As you may have gathered, the heat has been off at our place, and last night I broke down and bought a new comforter. We are trying not to spend any extra money, given renovation costs, but as Kevin pointed out, the plan is for our new house to have us in a new king-size bed, suitable for us + children + dog (our current queen bed will move into the guest room), and so we need to buy new bedding for it anyway. I found a basic comforter at Bed, Bath and Beyond -- along with this really lovely duvet cover and accent pillows, called Daintree, which is apparently the name of a tropical rainforest.
I didn't get all those pillows -- while I like the look of a bed piled high with pillows, and even like them for extra back support while reading, they're a bit annoying to move out of the way every night. (I know Kevin agrees!) So I just got the duvet cover set (which comes with the two off-white king-size pillowcases), and the one little accent pillow in front, with the birdies. No brown or orange pillows. Kavi has already claimed the birdie pillow for herself, but I have explained that it is only hers when she is sleeping in our bed -- the last pretty pillow I tried to buy for myself, she immediately co-opted for her own bed.
I like this bedding especially for four reasons:
a) it has birdies, with which I am currently obsessed (birds and trees, enormously so, for a few years now)
b) the colors are beautifully autumnal; I strongly like to change my linens seasonally. My argument for why this isn't totally extravagant is that if you put it all together, it will end up wearing out at the same rate as if you bought it sequentially, so it costs exactly the same (more up front, obviously, but the same in the end if you don't think about the interest that money could have been earning in your bank account) and in the meantime, you get variety for the win.
c) it has quite a lot of nice embroidery. Machine, obviously, but it's just a nice textural element, and makes the whole piece feel extra-lush
d) the design leans towards the modern, but not so modern that I find it cold. This is a fine line for me. I think all the birdies and botanical elements help a lot. Is there such a thing as modern Victorian? If there is, would it look anything like this?
So, anyway. Pretty bedding. :-) It totally clashes with my sheets, but I'm not going to buy king-size sheets until I have an actual king-size bed. February, hopefully.