A vote for brown and cream here. I don't care for anything as stark as black and white in the bedroom.

Your husband ought to count himself lucky you're not trying for a pink bedroom!

I prefer the brown and cream one too. While it's an all over pattern, it has a more delicate and softer look than the floral
one which would be too busy for me.

I prefer the brown and cream too! Very soft and calming to me.

Another vote for the brown and cream. It looks beautiful.

When I redid my DD's room when she moved out, I did tan/black bedding and painted the walls BM Putnam Ivory. Maybe take a look at that color. Not sure if it would clash with your hall color. It might. But, I really like the color. Neutral, but a green undertone (at least in my room). Might be worth a look.

I think the brown and cream is very pretty, but be aware that I believe the scenes are specifically of children, which is why you have only found it on children's bedding sites.

Found this site, don't know if you looked at these, but I prefer these black choices to the one you provided:

black and cream or white toile

I wonder if you have considered looking for a jacobean print instead of a toile? I found a couple that I thought were lovely, just as an idea of what is out there:

I thought this one felt very elegant and serene- camilla comforter set

This one, using a cream or beige solid bedskirt and euro shams, is very pretty - valdosta

I much prefer the pattern on the black than the one on the brown. That is a big room and I think you need some high impact bedding, especially if you plan to keep the walls neutral.
I can't imagine what color walls you would do with the black toile though!

My first choice was the brown/white, however I agree with cindyloo in that the brown/white probably wouldn't have the impact the black would. I think it would be a little blah. The camilla set posted by les is beautiful (maybe because I love aquas).

Country Curtains has a pretty black/natural toile with coordinating black check fabric and has window treatments that match. I've always really liked it.

seagrass

Here is a link that might be useful: Counrty Curtains Lenoxdale Toile

I just really like B&W toile, so that would be my choice over any other color.

The brown & cream is more soothing to me. Since you've only found it on children's websites, does it come in a big enough size?

In the picture, the black and cream looks more like black and white. It's very pretty, but I think it'd be hard to match with green walls, and it would turn out looking too cold. It would probably work better with cream (or white) walls similar to the background color, going for contrast, or a light grey. Maybe even blue. The brown toile is softer and could work with green walls.
Black, white, and green vs brown, cream, and green. I think the second combination uses colors found together in nature, and would be more soothing.
I also love the Country Curtains toile bedding someone posted.

jillinnj - my halls are whole wheat so if I went with a neutral I would probably pick something off that card.

les917 - thanks so much for all the link! That first link you provided has Brighton toile set on it which is the exact same as the black & white pattern I posted. They show it on that link in the red/white. But it is the exact same pattern. The Brighton sets come in green/white, blue/white, red/white, and the black/ivory as in the pic I posted.

The other two links with the jacobean patterns are very pretty but just not the look I am going for in this bedroom. The previous bedding (that I am moving into the guest room) was too busy and dark for me and I very much want simple toile pattern that is on a white or cream background.

cindyloo123 - I am sort of leaning more towards the black and cream as well because I think it might be easier to coordinate with, since black and cream pretty much go with anything. My hallway color of whole wheat happens to look excellent with black accents. I also agree that because this room is large, that it can handle black. Remember that I don't want to use the black/white ticking stripe dust ruffle...I will use a solid white one so that it simplifies it even more. As you probably noticed in my other thread with all the pics of my bedroom, my bedroom is L shaped and the pattern would only be in one part of the room unless I used the same fabric on the window in the sitting area.

seagrass - I was just looking at the country curtains pattern this morning before I even saw your post! That one is very pretty...the only drawback is that it is a duvet cover and not a quilt. If I went with that one, I might get a solid cream matelasse quilt to fold at the bottom of the bed because I really like the homespun look of a quilt. The country curtain option also has lots of choices for window treatments. I could go with toile valances and plain white curtains, or a swag, there is more room to play there.

