00:00:07
Speaker 1: I am at the Adairs Summer House where they've just launched the most gorgeous new collection. I've been hosting masterclasses today on how to style the perfect bed.
00:00:22
Speaker 2: Now the guests are gone, I thought we'd record this one just for you.
00:00:40
Speaker 1: People would argue that the kitchen is the heart of the.
00:00:44
Speaker 2: Home, but I say it's actually the bedroom.
00:00:47
Speaker 1: A great night's sleep will set you up for absolutely anything, and it all comes down to creating the perfect bed. One of the questions I get asked most about bed linen is does thread count really matter?
00:01:02
Speaker 2: And the short answer is no, not really.
00:01:04
Speaker 1: What's important is choosing what's right for you. I was lucky enough to go on a sleep retreat where we met with a sleep psychologist and were able to experience all different techniques from meditation to sound and scent through to journaling, which should be honest, as a journalist, the last thing I want to do right before bed is more work, but it really helped to explore the different changes you can make to get a better night's sleep. What I learned was I'm highly sensitive to my environment.
00:01:38
Speaker 2: And around the same.
00:01:39
Speaker 1: Time, I changed from all linen bed linen to a high thread count Egyptian cotton, that real hotel style feel.
00:01:47
Speaker 2: Now I'm not saying that you have to make that shift, but for me, it changed everything.
00:01:53
Speaker 1: I really love the heaviness of these cotton sheets and that real buttoned up, tucked in feeling, rather than other people who prefer something a little lighter and breezier. And since then, I have been sleeping so well. This leads me back to the point about thread count. Yes, you can get really fantastic sheets that are, you know, 1,000 or 1,200 thread count, but it comes down to how it feels. So what I advise people to do is go into store and Really touch and feel all the products. You want to talk to the people in the showroom and tell them how you sleep.
00:02:32
Speaker 2: Do you run hot? Do you run cold? Where do you live?
00:02:35
Speaker 1: Are you in a tropical climate? Or do you live somewhere that the weather is a bit cooler? Because that will determine which sheets are best for you. If you do run hot, consider bamboo. It's really lovely and cooling. Feels so smooth on the skin. If you love... absolute comfort and texture is a real thing for you, then give Josie a try. It's something that feels like your favourite T-shirt or a pair of pyjamas.
00:03:02
Speaker 2: And believe me, it's not just.
00:03:04
Speaker 1: Reserved for teenage boys. You can make it look really sophisticated. There's no doubt that linen is a trend, but it's also a textile that's been popular in sheeting for centuries.
00:03:20
Speaker 2: So you can.
00:03:21
Speaker 1: Buy it now, the trend isn't going anywhere. And when it comes to cotton, you can choose a cotton twill, a sateen, a percale, and they all have different feels despite being made from the same material. Just as important as the texture and the textile that your sheets are made from, also think about the bedding that's going inside. So that leads me to quilts. I really love quilts. a high loft look and there are really two ways to get it. One of them is with a down and feather mix and you can get so many different weights from a summer weight right through to a really warm winter weight. But what happens if you have asthma or allergies? Because then down and feathers, they are not going to be for you. What you need is a microfiber fill.
00:04:11
Speaker 2: You get the exact.
00:04:12
Speaker 1: Same puffy loft that gives you that marshmallow feel and look to your bed. But you know that you won't wake up in a sneezing fit. There's also a decision to be made about blankets. Do you like the heaviness and the weight of a wool blanket? Or is a cotton waffle more your style? Again, this comes down to how you like to sleep, whether you run hot or cold, and where you live. I particularly love the look of a blanket underneath a bed cover. The way that the bed cover drapes, it is so crisp and clean and elegant, but it's so lovely to see how it puddles on the floor.
00:04:50
Speaker 2: I have grown up with bed covers. My grandmother had.
00:04:53
Speaker 1: One in a gorgeous chenille and then my mum had one in a beautiful embroidered cotton on her bed every single day. And the way that they would style it was to pull the cover all the way back and then fold it up and over the head pillows and then have some accent cushions in front. And you'll see this styled now and it's considered quite contemporary, which is interesting for something that has been in fashion for generations. But a look that people are more familiar with is the throw at the end of the bed.
00:05:25
Speaker 2: And this is the evolution of that.
00:05:28
Speaker 1: So the way we style it is to pull the cover about halfway to two thirds up the bed, then you fold it back a second time, and then a third time.
00:05:41
Speaker 2: Up towards the head of the bed again.
