I haven't seen this, but I myself am tired of over-pillowed, big fluffy mounds. Just like all of my bathroom have white tile, all of my bedrooms have white matelasse. Ann Gish has some very nice bedspreads.

Where i do like to have a quilt, i try to tame it and hide its fluffiness by putting it under a heavy matelasse.

Oh gosh, not me! I still love positively sinking into a bed of beautiful, puffy, cloud-soft linens. Ahhhhhhhh ...

I've noticed this trend, too. I do think the pendulum is swinging away from frantically busy, pillow-laden beds. And, although I never buy anything for the sake of following a trend, I did recently replace the pillowy cream comforter in our MBR with a simple, thin, cream matelasse coverlet. We like this so much better. I've also relegated the three decorative throw pillows on the bed to the top of our blanket chest instead. It's now much simpler to climb into bed each evening and I like that a lot! I am seeing more of the simple spreads and coverlets in the catalogs lately but, like you, would appreciate more choices. As it is, I'm now looking for one to replace the handmade, fitted, too-heavy bedspread on our guest room daybed, as well. Hopefully, we'll soon have a wider range of simpler, thin coverlets and bedspreads to choose from.
Lynn

Sinking into, not smothered under! I think bedding styles for a few decades have tended toward a sort of Big Hair Texas look (apologies where applicable).

Pillows on beds....always think of what Ed Begley Jr said in his "green" program...whatever that was called....

Bed pillows are a government make work project...you take them off at night and then have to put them back on in the morning...serves no useful purpose.

Really cracked me up and I often think of that when I'm taking my bed pillows off my bed at night....or putting them back on in the morning!

. . . that, like Jen, I still do love a nice fluffy, comfy bed. So I'll clarify my above statement: I now have a lovely, thin cream matelasse coverlet over a fluffy down comforter/blanket. . . . and a nice cushiony mattress pad under the sheet. And, since we love to read in bed in the evenings, we still each have a king and a standard pillow to prop ourselves up against for that.
I love to be comfy in my bed, I just like a simpler, thinner coverlet and no throw pillows to deal with these days.
Lynn

While I looooove the look of a puffy bed, what a pain to 'put back together'! It isn't simply a matter of straightening sheets. and making up the rest of the bed, it's plumping and *placing* of the pillows, not just haphazardly throwing them on the bed.

I've recently purchased a butter color quilted(thin) bedspread, that just happens to match the drapes. Everything else is white since I find it more soothing(mentally!)than a color. I'm all for an easier-to-make bed.

I've had my guest rooms done this way for a few years now. I love the sharp look of a perfectly made bed ready for guest to climb into. You just can't beat the look of matelasse in my book and you can change the accent colors so easily. AD had a couple of perfect example if great bedding this month. I am in the southeast and we don't need too much extra covering in the winter months. I might feel different if it were colder.

Isn't that look classic? It seems like I've seen it for a longtime, but not the matchy wt's.
Duvets lined with thin quilts for heft not bulk, stacked pillows?

I like lots of pillows on my bed and while I put them in decorative shams, they are also quite usable. It only takes one extra minute to take them off at night and put them back in the morning. I'm willing to give up 12 hours per year to enjoy the layering of pattern and texture on my bed. Because I have feather bed topper, my bed will never have sharp lines, so I will continue to embrace the puffy look for now. I do simplify the coverings during the summer, but I love to have lots of layers in the winter.

It's probably pretty classic, but I would say it hasn't been on trend necessarily. I don't think I have ever seen a formally dressed bed in some magazines, like Dwell. But I think fancier bedding is still a bit more on trend than a stripped down appearance.

It seems to vary by issue, but I am seeing a bit more "allover" with fabric and matching wallpaper and such, often very busy and elaborate patterning. A couple of recent bedrooms I have seen are the opposite of soothing. Interesting to look at but very busy.

I'm willing to give up 12 hours per year to enjoy the layering of pattern and texture on my bed.
Me too, fun!

You mean piles of pillows are OUT?

I always suspected them of being hosts to bedbugs, and never figured out where they should go while the bed was being used.