My other more RISKY idea that I have been throwing around in my head is to just get plain solid cream bedding and to put black/cream toile wallpaper on just the wall behind the bed. Not sure what the rest of the room would be painted, most likely a neutral off whole wheat card. I swore we would not be doing wallpaper in this house but now I am thinking a touch of it here and there might be the trick. LOL :)

Here is a pic of a powder room I found...I just love the pattern..
{{!gwi}}

And here is a pic of a bedroom I found with a section of toile paper on the wall behind the bed...
{{!gwi}}

I also should mention that my furniture is a dark wood...it is cherry but the stain is more similar to a walnut. Many pictures I see with black/white toile bedding show black painted furniture. Not sure if that matters.

Here is a pic I found of black toile bedding with sage green walls...I do no care for this particular pattern of bedding at all but just showing the pic for a visual of what sage would like on walls.
{{!gwi}}

ANd here is a pic of a bathroom with sage on walls and black/white toile curtain.
{{!gwi}}

I had black and cream toile with green walls(BM Soft Fern). It was beautiful!

I've always loved the bathroom with the sage walls!

I used cream bedding and brought in Toile with my curtains and bedside table.

dawnp - Really?!?!?!?! I would love to see a pic of that! The soft fern on the paint chip looks so pretty. I actually have that paint chip sitting on my dresser and I look at it everday. Of course I would have to get a sample and put it up on the walls. Nice to know that you used that in your room and you liked it :)

msrose - your room is GORGEOUS! That is very much along the lines of what I am thinking of. And your bed is very similar to mine. I have a four poster rice carved bed with similar wood tones.

Here is another pic I found which is more along the lines of the look for the bed...
This is a brown toile on cream background with the type of bedskirt that I want...
{{!gwi}}

Here's another site carrying the brown/white toile, plus, it's on sale! It's definitely a pastoral scene and if they had it in Calif. King I'd buy it in a heartbeat!

Here is a link that might be useful: Bedding

You said you want calm and serene, so the brown and cream is the better candidate. Black and white tends to be more energetic. The brown and cream is soothing.

Nicole

Of the two you posted, I prefer the brown and cream combination. There are also toiles in a tan and black, similar to the wallpaper you posted (which is lovely, btw).

I know you are set on a plain white or cream dust ruffle, but you might want to try it with no dust skirt just to see what that looks like. I find that leaving off the dust skirt simplifies the look completely. We've done it in one bedroom and I like it!

Toile is my very favorite pattern... I have had it paired with checks and ticking stripes both. At the moment I have a green Laura Ashley toile on our bed as a bedskirt with a 2 inch band of green check on the bias, and the same on a 36" skirted table. In my daughter's bedroom we have blue and white toile. I love it and don't think you can go wrong!

Thanks so much for your input!! Right now I am thinking along the lines of putting toile on the windows (so the pattern is evenly distributed throughout the room) and having a toile quilt folded across the bottom of the bed. The rest of the bed would be solid cream color. I also would want coordinating toile shams on the bed. The trouble is that with the toile bedding I like, those particular sets don't seem to have curtains. My bed is not in the center of the room because it is L shaped, so that is why I think that it is more important to have the pattern on the windows, rather than solely on the bed.

I reallY LOVE that last picture I posted a few posts above this one with the brown on cream and cream gauzy looking bedskirt. It is a good price too (only $79.00 for the quilt and shams!!) My only hesitation with that is the fact that there are no coordinating window treatments. I guess I could put plain solid cream panels and valances on the windows. The toile would only be on the bed. I have a very difficult time visualizing these things!

this is nice.. but expensive. It may give you some ideas how to decorate the bed though.

http://www.horchow.com/p/Legacy-Home-Sydney-Bed-Linens-Bed-Covers/cprod66090069/?ecid=HCCINexTagPriceFeed&003=5842094&010=cprod66020159sku&srccode=cii_5784816&cpncode=20-81750504-2

link to bedding

Here is a link that might be useful: link

lauriedee - I love love love that bedding! You were right it is expensive...but looks like only available in a twin size. That is SO beautiful!

lauriedee - I was just peeping around on that site you linked - the Horchow site - and I fell in love with this bedding. It comes in several colors but I like the berry one the best. It looks like a muted red pattern on a cream background. Super expensive but perfect!

