The daily ritual of climbing into bed is often taken for granted. Yet when the space around it is designed with intention and attention to detail, it can elevate something we do every day. As interior designers, we meticulously select every fixture and finish throughout a client’s home, crafting bespoke solutions around the way they want to live. An expertly designed, beautifully made bedding ensemble is the final punctuation.
The art of specifying a custom bed is layered and nuanced. It takes time, and it can require a significant budget. We’ve broken down the process into a step-by-step guide to creating luxury bedding for your discerning clientele.
Start With the Room: How Will the Bed Be Used?
Where the bedding will live is as important as the aesthetic direction because it determines so many critical factors. A primary bedroom may warrant elevated yet understated bed linens, with easy, effortless layers for daily use, while a guest bed may express more character. A child’s space has different durability and laundering needs. A secondary home may lend itself to finer materials that don’t see as much use.
Pets, allergies, sleep preferences, climate and housekeeping routines all play a role in material selection. In a warm climate, for example, the duvet cover and insert may not be used year-round. That changes the balance of the arrangement; the sheet and lighter layers still have to hold the scheme together. Designers can tailor those layers to accommodate the way the household actually lives.
Built to Scale: Custom-Sized Bedding
The next step is to consider how the bedding fits into the larger scheme. We’d look at the scale of the headboard, the size of the space and the surrounding furnishings, which in turn dictate the role of the top of bed. Is it a supporting character or the dramatic statement? Deciding this early helps narrow the material selection and composition before the first sample is pulled.
Next, take exact measurements. Standard size labels aren’t always as consistent as people assume, particularly when you’re working with an oversized mattress or a nonstandard frame. Record the width, length, depth and finished height, including any topper, then decide where the duvet cover should fall and how it should fold. When designing fully custom, you want to get down to the millimeter for the most bespoke result possible.
The Budget Comes First
As just one of the many procured products on a client’s bill, bedding needs a budget. Large or small, it helps to establish the desired price range early. A clear price point manages expectations and gives the project team useful guidance.
Some custom bedding sets run to seven or more layers, with a full configuration of shams, bolsters, bed skirts, decorative pillows and all the trimmings. Others need little more than an all-season duvet cover and pillow set. The final price can vary dramatically depending on the number of pieces, quality of the materials and complexity of construction.
BBH takes much of the guesswork out of the cost with flat rates for its bedding templates. Extras such as accents and additional pieces can be added as required, making the total price easier to understand from the outset.
Layer by Layer: The Duvet Cover and Supporting Pieces
Once you’ve identified the use, role and budget, it’s time to start building the framework layer by layer. The possible components include bed sheets; pillowcases; a duvet cover or comforter; a blanket; a coverlet; sleeping pillows; and the appropriate inserts. Of course, every bed doesn’t need every component, but each one should be carefully considered.
Choosing fabric and finishing details isn’t simply about style. Fiber content, durability, laundry care and weight all matter, as do texture and drape. When selecting several fabrics for the various elements of the design, you may find yourself sorting through what feels like an endless number of options. With prints and patterns, repeat and motif direction matter greatly. Specific placement can quickly increase the amount of yardage required, which is worth confirming before anything is ordered.
BBH offers more than 400 curated, high-performance fabric options to choose from. All are designer-approved for their quality and bedding-specific application.
An Expert Fabrication Plan
As any pro would when specifying a made-to-order product, a detailed and well-informed fabrication plan is key to accurate execution. Each component needs exact specifications: every dimension, the designated face and reverse designs, and construction instructions such as flange depth, welt size and closure method, to name a few. Only after those details have been determined can yardage be calculated accurately.
You don’t have to be a bedding fabrication specialist to get an expertly designed result. BBH provides the framework and handles the fabrication process for you.
The Purchase Process: A Logistical Dance
You’ve designed the bedding to exacting specifications, based on exactly how your clients will use it. Now it has to be made. Coordinating the procurement process is a skillful dance; traditional ordering can involve a textile showroom, trim supplier, embroiderer, insert vendor, fabricator, receiver and installer.
The designer reserves stock, obtains a quote, confirms minimums, issues the order, tracks deposits and directs where each material should ship. Before a single cut is made, the fabricator inspects the goods for quality, quantity, damage and flaws. Only then can the craftspeople begin their work.
Why BBH Built Its Custom Bedding Program
For BBH co-founders Kyle Barrett and Dwayne Bergmann, this process was all too familiar and all too complex. The margins were slim, and the amount of work often didn’t warrant the effort required. When they set out to create a brand built by designers for designers, simplifying custom bedding was a top priority.
Earlier this year, they introduced the BBH Custom Bedding Program, which provides easy-to-use templates, a curated selection of fabrics with nearly endless possibilities, and a simplified ordering process. Designers can begin with a template, customize the material story and coordinate the supporting elements without having to manage every supplier and fabricator themselves.
Shop top of bed at shopbbh.com and learn more about how our Custom Bedding Program makes delighting your clients easier than ever.
