One of the most frustrating things you can encounter after receiving an invitation to a house warming, wedding or any sort of event is what do you get for a gift?  The perfect gift giving idea is always just out of reach no matter how much you strain trying to find one.  Here is an idea that everyone can enjoy and love: a luxury down comforter!  It makes for a perfect intimate wedding gift or an amazing house warming gift.  Why not try it for a holiday gift or even a birthday?  They make the best Christmas gift ideas.

You might be thinking that a comforter is such a personal item and it would be difficult to purchase one as a gift and fit the recipients taste.  However, a down comforter is a plain (usually white) covering that benefits largely when paired with a duvet cover.  The duvet cover is where the personal touch would come in and you can leave that step up to the recipient.  The down comforter is the luxurious and most expensive part.  In fact, many people do not purchase  them because they feel they can do without.  So you would actually be giving a very generous and warm gift by giving the comforter as a gift.

There are some important facts you should know before you run out to buy your amazing gift.  Down comforters are made from goose down and do not tend to be fluffy, but very warm and very soft.  It is possible to break the bank when purchasing these cozy comforters full of down so depending on your budget you should do your research.  The Eiderdown is a comforter made from the down of the Eider duck and is considered the most expensive of the down comforters.  Much of this is due to the fact that the down is hand harvested in Iceland!  These comforters have been known to easy set you back $5,000.  At this end of the scale you will also find the Siberian goose down which is considered to actually be the best quality available for providing warmth.

Luxury comforters will be easy to spot and not just by the price.  High thread count and fill power ratings will also clue you in that you are looking at a high quality gift.  Fill power ratings will tell you how “fluffy” or filled a comforter is and typically fall in the 300-600 range.  A luxury down will have a rating of 750 or higher.  Thread count will typically range from 250-300 and the higher the better for a luxury down.  A higher thread count will offer better stitching so there is very little chance of the down leaking out.

Do you find yourself sneezing and/or coughing when you are trying to sleep?  It could be that you are having an allergic reaction and it is possible you are not even aware you have allergies.  If you are one of those people, then you definitely do not know where your allergies are coming from…but it is possible that your reactions are coming from your down comforter.

Your best bet in pinpointing your problem would to be to see a certified allergist, but at night if you are lying awake in bed from sneezing and your eyes are watering, it could be beneficial to you to narrow down the possibilities of your reactions.  If you have pets and they sleep in your room at night, their hair and dander could very well be on your covers or even your pillows.  Remove the pets and wash the linens and test the next few nights to see if you still suffer from the same symptoms.

Another source of allergens could be house plants in your bedroom.  Again, remove the plants from your room and rinse and repeat the previously mentioned experiment.  If you symptoms cease, then you have probably found your source of trouble.

Of course, if you have tried the previous suggestions and are still suffering, it could be your down comforter.  This of course might make you very sad because like many you are probably especially attached to your comfy covers!  Try removing the down cover and replacing it with another bed spread.  Again, if symptoms clear then you have my sympathies because you are probably allergic to the down.  The feathers in a down bed spread are the reason most people find them so appealing and so soft, but unfortunately it is the feathers that people are allergic to.

Fret not dear friend!  There is a solution.  If you confirm that you are allergic to down, there is a very nice compromise that you might even prefer.  They now make “down” comforters that are imitations filled with fiberfill.  These substitutes are extremely soft, the reason you like the down in the first place, and they have the added benefit of zero feathers falling or poking through the material.  Many people find they prefer the fiberfill to the actual down.  Some report loss of warmth with the substitute, but not enough to not to use the imitation.  The cozy feeling they get from the actual covers far outweighs a small loss of warmth.

Possibly one of the most important considerations when purchasing a comforter is design.  Specifically, bedroom design and the flow of the room can be greatly enhanced or diminished depending on the bed covers.  Color, solid, print and type all configure into the overall design and aesthetics of the room.  Many people may think that the sheets are not that important because in all honesty, they are mostly covered by a comforter or duvet and pillows.  Of course this all depends on the way you make your bed as well, some preferring to have the sheets and comforter pulled down to reveal the sheets underneath and others may prefer to bring the covers up over the pillows with only the comforter showing.  Either way, the sheets and comforter are both important.

Consider your overall theme before choosing your linen set.  Is your bedroom set in the traditional style?  If so you may want to choose smaller printed cover, possibly in a floral or paisley design.  Another design choice, that might shock you at first, would be a bold stripe design in more traditional colors.  You do not have to stick to flowers or ivory to be traditional.  In fact a new twist on traditional could be quite exciting.