Here is a link that might be useful: French Laundry Home Toile Bird Bed Linens

See, you SAY you want calm, but what you fall in love with is not calm. The set you already bought is beautiful and makes a striking statement on the bed. The red bird toile you say is "perfect", is not my idea of "calm". I LOVE both sets, but I am confused by this idea of calm, lol.

I think you need something striking on your bed. I do not think you want to put a blast of pattern on your wall and then leave your bed a solid color. That might be the way to go in some rooms, but you have a large room and I think the bed is the place to highlight.

Why don't you go through a lot of bedroom pics and keep setting aside the ones you fall in love with. Then, when you have a bunch, look to see what those rooms have in common. What is the feature that keeps grabbing your interest? Is it the wall color, the patterns, the calmness of the overall design?

I think the bird toile is divine--- AND calming. Used the right way, toile produces a very monochromatic, restful room. French Laundry products are generally good quality, if not good value. Matouk, otoh, is well priced and wears like iron.

Here is a link to an extremely reasonably priced bedding set.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bed Linens

walnutcreek - that link is not working for me...I would love to see it though

cindyloo123 - you make lots of sense! :) I have been saving lots of pics of bedrooms that I like and it is helping me somewhat. My current bedding (that I moved to the guest room is very pretty, but I think the boldness of the color is what is turning me off. If that fabric was in my dining room or kitchen I would love it, but it was not a good choice for the bedroom. In contrast, that bird toile pattern from Horchow that I saw seems calming to me because it is a light color solid background and the pattern is not overly busy. I would not be loading the pattern all over the room...just on the bed. That set does not have curtains available so I would be on my own with that. And if I splurged for the duvet cover and shams, I would not even get the bedskirt because it would not fit my bed (I need a 21" inch drop). I completely understand what you are saying about making the bed the focal point - my only trouble is that the room is L shaped and for balance I would need something on the window in the sitting area that echoes whatever goes on the bed.

Here is a visual of that L shaped with the green paint that I hate and the old bedding..
{{!gwi}}
Because the bed is on one side of the room, if all the pattern is on the bed, the room is unbalanced. Perhaps it is more important to put pattern on the windows because that way the pattern would be evenly spread around the room. What you can't see in the photo is that there are two windows to the right of the bed that are not visible in this picture.

kswl - thanks for the info. I am contemplating the bird toile!!!! Like I said above, I would only be getting the duvet cover and shams (still would be super expensive) and then I would have to somehow come up with window treatments. If I went with this pattern, I might have to go with a pale yellow for the walls (like BM windham cream, which I have in my dining room).

Here is the link so that you can copy and paste it into your browser.

http://www.ideeli.com/events/76546/offers/3463762/latest_view/1972950

Wow, for the price of that bird toile bedding, you may as well get a custom bed/window set done. If you would be happy with something as simple as a duvet cover, I am pretty sure you can go find the fabric of your dreams, with matching or at least coordinating fabric for the windows, and have some stuff made.

Do you leave near any of the Interior Alternative Fabric Outlets?

I am in New Jersey and I have never heard of Interior Alternative Fabric Outlets.

The big price tag is what is preventing me from ordering that bird toile bedding immediately. I really do love it and think it would work perfectly in my house but it is so ridiculously expensive! The other thing preventing me from getting it is the fact that I would be on my own to find window treatments that coordinated with it. Still contemplating though! :)

OP, just a couple of options for you to look at below, although you may find them too busy. These are fabrics available online (and you can get a sample piece of at least this first one at the Brickhouse link). Then you could just order what you needed for your accessories and window treatments...

