I bought the feather comforter (which you can't see) and the linen duvet cover almost a year before I actually put the room together. The best price I found in my lengthy web searching was from The Company Store... I bought both the feather comforter (which is the same color as the blanket shown) and linen duvet cover there. I originally bought the comforter for the winter....thinking it would be too much in the summer. But I use it year round....I never get hot and I love sleeping under it every night. I bought the cover as an after thought thinking I might want a change from all the blue. Once I figured out how to put the comforter into the cover, I never went back!
The bedspread I bought at TJ Maxx for less than $40 for a Queen size. I bought my sheets from there as well.... 600 count cotton that is better than silk (plus you don't slide around.... just as an aside!). I have a chocolate brown set I use in the winter, and taupe for the spring/summer. Right around $45 to $50 for each set. You have to plan it right, but I live in a "rural" area and TJ Maxx is considered "da' bomb" for some of us. Our other choices are WalMart or KMart....'nuff said!
*Note: the duvet cover is 100% linen and is fully wash-n-dry-able. In fact, the more you wash and dry it, the softer it gets. It might look a little wrinkled when it first comes out of the dryer, but levels out in no time!
The bed skirt I made myself from drop cloths. Hand pleating and all! My bed sits high up on the frame (on purpose) and even if I found a skirt that I liked, the length would never have worked... from the floor to the top of the BOX SPRINGS is 20" (it's 36" to the top of the mattress. I like sleeping up high!) One heavy weight drop cloth and several hours trying to make the pleats uniform, and I had a custom bed skirt for less than $20!
The pillows on the bed are a combination of ones I made and ones I bought. The one shown above I made from linen burlap... not your regular scratchy type. This linen combination is smooth and holds up great. I made it to fit a standard 16x12 pillow form, and added a vintage coat button in the middle. The 16x16 pillow in the other picture I obviously made from fabric left over from the curtains. The long pillow behind them both is, again, Ralph Lauren from TJ Maxx.
The pillow shams are also from da' Maxx. I paid less than $20 for the pair, but honestly if you have fabric you can make them for the same or less. They are basically 2 pieces of fabric (the quilted pretty piece on top, and plain ole' lightweight muslin on the back) stitched on three sides with ties sewn on to close them.
*Tip- I take all of the pillows (other than the 4 we sleep with) off of the bed every night. I never use the pillow sham pillows for sleeping... I've seen where some people do, but I wasn't brought up that way. I buy the cheapest foam pillows I can find (usually at WalMart for around $2 or $3 dollars each) and use those to stuff my shams. If one doesn't fit right, I'll jam 2 in there to make it full (these only have one)... but that way they keep their shape and I've only spent around $12 at most on the whole set up!
And the curtains... my absolute favorite part of the room. And the one thing I spent the most on. If you can sew a straight seam, you can make curtains. I have 10' ceilings in my room, with 2 windows facing outward at full length, and this odd window on one wall that's about 2' shorter. I needed approximately 20 yards of material to make the six panels I needed for the 3 windows. I ordered 25 yards to be on the safe side. I found the fabric here and got free shipping due to the amount I ordered. For less than $200 I was able to make custom draperies for three windows in the exact length I wanted.
Tip #1- Fortunately, this fabric was heavy weight- not necessarily upholstery weight, but heavy enough to hang well when put on the rods. However.... if you really want to make them hang straight and hold the gathering better, buy some cheap, round/flat, heavy fishing weights from the tackle shop and sew them into the folds on the inside right and left bottom folds of your panels. Yup! Instant professional looking draperies that cost less than nothing. Mine are hangin' like no bodies' business!
Tip #2- If you need rods, etc. to hang your mighty fine drapes on, DO NOT shop for drapery rods. They are expensive (around $20 to $30 a piece) and come in limited lengths. DO visit the home improvement store (ours is where they wear orange vests) and ask to be directed to the CLOSET DOWEL department (where you buy the wooden dowels to hang your clothes on). Same diameter, same product.... much longer lengths (that can be cut to order- no waste) and MUCH cheaper! Like $20 for all three windows!
Oh, and a tip I didn't even think of until I looked at the pictures...
Tip #3- the "finials" you see.... they would be "legs" for stools or whatever that I bought for less than $3 each (versus the $6 ones in the drapery isle). They have the same two-way screw thing (technical term) as the actual rod finials, but at half the price and much longer. I needed that length as I was a little "shy" in measuring the length of the dowel I needed! Drill a hole into the dowel, squirt some wood glue into the hole, and screw the "leg" on in. Presto!
And one of my more popular posts.... you can read all about the chest at the foot of my bed here. I use it to store my extra linen... and after all the trauma in completing it, it'll be around for a while!
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