Lazygardens, that is exactly what I was thinking has started this trend too.I think it is a trickle effect of hotels paring down their bedding due to the bed bug invasions of the last few years. Duvets are harder to keep clean so hotels have been using just sheets on their beds for some time now.

Both looks work here -- with some reservations (just a hotel pun LOL!)

In the warm months -- a thinner RL comforter with an old satin comforter folded along the bottom of the bed.

In the cooler months -- a lighter duvet (with a cover) with another folded satin comforter along the bottom of the bed.

The "pile of pillows" issue has long been resolved here -- my DH threatened to duck-tape the entire lot together. LOL!!! :)

SO -- we have our sleeping pillows and a pair of decorative pillow/sham that match the main bedding plus ONE seasonal decor pillow. That's it!!! :)

"host to bedbugs"? Where would they come from?

I have noticed more pared down looks in some magazines and even some catalogs now that you mention it. I've gone to either matelasse or thin bedspreads with fewer pillows in our bedding and guest rooms too. But I do have a fluffy comfortor folded on the end of one guest bed over white matelasse. Couldn't resist it and the pretty embroidered pillows that coordinated.

Teacats, the duct tape comment by your DH is priceless!

Glad to hear I'm back in style! No piles of pillows here, just cute bed sheets that can't be seen until we get in the bed, and flat or quilted blankets with color. Usually a flat blanket folded at the end of the bed during winter.

I have two large covered pillows, but those are used to sit up in bed to read.

Heck, then I'm in style! I used to have a puffy comforter and duvet covers. But then I married DH, and he hated big puffy covers. So the comforter went away and the empty duvet became a bedspread. And there is a blanket at the foot of the bed.

I guess it's not so much the big, puffy comforter that I'm envisioning - but a simply covered, very plush duvet and a couple of snuggle-right-down pillows for comfy sleeping. I've got a pile of throw pillows that reside on a chair most of the time, because, while I do make my bed every morning, I'm too darn lazy to add the decorative pillows.

I could be very cozy/comfy here (although the throw pillows might get cast aside):
{{!gwi}}

I saw this early last year in WSJ (not quite the design trend setter I know:). Although we are in northern CA where it does get cool, we prefer to sleep with lighter bedding.. The heavier comforters always made feel hot and uncomfortable and despite repeated requests, DH refused to tidily put away the decorative pillows at night and I have tripped and fallen a couple of times during my 3am wanderings in search of water. So when a newly married niece admired the pillows, they were promptly donated and we have not looked back. Matelesse covers sound lovely..

Here is a link that might be useful: Down with Comforters!

We have antique beds with simple bedding, so the beds themselves are the stars. In winter, I love our down comforters with white duvets on all the beds. Come Spring, I switch to white matelasse. Always use white sheets and only the sleeping pillows on the beds. Someday, I may start to crave color, but for now, bedrooms are simple and serene.

It's funny in the WSJ article, how they show the pilows. I used an ID probably a decade ago who did my pillows that way, and I much prefer it to what you see in many mags.

But my cleaning people never got the memo. They merrily prop and fluff pillows. And the square ones get turned on a jaunty angle to make diamonds. I don't have the heart to "correct" them on such small matters, but it drives me crazy. They do the same thing with occasional chairs and framed photos. Everything has to be on angle!

I had this one cleaning woman who would do the same thing! As soon as she left, I unangled all the pillows!

I like the thinner bedspreads because they are easier to wash and we share our bed with a dog and a cat. So our bedspreads and blankets get washed (bleached, line dried,etc) fairly often.

That Down with Comforters site, with the blue bedding may be the trend, but it would take me ten minutes every morning to get it just right. All that tucking under and getting everything so smooth and straight. Although I do like the look, sort of, preferring blankets to always be covered up.

Growing up, all beds in my parents' home were done exactly in the manner shown in AD as described by Pal. No duvets, duvet covers, throws/coverlets neatly folded at the ends of our beds. No decorative pillows, etc. I'm almost certain, that made my DM's life alot less hectic as she went about her morning routine of putting the house in order. Probably cut down on a huge amount of laundry as well.

