Neutral bedding sets offer an easy way to usher in tranquility into the bedroom. With their muted, subtle hues ranging from crisp whites to warm taupes, these bedding collections promote relaxation while acting as a cohesive backdrop for bolder accents.
Benefits of Neutral Bedding Sets
From health-promoting properties to their timeless aesthetic, neutral bedding offers many advantages for homeowners and design lovers alike. Let’s explore some of the top reasons to make neutrals your foundation when designing a bedroom.
Promote Relaxation and Tranquility
The muted, subtle nature of neutral hues like white, beige and gray have an innate calming effect. Scientific studies have shown that surrounding ourselves with neutral colors lowers stress and blood pressure levels, promoting relaxation. For this reason, luxury spas, meditation spaces and therapy offices often integrate cream, light gray and other subdued neutral shades into their design palettes. Bring these tranquil qualities into your own bedroom retreat by using neutral bedding as your design anchor.
Offer Health Benefits
In addition to encouraging lower stress levels, neutral colors also provide other healthy perks. Soothing shades can aid sleep quality, which is essential for both physical and mental wellbeing. Neutrals also make small spaces appear larger and brighter, which can boost mood. By selecting a light beige duvet set rather than a dark purple one, for example, you allow more natural and artificial light to reflect in the bedroom, creating an airier, less claustrophobic environment.
Act as Versatile Blank Canvas
With their subdued, muted nature across the neutral color spectrum from white and cream to various taupes and gray tones, neutral bedding allows for plenty of creative liberties when it comes to accessorizing and layering in other hues. Punchy accent pillows in emerald green, bright cerulean blue or even vibrant orange pair beautifully against a backdrop of quietly elegant white or light gray bedding. Without bold patterns or colors to compete with, neutrals provide the ideal blank canvas for adding personality through accent colors and textures while maintaining a soothing, welcoming room.
Other benefits of neutral bedding sets include:
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Popular Styles and Fabrics
When designing your tranquil bedroom oasis using neutral bedding, you’ll have plenty of options to choose from. Let’s explore some of the most popular styles and fabrics available when shopping for these cozy linens.
Solid Colors
The most versatile choice comes from selecting solid colored bedding sets where the duvet cover, fitted sheet, pillow cases and any shams feature the same neutral hue. Crisp white, various shades of cream and beige, as well as light to charcoal grays make excellent choices. Solid neutral bedding allows you to build upon the muted base by layering in throws, coverlets and accent pillows featuring prints or brighter colors while maintaining a soothing, welcoming room.
Subtle Patterns and Textures
While solid neutral bedding provides the most flexibility, subtle patterns and textures can also enhance the bed’s aesthetic while upholding the calming virtues of neutral shades. For example, a light gray jersey knit duvet with barely-there white pinstripes and matching pillow shams in a soft chenille weave add gentle visual interest while avoiding any overstimulation that intense colors or bold prints might cause.
Common neutral shades include:
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Fabrics like soft cottons, lightweight linen, and smooth microfiber all make wonderful choices for creating a soothing sleep environment with neutral bedding. Seek out durable, easy-care fabrics that feel pleasant against your skin.
Design Tips and Best Practices
Ready to try your hand at designing with dreamy neutral bedding? Take note of these creative tips and tricks of the trade as you plan your bedroom’s transformation.
Mix Neutral Shades
Don’t be afraid to get creative mixing different neutral tones and textures for added depth and interest. Layer a crisp white duvet insert within a light tan duvet cover, then toss on a pair of soft gray euro shams. Mixing various shades from white and ivory to deeper mushroombrown and slate gray provides subtle visual contrast.
Incorporate Pops of Color
The muted nature of neutral bedding allows vibrant accent colors to shine. Add pops of brightness with patterned or colored decorative pillows and throws. Paint or wallpaper one focal wall in a saturated shade like emerald green or sapphire blue for a striking, lively contrast against your dreamy neutral bedding.
Assess Bedding Scale
When selecting duvet inserts and cover sets for your master or guest bedrooms, make sure to choose bedding appropriately sized for the room. Oversized bedding in a small room can make it feel cluttered and even smaller. For spacious rooms with tall ceilings, opt for extra-large duvets that feel cozy and plush.
| Pro Tip: White or neutral bedding helps to visually expand smaller bedrooms by reflecting light, so don’t hesitate to still use them in compact spaces! |
Shopping Considerations
Ready toshop for blissfully peaceful new neutral bedding? Keep the following tips in mind as you search for that perfect set of sheets, duvets and shams.
Set a Budget
As with any home purchase, deciding on a spending cap before shopping allows you to zero in on options in your price point. Fortunately, there are quality neutral bedding sets available at nearly every budget level. Focus first on key considerations like size, fabric, construction quality and needed quantities instead of limiting yourself by price. Cast a wide initial net across top brands, then compare reviews between sets in your ideal budget range.
Prioritize Fabrics
When evaluating bedding collections, fabric makes all the difference for both aesthetics and durability. Seek out natural fibers like breathable cotton and temperature-regulating linen that feel gentle against skin. While microfiber polyester blends are quite affordable, they sometimes sacrifice softness. Read customer reviews to learn how a particular fabric withstands washing and everyday use over years of cozying into bed.
Read Reviews
Speaking of reviews, don’t underestimate the value of learning from other shoppers. Dive into the reviews for potential neutral bedding sets to discover how color accuracy, construction quality, fabric feel and overall durability measure up. Look for common themes around benefits or complaints to determine each product’s real-world performance.
Compare Brands and Retailers
In addition to checking third party reviews on Amazon, big box stores like Target and Walmart along with dedicated home goods retailers like West Elm offer a wide range of neutral bedding options crossing style preferences and budgets. Look into each brand’s fabric sourcing, supply chain transparency, and commitment to ethical manufacturing as well when deciding where to invest your dollars.
Decorating with Neutral Bedding
Have your cozy new neutral bedding shipped and unpacked? Let’s dive into a few creative styling approaches to show it off throughout your beautifully designed bedroom.
Design from Scratch
If designing a bedroom completely from square one, neutral bedding provides the ideal cohesive foundation for introducing additional colors, textures and personality through complementary accents. Paint the walls a saturated gem tone like sapphire blue, then accessorize with layered jewel-toned rugs and vibrant art. Crisp white bedding allows the drama to shine.
Upgrade Existing Decor
For bedrooms with existing furniture and artwork, switching out boldly colored bedding for neutral opens new doors for tying everything together compositionally. Replace dated royal purple sheets with soft gray linen duvet sets, then add new throw pillows and window treatments in an organic color palette inspired by rugs or wall art for a refreshed, integrated look.
When designing specifically for enhanced relaxation, utilize neutral bedding alongside other calming elements like softly glowing table lamps, natural fiber rugs, sheer curtains, leafy green plants, white noise machines, and candles or essential oil diffusers. Establish a dedicated spa-like zone for reading, meditating or lounging.
