The Best Materials for Bed Covers in Textile Design

Choose Practical Fabrics

• Your baby joins you at 1 a.m. and his diaper doesn't always cooperate. You share your bed with three -- make that four -- cats, all of which still have their claws. Perhaps your spouse refuses to take off his overalls before crashing on the bedspread. Such situations beg for sturdy, heavy-duty fabric with synthetic threads that produce tight weaves treated to resist dirt and grime. Find the busiest pattern you will enjoy. Complex, multicolored textiles hide dirt more effectively than solids.

Choose Charming Fabrics

• Cotton chintz prints reminiscent of an English cottage, or fabric that brings to mind down-home patchwork quilts add charm to your bedroom. Before you plunk down big bucks for a handmade bed covering, though, be certain you're willing to honor washing restrictions set by its creator. Hand-stitching or the batting used to stuff the cover may not be washable.

Choose Glamorous Fabrics

• If price is no object, search for gorgeous duvets, spreads and quilts at small boutiques where buyers import small quantities of satin, raw silk and hand-loomed linen bed covers for discriminating shoppers like you. Alternately, look for one-of-a-kind textile designs, as did Group 10, a professional design group responsible for outfitting boutique hotel bedrooms with all of the amenities: The firm commissioned aged and hand-dyed canvas woven of hemp, jute, cotton and linen to emulate vintage spreads for the client's hotel.

Choose Weighty Fabrics

• If you're a drape-and-fold stickler, the way a duvet cover or bedspread lays out when it's on the bed will be integral to the finished look you desire. Even lace, gingham and silk threads can be paired with more substantive thread to create a thickly woven textile guaranteed to give you the rich feel and weight found only in quality bed covers. For example, perhaps the fabric's warp is a delicate silk thread and the weft is a sturdier linen thread. Together, they can form tapestries and velvets that give your bedroom a look of luxury.