I just received the PB "home" catalog which has very nice Matelesse duvet covers and quilts (Rustic Luxe bedding). Have the page dogeared since I'm keeping my 3 season down comforter on our bed thru winter this year, and would like to use a Matalesse duvet cover. Love Matalesse, a very pretty & classic style of dressing a bed. Also, I've decided to do away with the 12 plus pillows that don't always make it back onto the bed after it's made quickly in an effort to get out the door in the morning. Besides, DH hates all of the pillows. Much too much effort at this junction in life ~ for me. Only the necessary sleeping pillows will adorn our bed this coming season. Best part, I don't think I will need to enter a 12 step program to part with all of the "stuff".

Prior to the onset of a period era of nightly power surges, our bed was all layered, puffy and loaded with unnecessary pillows.

Good thread Pal. Timely, for me, and just the reminder I needed, to pick of the catalog and place my order. Now, to decide on a color...

About 15 years ago I worked for a large chain that displayed every one of their bedroom sets with a combination of matelasse coverlets, solid cotton sheets and pillowcases. The linens and coverlets were a mix of antique white, tan, soft blue, light sage and buttercream yellow. Bed pillows were placed flat and stacked 2 high. No accent pillows at all. Clean and simple.

The bedroom department had a about 30 different styles of furniture. No matter what style the furniture was, it worked beautifully. I thought the concept was brilliant!

i am noticing this as well. i much prefer less fluffy beds without large amounts of pillows. i love our down comforter, but i equally like thin wool blankets, matelase coverlets, and folded thin blankets at the foot of the bed. eileen fischer makes some nice pieces for this "thinner" look, but i also like nice European wool blankets too.

along the line of this thread, i fell in love with the pillows in austria a few months ago--two large European down-filled pillows that, by themselves, were rather thin, but when stacked made the perfect sleeping arrangement. i've not found a replacement to buy and the hotel won't sell them or give out vendor info. i also have always liked the idea of each person in a double bed having their own blanket. anyone else like this method?

Hmm, two blankets would really solve some problems at my house! Might have to explore that.

I have always had a simple bedding look. When we got married we got a nice bedding set with a fluffy comforter, which we now use. The dust ruffle has never seen the light of day though. I did decide to use one pillow sham on a regular pillow for a more finished look, but it mostly lives on the floor at the foot of the bed. DH refers to it as The Fake Pillow.

I've noticed that as well Pal, in virtually all the mags I look enjoy anyway. I actually mentioned it to DH last week - he likes lots of pillows. Which is odd, because he is more of a minimalist than I am.

We switch it up seasonally though - thin coverlet for 6 months a year (no extra pillows), thick duvet 6 months a year (plus a few decorative pillows). DH picked up a few decorative pillows last year, they will be re-homed (no doubt my DD will want them) once we get our new bed and finish the bedroom reno.

I've noticed that for awhile now, Pal. I've never been a tons of pillows and fluffy duvet or feather bed kinda gal anyway. But the blue WSJ bed, for example, is too up tight for me - maybe since I was in the Army Reserve and remember all too well having to get up 30 minutes early on inspection days to make sure the wool blanket on my bunk was tight enough to flip a quarter - yes, they really do/did that!

I'm somewhere in between, with a quilted RL bedspread (reversible and washable). Four shams (basically flat, not fluffy), 1 decorative pillow. DD1 is quite the opposite, having always been a Shabby Chic fan (the original, but not her current lines) and worked in the San Francisco stores. Her bed is always made up with 2 Euros, 2 standard, a few decorative pillows, a feather bead and 2 duvets with feather inserts. All her pillows have feather inserts as well, so it's all something she loves to sink into at night.

With some of these magazines though, which tend to feature some fairly high-concept stuff on occasion, we may open an issue soon that has a bedroom is really high baroque with an elaborate bed.

I will still have lots of pillows because I love reading and watching TV in bed. I unwind at the end of the day for a couple of hours before I fall asleep. I NEED pillows for that! lol

IMO it's modernism spreading out...that's been modernist style for decades, hasn't it? So now there will be Target minimalist fake suzani blankets...Anyone seen The Story of Stuff?

