Comforters & duvets are versatile and functional ways to decorate your bed with a sense of fashion. With the variety of fabrics available for these bedding covers, and the ease in which you can change them, sets of duvet and comforter covers are one of the quickest, most fabulous, and most low-priced ways to change the look of your bedroom.



What's the difference between a comforter and a duvet?

Comforter – A quilted and filled blanket that you are able to wash. Synthetic fibers are commonly used for filling. There are an endless number of different colors and textures that they are made from.

Duvet – A dry-clean only quilted and filled blanket. Typically stuffed with down feathers. They are generally unembellished and come in white or off-white.

When shopping for a Duvet, examine the amount of fill. FILL is the cubic inches per ounce of down. Warmer duvets have a higher fill number. Also higher numbers tend to be better quality in general.

Most fill numbers are in the 500-550 range. Higher quality is between 600-700. And very high (and very expensive) fill numbers are over 700.

Down comforters are also identified by the region and time of year they were manufactured for. "summer" or "southern" weight duvets are the lightest type. A queen size summer duvet is about 26 ounces. Moving up to the "mountain" or "winter" weights, you would expect a queen size to come in at around 54 ounces.

The casing of the duvet, call the ticking, should be lightweight. The shell should also be made of down-proof fabric.

How a duvet is stiched is very important. The down inside of a duvet needs to be able to puff up (loft). Baffles and channels are the most common type of stitching. These help to distribute the down evenly throughout the comforter. Without properly stitched baffels, all of the down will have a tendency to bunch up at the bottom of the duvet. This can be fixed by shaking the comforter to redistribute them again. But with properly baffled stitching, you shouldn't have to do this as often.

Duvets are made to be covered by a removable case, kind of like a huge pillow case. This helps to protect the duvet and keep it clean. Because you are allowed to wash comforters, you don't need to use a cover with them. However, that doesn't mean that you can't use a duvet cover for your comforter.

The wonderful thing about comforter covers is that no matter how ancient or unattractive a comforter may be, dressing it up can give it a new life and a new purpose. If you live in a typical household have several old blankets, pillows, and comforters hidden away in the attic or under beds. Bring them out of the closet and make them useful again by throwing a comforter cover on and let them give your bedroom a makeover.

Comforter coverings are a easyway to change the mood of your bedroom without having to repaint or refurnish. Your bed is typically the main focus of your bedroom because it takes up such a large portion of the room. Because of its relatively large scale, it automatically draws the eye to it. No matter what else you have as far as decorating elements, your bed, or more specifically your comforter, is what will specify the style of your room.