I purchased quilts from Bed, Bath and Beyond. My girls complain that they get too warm with comforters or duvets.
Company Store is great and has comforters in many different weights and fill materials. One thing that drives me crazy and leads to the messiness is that there seem to be many different sized comforters and covers all for a “queen” size for example. You need to check to make sure the measurements in inches match. It is irritating to find a comforter and cover that you like but that do not fit one another even though both are technically for the same size.
I have made a few covers myself back when I was younger, had less money, and was less lazy! They are easy to make from flat sheets.
I have sometimes been able to find with I inexpensive cotton comforters from Ross that are 100% cotton, including the fill. I only buy 100% cotton–breathes better. Once in awhile, Macy’s has good coupon sales which include 100% cotton comforters as well.
Sorry for not reading this thread. We have always used duvets. Down ones are a thousand times times more comfortable, but expensive. Here at home, we use a lightweight down one in spring and fall, and a heavier synthetic one when it’s cold. D has a duvet at college, with two covers. When she doesn’t need the duvet, the cover serves as a bedspread put over a blanket. She loves her duvet and her friends at school compliment it.
A duvet is an worthwhile investment. I am still using the same down duvet I was given nearly thirty years ago. For less money, you can buy layered duvets that come apart and can be used for all seasons. IKEA has very affordable duvets and covers.
If you run hot, stick to 100% cotton - or even better, 100% linen - on ALL bedding. This includes sheets, duvets, blankets - everything. NO POLYESTER or any other type of material.
Re: any type of duvet insert, chose one that is very lightweight down or a cotton fill. NO POLYESTER. The good down ones will usually have labeling indicating that they are good for hot weather.
We have Bed quilts from LLBean that we really like. They are not heavy at all. In the winter, we put a fleece blanket under the quilt.
A coverlet or a quilt can be pulled back and dropped onto the bench at the foot of the bed, and a blanket/comforter/just a sheet can be used for sleeping under depending on the time of the year.
Checking some of the mentioned sites in my quest for a new quilt or a coverlet. Thanks abasket for starting this thread, and thanks to all for the suggestions.
I’ve been sleeping under down comforters in a duvet cover for 35 years. Wouldn’t change a thing. Still have the original down comforter which now gets used in the guest room. They are easy to wash (just a bit time consuming). Each of the kids had the same setup while at home and then replicated it in college. We are in a temperate climate so one mid weight down comforter works for all seasons.
IKEA carries some great quality duvet covers - just picked up two the other day. I find that shaking the duvet while holding the top or side corners of the comforter will lay out the fabric nicely and rather wrinkle free. We use either 100% cotton or a predominantly cotton and other natural fiber blend (linen, tencel).
As for the gymnastic routine of inserting a Cal King comforter into a duvet I think I’ve mastered the art. Turn the duvet inside out. Hold the top two corners and grab the corresponding converter corners. With a bit of shaking the cover unfurls itself most of the way down the duvet. Then just grab the opposite end corners and stuff into the duvet corners. Shake from that end.
I don’t like duvets only because the bed always looks messy to me. That being said, when I was in Pottery Barn, I asked them how they got their duvets to always look so good and fluffy - their secret is they put two inserts in the duvet cover!
http://www.italianfinelinens.com/dea-coverlets.html
I have a lightweight Dea coverlet…like a matalese but a small print. I love it.
ETA…mine is bout 8 years old…but looks like new. Beautiful and soft fabric. Very nice and good quality.
Wow!!! Those are amazing! And I already found the one I really like:
http://www.italianfinelinens.com/pearl.html
Love that it is thin and lightweight.
Thank you for sharing!
Such a timely thread. The last few weekends, I was helping a childhood friend shop for bedding for his new apartment. Here in FL, I just use cotton blankets. I just redid my guest room, and splurged on a Ralph Lauren coverlet from Bloomies. It’s denim on one side, with blue/red print on reverse. (This lead to finding a nice blue paint for an accent wall). Seeing the prices of the Deas, I don’t feel so badly.
So, my friend wanted a duvet with medium filler. We shipped every local store, and he too ended up at Bloomies, with their 50% sale. After living in FL 3 weeks, he also bought a cotton blanket. I suspect he’ll use the duvet 2 weeks a year. Still, it’s irregularly striped in blues and greens, and will set the tone for the room.
We spend so much time in our bedrooms, it’s nice to have a look and a feel we enjoy.
Like others have said, I personally don’t like how most duvet covers appear wrinkly and messy even if the comforter/duvet is properly secured to the cover. I lived with it for years but eventually, I gave up. For a while we slept with a top sheet, then a lightweight down quilted comforter with a quilt on top to give it a finished look. After constantly battling with a top sheet that would not stay secured/tucked in, I gave up on the top sheet. Fortunately my extra large capacity washer fits my king comforter so I just wash it regularly. In warmer months, when we go,to bed, I fold the quilt down as it is too hot to use in the summer.
My kids all have comforters with duvet covers. They never used top sheets (would find them shoved down to bottom of bed) so eventually I bought them all lightweight comforters from IKEA, two have IKEA duvet covers and two have covers I bought elsewhere. I don’t care about the messy duvet look in their rooms since half the time they don’t make their beds despite my nagging and they keep their doors closed when not home.
Eldest D is off to college in a few weeks-we are flying to her school. She desperately wanted this jersey duvet cover from Urban Outfitters that matches a wall tapestry she plans to hang (my niece has same duvet in diff color and my sister was raving about how soft and comfortable it is for teens who are always lounging on their beds). There is an IKEA nearby D’s university so we will pick up a lightweight down comforter to put inside the duvet cover when we get there.
Got a Pottery Barn catalog in the mail - some of their quilts and coverlets are 20% off. There are a few decent looking choices, but I am hooked on the site linked by thumper! 
@abasket I’ve found some really pretty quilts for good prices on this site:
https://www.zulily.com/e/brighten-up-the-bedroom-252324.html
The availability of items is short term, so you have to check often. You might not find the particular color combo you’re looking for though.
For everyone else who uses duvets - why do you find your bed so easy to make with them compared to other bed covers? Isn’t it just like using a quilt or comforter?
Well, especially if you choose to not use a top sheet, as is frequently done in Europe, easy to just fluff and toss to have it cover the bed again.
My preferred set-up, since I don’t like a duvet, requires a top sheet, a blanket, and a matelasse coverlet so lots more rearranging. But, I often don’t make my bed, so…
Yes, @LeastComplicated, making up our beds is the same with or without a duvet. I iron pillowcases and top sheets. Duvets are fluffed and stretched taut over the bed (no wrinkles) with the top turned back down about 2.5 feet and the end 3-4 inches of the duvet rolled under the top sheet so the top sheet spills over the duvet with that puffy waterfall effect you see in stores and catalogs. I’m manic about perfectly-made beds, so the duvet is for decoration and protection of the down inserts, not ease of bed-making. I abhor that shaken-bag look.
I always use a duvet. I love my LL bean insert. Not inexpensive but they hold up well.
Macy’s has a few coverlets I like, but of course, they are out of king size. I currently have a thick dupioni silk duvet with white and silver embroidery that I have not stuffed with anything. I use it as a coverlet on the bed, but I want to update the colors, hence the shopping. Very timely thread!
I have used duvet cover over a comforter for many years…with a quilt to cover it neatly. In the last year or so, I toss and turn so much that the cover and filler piece shift too much, leaving it a messy and uneven . I took the duvet cover off this summer and I don’t even recognize the mess of a bed I wake up to every morning. I would love to find a flannel comforter…not comforter cover. I have yet to find one…it is all an issue because of my hot flashes