To Duvet or not to Duvet: That is the Question

First of all, let me just say that I have now had FOUR posts within the last month. That's gotta be a record of some sort.  It's cray-cray, I tell you.

Anyway, on to the reason for today's post. Let's talk about bedding, my friends. Up until very recently, my only experience with bed coverings has been the good ol' bed-in-a-bag set. I'm all about the bed-in-a-bag. It just makes my life easier when everything I need is already packaged up nice and neat for me. 

Before I get much farther, here's a reminder of what our existing bedding looked like. It was perfectly sufficient with the newly painted walls, but I just really wanted an excuse to upgrade.

In the process of my master bedroom makeover, I've broadened my bedding horizons. While searching the Internet far and wide for different options, I came across many duvets and duvet covers. Now, I'd seen these terms before but quite honestly never really knew what they meant, so I've just kind of ignored those options.

But I finally just decided to Google it. In my research, I discovered that--more or less--a duvet a simply a comforter filled with down or a down alternative. And the duvet cover is essentially like a giant "pillowcase" for the duvet. Ergo, it's much easier to clean the cover itself without having to wash the entire comforter. And, it's easy to switch out for a different look and not have to buy a new comforter every time, saving valuable closet space. 

At this point, my mind was reeling. To think that all this time, I had been intimidated by these fancy French terms. A whole new world of bedding was now at my fingertips! I decided that this was definitely the way to go for our master bedroom.

My basic criteria for the bedding was to have an overall light-colored appearance (since our walls are now darker), but still have a fun accent color. After looking at many options online and in the stores, I finally found just what I was looking for at Target (imagine that--there's a reason why it's my favorite store). 

Enter the Threshold Suzani Duvet Cover Set.

via Target.com

White, gray, taupe, and bright burnt orange. The perfect color palette. 

Of course, I also had to get my "duvet." I didn't want to spend a ton of money on this, so I settled for the Room Essentials Down Blend Comforter -- it had some pretty good reviews online anyway.

As soon as I got home, I tossed the duvet cover and pillow shams in the washer and dryer in hopes that all the folds and wrinkles would come out. It worked. It was then time to figure out how to wrangle the duvet into the duvet cover. Luckily there are nifty little ties on the corners of both pieces, so that helps to keep everything in place. After turning the cover inside out and tying the bottom corners onto the duvet, I just kept stuffing the comforter in while pulling the cover back up to the top.  It was a bit cumbersome, but eventually I got it. The top edge has buttons to keep it closed.

Enough of my rambling--here it is on our bed! 

Luckily, I was able to keep the same throw pillows I had before

since they're just a solid off-white color.

The reverse side of the cover has a fun print on it too.

This medallion/paisley pattern is sophisticated, and just the 

right balance between feminine and masculine. 

I'm pretty sure I'll be satisfied with this look for quite some time, but it's nice to know that I can just switch out the cover when I'm ready for something new.

Ok, wow. Did I really just write an entire post about bedding? Obviously there's not much going on in my life right now if this is the most excitement I've had. But whatever. 

So now my question is...Do YOU duvet?