More images here of this red bird toile fabric:

More info on the above fabric at this link: Blog

I couldn't get this one pictured below to link properly, but it appears to be a very similar pattern (w/ various color choices) for an even better price. Just type "3094 LR" (w/out the quotes)in the Search Box at the following website:

Sorry that first pic is so big; I copied the link directly from the website and couldn't resize it.

Good luck :-)

I was inspired by your toile bedding choices to do an ebay search and found this- Ballard toile quilt and shams- Item #150749654252- sorry I can't post a link. The price is great and the seller (not me) has more sets in different colors and sizes.
It seems your serene style is simple and pretty, not pared down greige and ice blue.

jbrig - thank you so very much for that info about the fabric links!! Are you suggesting that I get fabric to just have curtains made? Or do you mean to get fabric to have bedding made as well? I have never done anything like that before - but my mother has...she has selected fabrics and has had window treatments made to match her rooms.

sonicmom - I have been perusing ebay as well and I have seen those sets as well! I actually have them saved on my "watch" list on ebay...hee hee. So affordable too - I think I posted a pic of one of them further up in this thread - a quilt and shams for $79.00. I would still be on my own to have curtains made, but I would be in the same boat even if I splurge on the expensive bedding on the Horchow site. I would have to have curtains made either way. Decisions Decisions!!!! I definitely think the toile patterns are simple and pretty - just like you said - I also do like the whole icy blue, gray-blue look for bedrooms - in fact that is what I had in my last house. But this house has such an open layout and I am wanting colors to flow from room to room, so I am leaning away from blue in this room (my house is all yellow, sage, red accents). That is why I can picture the toile in my bedroom - especially the red bird toile - because it brings red into my bedroom, but TOO MUCH red - just a touch of simple red pattern.

nutmegxo, if you know of someone reputable who sews home decor, you might be able to have both bedding and curtains made--or you might decide to do only one or the other, depending on what else you find. (How's that for a wishy-washy answer ;-) )

Obviously you would want to get sample pieces before you committed to buying yardage, but many online places will send you samples; some of them will even refund your cost for the sample if you purchase additional yardage later.

Looking forward to seeing your final choices.

thanks again jbrig!!! I truly appreciate your help!! I am going to look into this... I noticed on that craft town site, they even showed coordinating fabrics (like ticking, checks, etc.) and definitely afforadable!

There is an Interior Alternative Outlet in Newark, DE. Depending on where you are in NJ, you may be 20 minutes away, or you could be four hour away. People come down from NY all the time to shop at IA. They carry many designer fabrics at a fraction of the cost. The fabric runs between $6-$15 a yard.

The DE store is located at:
211 Executive Drive Newark, DE 19702
(302) 454-3232

Get your beautiful toile bedding in any of the mentioned colors & do your sage walls but I would use cream or matching paint-colored (sage) panels so that you can change bedding if you wish. If you have to bring the toile over to the windows, I bet you could easily make curtain tie backs??
Can't wait to see what you decide.

Thanks everyone for all the info on fabric buying. I will have to look into that..I would have to weigh out the price of having a duvet cover made versus buying one ready made. It is really great to know there is a world of fabric out there if I end up having to go that route.

loribee - do you really think plain cream curtains would look okay? I definitely love the look of gauzy dreamy cream colored curtains on the windows...my only worry is that the toile pattern would be on the bed only. My bed is on the right side of the room...and I worry about imbalance. In my last house our bed was smack in the center of the room and so it didn't matter.

If I end up splurging on this red bird toile duvet cover (or going with ANY toile fabric pattern for that matter), would plain cream colored curtains look okay?

Here is a picture of curtains that I have had my eye on from Country Curtains. These curtains look so calming and pretty to me and I would love to have them in my bedroom..