Now what if the style of your bedroom leans towards the romantic.  Normally this would mean dark rich colors, usually read and black.  You might want to consider a twist on the traditional romantic and use a deep purple and silvers or grays.  You can still keep the romantic feel with a new take on romance.  Solid sheets would work really nice in this setting, but maybe also consider a printed sheet in your color choices with a solid duvet or comforter.

Large prints are great for a tropical design.  Think of a bright airy bedroom with sheets that have large prints in bright cheery colors.  For instance a large hibiscus, a very tropical flower, in a bright pink would be a beautiful compliment to the whites and sand colors that are normally used in tropical themes.  You could even use solid color sheets in the colors of a sunset.

Obviously the choices are endless and incredible.  It is important to overall design to not overlook the duvet when considering the look you are trying to achieve.  They will quickly add or diminish a project, so take the time to stop and put some effort into choosing your bed linens.  They are not just for comfort anymore!

When speaking about the history of the comforter, what we are really discussing is the history of the quilt.  Quilts are the original bed cover, typically made from scraps of material or old discarded clothing.  Before the quilt, the top cover of the bed was traditionally linen, burlap sacks stuffed with straw or nothing at all but the clothes on your back.  Sounds depressing and cold!  Enter the quilt…originally not created with beauty in mind, they soon were pieces of showmanship and used as bragging rights among early women.

The earliest known quilt dates from the first century B.C. to the second century A.D..  It is actually in the form of a quilted linen carpet.  The form of quilting known today as “patchwork quilting” was not did not become the main form of quilting until the mid 19th century.  Patchwork quilting is designed from pieces of fabric, pieced together into blocks and these blocks are sewn together to form one big quilt.  This top is then combined with cotton or wool batting and a fabric backing to make a “quilt sandwich” which is then joined together by the process of using thread to connect all three layers.  Typically today this quilting is done in some sort of motif or design, which was not that common in the beginning.

During the industrial age and the invention of new technologies, the ability to mass market fabrics which freed up the women from spinning and weaving their own fabric and increased the popularity of quilt making.  Once mass marketing was introduced, then handmade quilts soon became the comforters we know today.  The industry took the idea of design and function to new levels.  Today we enjoy beautiful designs as well as keeping warm without all the arduous labors of hand making our own covers!

Quilts have also become important socially.  During the civil war, quilts were used as well as many other craft pieces to raise money to help in the movement to abolish slavery.  There are even stories that certain quilts were used as signals in the underground railroad, but today these still remain rumors as no proof of this seems to exist.  They were also used to raise money for the war.  Today the Aids Memorial Quilt is probably one of the most famous quilts in history.  The quilt is used to raise awareness for Aids and as a memorial to those who have succumbed to the disease.

So you have decided to redecorate your bedroom!  That is great, but now you have the big decision of do I choose a comforter or do I choose a duvet?  What is that you say?  You don’t know what the difference is?  You do not have a clue what a duvet cover is?  Well fear not as you are not alone.  I will attempt to assist you along your quest to find the perfect solution for your bedroom design problem.

A comforter is a bed covering that usually drapes 3/4 of the way down your bed.  Normally this will fall just below where your box spring and mattress meet.  The size of the comforter will depend on the size of your bed.  For those of you with quilted top beds or feather beds placed on top of your mattress you should take into consideration that a typical size comforter will not fall as far down the sides if a lot of the bulk is taken up with thicker mattresses.  In other words, to determine the right size quilt for you, make sure you measure your bed beginning from the base of the box spring across your bed to the other side at the base.  This will determine what size is right for you.

A duvet is a cover that has an opening in one end, the bottom, and goes over an existing cover.  The bottom typically shuts with buttons, zippers or ties.  It is basically a fabric shell and is typically used to cover down comforters.  They can be decorative or plain, flannel or jersey.  The design and comfort choices are as wide as they are with their heavier cousins, the comforter.  Duvets are perfect for sprucing up an old cover!

One of the biggest differences between the two is size.  A comforter is generally larger than the bed size and a duvet is usually equal to the size of the bed.  The other glaring difference is that a comforter is heavier and usually stuffed with a cotton/polyester blend.  A duvet is not heavy and not stuffed, it is a cover for the thing that is, again, normally a down filled blanket.  Probably one of the biggest advantages to a duvet is you can change the cover with your mood, to achieve different design aesthetics withint your bedroom.  Others would prefer a comforter because of the size and thickness, but there is of course less flexibility with design.