Honestly, though, blankets hurt my feet! Strange, I know. My feet are hyperflexible (my ballet teacher loved that) and the weight of a blanket makes them practically curve into little Cs, and then I hurt when I walk the next day. The weightless warmth of our big down comforter still amazes me and fills me with admiration for nature's mastery of physics every winter when we get it out. : ). I don't do the big sets of decorative pillows, though. Our choices are pretty much dictated by function and I completely agree with the 'pillowscape' concept being one of those worthless form-only 'purchasing opportunities'.

My friend (an ID) did a baroque (or similar to baroque) bedroom last year. The most elaborate bed (an antique) I've ever seen in my life (well outside of a castle anyway). It's impressive! I forget what kind of bedding he has on it, I'll have to ask.

People who highjack discussions can sometimes be so inconsiderate and annoying...and yet, here I go. ;)

I'll have to take a more careful look at the bedrooms in AD and other magazines; I hadn't paid much attention to how the beds were done.

No, the thing I've noticed about this and the previous issue of AD: the use of the word "bespoke." Really, has there ever been, anywhere, anytime, entire universe included, anything more pretentious than that?

sochi, I'd like to hear more about your friend's baroque bed. I've been wanting some kind of Renaissance tapestry look for a bedspread. I've not gotten around to looking for such a thing, so I don't know whether it's something to be found on my budget. Baroque could be really interesting instead.

No, the thing I've noticed about this and the previous issue of AD: the use of the word "bespoke." Really, has there ever been, anywhere, anytime, entire universe included, anything more pretentious than that?

Seriously? It's what the English say instead of "custom" or made to order. How is that pretentious?

I get teased sometimes when I say "veranda," but we have three of them and that's what they were labeled on my house plans. Plus, I'm from and still live in the south, where verandas are common. Plus, I love Veranda magazine. ;)

My house is an English cottage, and my kitchen happens to be bespoke - it was handmade by a cabinetmaker in England to my specifications. Can't get anymore "bespoke" than that! ;D Now, granted I don't go around saying "I have a bespoke (or even custom) kitchen," but it is what it is.

I hate it when I am the thread killer.....

;D

"I hate it when I am the thread killer....."

Heh heh heh ;)

I bought the Dec. issue of Traditional Home, which was not very interesting. I just took a look at it, and yes, in at least one featured house, the MBR's bed was covered with a blanket of some sort and with a quilt or coverlet folded at the foot. There were a fair number of pillows, but no puffy bed coverings. Very nice; it's a look that I like.

Allison, at the risk of rekilling this thread, I know what bespoke means, and that it's English -- and that was my point! AD is not published in England. If they're going to pretentiously use the Britspeak "bespoke," then they should refer to "white-coloured walls" or a "beige colour" or the kitchen as the "centre" of the home and so on. OK, I'm finished with this point, other than listening for the funeral bells ringing for this thread. Will my photo now appear on a Wanted poster? ;)))

The ultimate in pretentiousness, and industry bumptiousness, to me is assuring readers that the decor (i.e., the owners) is not pretentious. Usually the room costs more than my entire house and is totally lacking in fact ancestral portraits. So pretending to what? Being able to afford it?

I agree that glossy mags have had rooms without a pouffy duvet for a very long time, maybe always. Usually fairly plain middles with a very expensive something folded across the bottom. I noticed because DH and I have different thermostats and I have to do a layered bed, like traveling clothes. Love the pouffiness, but I'll end up freezing under a sheet before I can spend a night cooking under one of them.

As a matter of fact, we sleep bare at home, but I learned long ago to take warm PJs and socks when visiting others in cool weather. Just in case.

""No, the thing I've noticed about this and the previous issue of AD: the use of the word "bespoke." Really, has there ever been, anywhere, anytime, entire universe included, anything more pretentious than that?"

Seriously? It's what the English say instead of "custom" or made to order. How is that pretentious?"

It's pretentious because they are purposely reviving a word that has not been in customary use for some time, in order to make themselves sound more elite, special, etc.

lynxe, DH and I were just making fun of a store we saw (in the very expensive Town and Country plaza next to Stanford) the store is named Bespoke Home!