Dotted Swiss from Country Curtains
{{!gwi}}

Also, I like the Sanibel Smocked curtains from Country Curtains as well....I would get them in Natural (not white)
{{!gwi}}

No matter what curtains I choose, I plan on hanging them on a decorative rod several inches above the window like in this picture here.. keep in mind that I have white plantation blinds on my window...would that look okay?
{{!gwi}}

nutmegxo--I love the brown and cream toile bedding! Don't mean to hijack your thread but am wondering if anyone has an opinion as to whether it could be used with gray wisp wall color? I do agree with what Loribee says about using solid drapes. I have made the mistake before of using patterned drapes and then wanting to change my bedding, which I love to do. Good luck.

sis2two - are you thinking of getting the brown/cream bedding that I posted at the beginnning of this thread? I am not familiar with gray wisp paint color.

If your still thinking of the first two items, I definitely prefer the brown and cream.

I absolutely love the brown and cream toile that you showed. I would love to use that in my bedroom. The gray wisp by BM is a gray, bluish green color which is kind of a spa-like color. I have always thought it would look good with brown and I love the pastoral feel of the pattern. I think it would look good in your bedroom. I am like you in that I like a quilt, but the pattern is so pretty on the duvet, that I would fold the duvet across the foot of the bed and use my cream matelasse as my main bed cover. Have you decided what you are going to do?

Regarding the French Laundry bird toile. I fell in love with a French Laundry pattern from Horchow but couldn't bring myself to spend that much money for a king duvet cover etc. so I only bought the shams and coordinated them with a plain quilt and euroshams. The Horchow shams are very heavy and thick with stiff cording; they look gorgeous but I would never want to sleep under this kind of fabric. I think it would even be too bulky (with a duvet in it) to fold at the bottom of the bed.

You could definitely have a few pieces made with the fabric posted above for less than the French Laundry set. If having custom drapes to match is too costly, perhaps you can use the pattern in some other way in that part of the room; an upholstered chair, pillows on a chair, a table topper, dresser scarf etc.

For what it's worth, I really like the toile quilt with the gauzy dust ruffle.

sis2two - No I have not decided!! LOL I am all over the place with this and my mind is doing mental gymnastics trying to pull it together in my head so that I don't make any costly mistakes that I will end up regretting. At first I thought I wanted black/cream. Then I was leaning towards brown/cream. Now I am stuck on a red/cream set on the Horchow site. I am trying to work out the details of what would go on the windows with any of the patterns. Once I figure all that out, I will then attempt the paint color. LOL I am still confused and frozen as to what to do next.

cheri127 - thanks for the info. Your bed looks very pretty! What color is that painted on your wall behind the bed? It looks like a golden yellow in the pic. That is interesting what you said about the material being stiff..I was wondering that myself, about the feel of the material. Even if I did get the French Laundry Duvet (or use similar red toile fabric to have one made) I am not envisioning what kind of color should go on the walls. The only color I could imagine would be some type of cream or yellow.

I am having such a mental block with this room! The key problems being, that it is so open (because of french doors) to the rest of the house so it must flow. And the other dilemma being that because of the L shape in the room, the bedding pattern will be on side of the room. I very much want to go with the pretty cream colored curtains that I posted above but still unsure if those would coordinate with any of the bedding I am considering. I need an HGTV expert to come rescue me!!! lol :)

sis2two - I just was googling about BM Gray Wisp...that color looks SO PRETTY! I think that color would definitely look good with brown, which makes me wonder!! Ha Ha! My furniture wood tones are dark brown and I think would look really good with a color like that. I also agree the brown/cream toile would tie in very well. My only hesitation with using this color is WILL IT FLOW WITH MY WHOLE WHEAT HALLWAY??!! Open layouts can be a curse when it comes to decorating!!! I am yanking my hair out now!

Of the two original, I prefer the softer tones of the brown and cream. The black looks a bit busy and harsh.

I do like the softer black toile fabric on the shower curtain, and it looks lovely with the sage green walls.