specifically in the flouncy, overdone 1980s, when a bed wasn't made until it had at least 12 pillows and a mind-blowing system of sheets, blankets, quilts and fluffy comforter housed in a matching cover. By the '90s, Zen-inspired chic had become the rage. Down fit in with the cleaner times. It was a purist's dream, casually amorphous yet sturdy enough to inject some ballast into those all-white beds. The comforter was so ubiquitous it came to be unnoticeable. And now, after a decades-long nap, the design world is ready to change the bed.

What's wrong with our beloved comforters you ask?

Architect David Mann, designer of legendary interiors including John Lennon and Yoko Ono's New York apartment in the Dakota, said, "I never use down comforters mostly because they are too common...and hot."

Down haters curse the lumpy, untidy covering as not only a sweat factory, but a style error.

So what's the alternative? For Nathan Turner, interior designer and shop owner, the secret is to keep things simple.

Ever awaken to a big mess of formless feathers corralled at one end of the duvet cover and nothing at the other end? 

On the recommended list are coverlets (bedspreads), not so perfectly pressed sheets, and a blanket or throw folded in thirds at the base of the bed. Stack pillows flat like pancakes.

I get it. Time for me and my comforter/duvet to part ways. This weekend I'll be out looking for the perfect replacement.  

I'll be sure to post a picture when I get it all "down".

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