I've noticed Canadian magazines using 'bespoke' quite a bit too lately. We used to just say custom. I think there is a bit of pretension involved for sure, but there is no harm in it I guess. Bespoke is a great word, I quite like it.

When I use "colour' 'centre' and 'neighourhood' I promise I'm not trying to be pretentious. It's just how we spell (and I'm pretty hard core about it). But I'd still have a hard time using 'bespoke' in casual conversation, in person or here. Maybe in a few years.

I mentioned Canada, now THAT's a conversation killer. :)

Sochi, we have to feel superior when we can -it happens so rarely. I used to take our pronounciation of foyer for granted. After viewing HGTV for a few years, I feel like one of the elite every time I say, "please come into the foy-yay" (and then I giggle a little bit to myself - because, after all, I am Canadian.)

I just saw a big spread in an online magazine/blog about the pared down beds, but I can't for the life of me remember which one. Maybe Cote de Texas? Maybe someone mentioned it above already? But even the puffy down duvets were tucked in tight around the edges. Here, where it is really bloody cold for 10 months of the year, I still want my puffy duvet. But being a slave to fashion I will probably have a flat blanket laying across the foot of bed - possibly even tucked in- before long.

daisychain, I like my duvet too, but I'm happy to get rid of it after about four or five months of it. I love the seasonal change of linens.

There was a conversation about 'foyer' on another thread a few months back. I travel a fair bit, have lived in the UK and now live in a bilingual city, so I'm pretty accustomed to accents of all kinds, but I admit when I watched HGTV (a decade or so ago I guess) and watched American shows, the way foyer was pronounced irritated my ear. Not sure why that one word, out of a 100 on the show that are probably pronounced a little differently, bothered me so much. Maybe it is like certain colours that bother some people and give them migraines, who knows.

"Not sure why that one word, out of a 100 on the show that are probably pronounced a little differently, bothered me so much."

Your question got me interested in the derivation of the word. According to one explanation, it's a fairly new word in English, taken from the French to England only in the mid-19th century. Hence, the French-ish pronounciation in England and much of the former Empire (foy-yay). In America, the pronounciation has been, well, Americanized further (foy-err). IOW, the phonetic shift is still occurring. The explanation also went on to say that, when people (presumably foy-err-pronouncing Americans) realized they were mispronouncing, they began saying foy-yay. IOW, the phonetic shift may have halted.

Is that TMI? Probably. :)

I've always pronounced it foy-err. When I hear foy-yay, even though it seems to be the correct (?) pronounciation, I envision Hyacinth Bucket!

I absolutely hate the word foyer when pronounced as foy-yay, even though it's 'politically correct'. My BFF uses it and I cringe when I hear it~she corrected me once and I told her I would continue to call it a foyer, as foy-yay sounds 'stupid'.

As others have said, it sounds so pretentious. Even if you were describing a mcmansion, it would sound equally as obnoxious.

I find it appropriate when describing the entryway in a castle/large estate, such as Hearst Castle.

Thanks lynxe, for the detail on foyer, very interesting. I'll have to google Hyacinth Bucket though.

Patty cakes, it isn't pretentious if that the way you've always pronounced it, and people from different regions/areas/countries do pronounce things differently, for better or for worse. Hearing it pronounced "foy-er" irritates me, but I am able to just shrug it off, as that is how Americans pronounce it. It isn't good or bad, it just is. And as lynxe pointed out, the English language (and pronunciation) continues to evolve, also for better or for worse. Vive la difference.

Vive la difference

How pretentious. Why didn't you just say, "Whatever floats yer boat"?

(**ducking and running for cover ... I am just teasing, by the way** ;-D)

We tend to say "front hall" "kitchen" although this includes an eating area; "extra room" or "room over the garage" instead of bonus room, and other basic descriptives rather than the house plan or real estate terms.

Of course we also say "dead" and "house" (not "home" unless we are talking about going to our Own house and Never when it has to do with someone else's house) so we speak a plain and unembellished language in those terms --even though we have big vocabularies and use fancy or the most specific language in lots of other senses.