00:05:43
Speaker 1: The key to getting this look really beautiful is to make sure that the seam is underneath the fold. I love that this bed cover has matching pillowcases. It's a way to create a really seamless look in your bedroom, and have more pillows on display. Speaking of display pillows, husbands and boyfriends, listen up. These pillows are not for putting.
00:06:13
Speaker 2: Your face on. That's what the head pillows are for underneath.
00:06:17
Speaker 1: There are some tricks to styling these pillows in magazine photo shoots, and it depends whether you want them stacked or whether you want them standing to attention one in front of the other. If you want the pillows stacked, you want to make sure that the front seam is nice and crisp. And the way you do that is to take the pillow from the top, give it a good shake, and then place it back down.
00:06:43
Speaker 2: However, if you.
00:06:44
Speaker 1: Want the pillow standing upright, you simply have to reverse that method. Take the cushion from the bottom, give it a shake, and then you can stand them to attention. For so many of us, styling pillows and cushions is one of the greatest.
00:07:06
Speaker 2: Joys of decorating.
00:07:07
Speaker 1: And I don't think you can have too many pillows and cushions on a bed, but you do need to consider the size of the bed and the size of the room. So for example, I have a guest room at home and There's not a lot of floor space around the bed, which means if I have too many pillows on the bed, where are my guests going to put them when they get in to sleep at night? So with that in mind, I have the two head pillows and then I have one slimline lumber cushion. If you don't have an upholstered headboard, you can use oversized pillows such as a Euro or at the very least a 50 by 50 square.
00:07:48
Speaker 2: To place at the head of the bed.
00:07:50
Speaker 1: It just makes it so much more comfortable if, like me, you love to sit up in bed and watch TV or read.
00:07:57
Speaker 2: Bolster cushions and.
00:07:58
Speaker 1: Lumbars are also not just a styling piece. These are fantastic for putting behind your head so that, again, you can be comfortable watching your favorite TV show.
00:08:15
Speaker 2: There are no right or wrong ways.
00:08:18
Speaker 1: To display your pillows and cushions and even in my own home I mix it up. Sometimes I stack, sometimes I stand, sometimes I have accent cushions in the front or I'll put the colorful euros in the back and that's the whole point. Personalize the look, play around, do what makes you happy and create a bed that brings you joy.
Speaker 1: I am at the Adairs Summer House where they've just launched the most gorgeous new collection. I've been hosting masterclasses today on how to style the perfect bed.
00:00:22
Speaker 2: Now the guests are gone, I thought we'd record this one just for you.
00:00:40
Speaker 1: People would argue that the kitchen is the heart of the.
00:00:44
Speaker 2: Home, but I say it's actually the bedroom.
00:00:47
Speaker 1: A great night's sleep will set you up for absolutely anything, and it all comes down to creating the perfect bed. One of the questions I get asked most about bed linen is does thread count really matter?
00:01:02
Speaker 2: And the short answer is no, not really.
00:01:04
Speaker 1: What's important is choosing what's right for you. I was lucky enough to go on a sleep retreat where we met with a sleep psychologist and were able to experience all different techniques from meditation to sound and scent through to journaling, which should be honest, as a journalist, the last thing I want to do right before bed is more work, but it really helped to explore the different changes you can make to get a better night's sleep. What I learned was I'm highly sensitive to my environment.
00:01:38
Speaker 2: And around the same.
00:01:39
Speaker 1: Time, I changed from all linen bed linen to a high thread count Egyptian cotton, that real hotel style feel.
00:01:47
Speaker 2: Now I'm not saying that you have to make that shift, but for me, it changed everything.
00:01:53
Speaker 1: I really love the heaviness of these cotton sheets and that real buttoned up, tucked in feeling, rather than other people who prefer something a little lighter and breezier. And since then, I have been sleeping so well. This leads me back to the point about thread count. Yes, you can get really fantastic sheets that are, you know, 1,000 or 1,200 thread count, but it comes down to how it feels. So what I advise people to do is go into store and Really touch and feel all the products. You want to talk to the people in the showroom and tell them how you sleep.
00:02:32
Speaker 2: Do you run hot? Do you run cold? Where do you live?
00:02:35
Speaker 1: Are you in a tropical climate? Or do you live somewhere that the weather is a bit cooler? Because that will determine which sheets are best for you. If you do run hot, consider bamboo. It's really lovely and cooling. Feels so smooth on the skin. If you love... absolute comfort and texture is a real thing for you, then give Josie a try. It's something that feels like your favourite T-shirt or a pair of pyjamas.
