When you need to keep warm in the winter, the chances are that you snuggle yourself under a duvet. Duvets on their own, though, aren’t always comfortable, as are often made of scratchy material and may be prone to parts of the stuffing breaking through, especially feathers. They’re also generally white or grey, meaning that they’re not much to look at. That’s before you take into consideration that big, bulky duvets are very hard to wash if they get dirty. For these reasons, you shouldn’t put a duvet on your bed without first putting it into a duvet cover.

Once your duvet is covered, it will be much nicer looking as well as more comfortable to look at. You need to make sure, however, that the colour of duvet cover you pick matches your bed and the rest of your room. It is also often a good idea to buy pillowcases at the same time as duvet covers so they will match exactly, as it can be very difficult to find a matching pillowcase a few years or even months down the line. Plus, a matching pillowcase and duvet cover set will generally be cheaper than buying both items separately.

Another thing to take care of is the material your duvet cover is made of, which is usually dictated by how much you pay for it. If you buy a man-made duvet cover, it may be made of a cheap man-made material such as polyester, and depending on the quality of your duvet could be worse than no cover at all. The best duvet covers are made from soft, natural materials like cotton, and are silky to the touch. If you want a good duvet cover, make sure it is 100% cotton.

If you can’t find the ideal duvet cover for you, though, then there are alternatives to buying one. You could, for example, decide to make one yourself from some fabric you’ve got – if you search the web for ‘make duvet cover’, you should find a whole selection of simple instructions to do this.