Andrew Barnes Lifestyle: Duvet decisions

Master bedroom at the Franklin hacienda

I just HAD to have a glen plaid duvet. Nothing else would do. The end of story. But, that duvet has been a pain in my butt from day one!

Why? Unfortunately the list is long.... By the time that I finally decided on a look for the room, those duvets in herringbone and glen plaid were no longer on the market. So, after countless hours digging thru swatches of fabric, Josie finally found that pattern in Charlotte.... I think. Anyway, since the fabric was light weight, it needed to be lined. Unfortunately, even with a summer weight down comforter, the thermostat must be set on IGLOO. It is heavy. And, in a word: Toasty!

To add insult to injury, the fabric isn't wearing well.

So, as we say in the South, it is fixin' to get the big... HEAVE HO!

There are a few things in the room to consider.....
1. The carpet is builder's beige. Not sexy, but it's in good shape.
2. The headboard, barrister bookcase, lyre table, curtain rod, and 3-over-3 chest are dark stained hardwoods.
3. The bench at the foot of the bed is tufted black leather.
4. The nesting tables will eventually be replaced by something a little more Dorothy Draper-esque.
5. Bed linens are white and euro shams are black.
6. The pleated blinds are off white and the textured linen curtains are pale tan.

Sometimes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Wing back chair in black velvet with silver nailhead.

Most of the accessories are black, white, silver, crystal... with a few gold accents.

One wacky bamboo and cane chair has paisley upholstery.

The overall look of the room, is fairly simple and tailored. Or, at least that was the plan.

So, back to the duvet.

After hours of searching on-line, digging through samples at fabric stores, and a fair amount of cursing... no luck! Keep in mind, I had already decided that this little adventure was NOT going to be as expensive as that last duvet. No reason to break into the 401K to fix my bedroom meltdown.

"Chalk it to me" Piggy Bank

http://ladiesandgentlemenstudio.bigcartel.com/product/chalk-it-to-me-piggy-bank-2-0

Yesterday afternoon, I finally stumbled across THIS charcoal grey pinstripe duvet from Ralph Lauren.

The duvet was ordered and only time will tell. But, I think that it will work. The thought behind the room was that it should resemble a gentleman's suit.

The next conundrum is a pillow for the bed. I really like the houndstooth pillow in the black chair (like in the photo above). And, I absolutely hate two throw pillows on the bed... since the bed is a king, there should probably be one big one or three small ones.

Ok... a kidney or lumbar pillow it will be! Dinensions are 22 x 14 inches. Measured it on the bed.... that will work smashingly.

But, what fabric should I choose???? For ideas, I started looking through the fall and winter suit collections at Saks, Barneys, Neiman-Marcus, Tom Ford, Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Nordstrom, and Bloomingdale's. The goal is masculine, but not over the top... with a tad of whimsy.

A couple of things can be ruled out: No fur. No leather... though black suede might be fun. No vinyl. No camouflage. {Can you believe that Jimmy Choo has $600 men's shoes in camouflage fabric for the fall? Awful!!!!!!!} And, no traditional animal prints... this is NOT the time for zebra or leopard.

Here a few options.....