00:03:02
Speaker 2: And believe me, it's not just.
00:03:04
Speaker 1: Reserved for teenage boys. You can make it look really sophisticated. There's no doubt that linen is a trend, but it's also a textile that's been popular in sheeting for centuries.
00:03:20
Speaker 2: So you can.
00:03:21
Speaker 1: Buy it now, the trend isn't going anywhere. And when it comes to cotton, you can choose a cotton twill, a sateen, a percale, and they all have different feels despite being made from the same material. Just as important as the texture and the textile that your sheets are made from, also think about the bedding that's going inside. So that leads me to quilts. I really love quilts. a high loft look and there are really two ways to get it. One of them is with a down and feather mix and you can get so many different weights from a summer weight right through to a really warm winter weight. But what happens if you have asthma or allergies? Because then down and feathers, they are not going to be for you. What you need is a microfiber fill.
00:04:11
Speaker 2: You get the exact.
00:04:12
Speaker 1: Same puffy loft that gives you that marshmallow feel and look to your bed. But you know that you won't wake up in a sneezing fit. There's also a decision to be made about blankets. Do you like the heaviness and the weight of a wool blanket? Or is a cotton waffle more your style? Again, this comes down to how you like to sleep, whether you run hot or cold, and where you live. I particularly love the look of a blanket underneath a bed cover. The way that the bed cover drapes, it is so crisp and clean and elegant, but it's so lovely to see how it puddles on the floor.
00:04:50
Speaker 2: I have grown up with bed covers. My grandmother had.
00:04:53
Speaker 1: One in a gorgeous chenille and then my mum had one in a beautiful embroidered cotton on her bed every single day. And the way that they would style it was to pull the cover all the way back and then fold it up and over the head pillows and then have some accent cushions in front. And you'll see this styled now and it's considered quite contemporary, which is interesting for something that has been in fashion for generations. But a look that people are more familiar with is the throw at the end of the bed.
00:05:25
Speaker 2: And this is the evolution of that.
00:05:28
Speaker 1: So the way we style it is to pull the cover about halfway to two thirds up the bed, then you fold it back a second time, and then a third time.
00:05:41
Speaker 2: Up towards the head of the bed again.
00:05:43
Speaker 1: The key to getting this look really beautiful is to make sure that the seam is underneath the fold. I love that this bed cover has matching pillowcases. It's a way to create a really seamless look in your bedroom, and have more pillows on display. Speaking of display pillows, husbands and boyfriends, listen up. These pillows are not for putting.
00:06:13
Speaker 2: Your face on. That's what the head pillows are for underneath.
00:06:17
Speaker 1: There are some tricks to styling these pillows in magazine photo shoots, and it depends whether you want them stacked or whether you want them standing to attention one in front of the other. If you want the pillows stacked, you want to make sure that the front seam is nice and crisp. And the way you do that is to take the pillow from the top, give it a good shake, and then place it back down.
00:06:43
Speaker 2: However, if you.
00:06:44
Speaker 1: Want the pillow standing upright, you simply have to reverse that method. Take the cushion from the bottom, give it a shake, and then you can stand them to attention. For so many of us, styling pillows and cushions is one of the greatest.
00:07:06
Speaker 2: Joys of decorating.
00:07:07
Speaker 1: And I don't think you can have too many pillows and cushions on a bed, but you do need to consider the size of the bed and the size of the room. So for example, I have a guest room at home and There's not a lot of floor space around the bed, which means if I have too many pillows on the bed, where are my guests going to put them when they get in to sleep at night? So with that in mind, I have the two head pillows and then I have one slimline lumber cushion. If you don't have an upholstered headboard, you can use oversized pillows such as a Euro or at the very least a 50 by 50 square.
00:07:48
Speaker 2: To place at the head of the bed.
00:07:50
Speaker 1: It just makes it so much more comfortable if, like me, you love to sit up in bed and watch TV or read.
00:07:57
Speaker 2: Bolster cushions and.
00:07:58
Speaker 1: Lumbars are also not just a styling piece. These are fantastic for putting behind your head so that, again, you can be comfortable watching your favorite TV show.
00:08:15
Speaker 2: There are no right or wrong ways.
00:08:18
Speaker 1: To display your pillows and cushions and even in my own home I mix it up. Sometimes I stack, sometimes I stand, sometimes I have accent cushions in the front or I'll put the colorful euros in the back and that's the whole point. Personalize the look, play around, do what makes you happy and create a bed that brings you joy.
