Bedding Chic hasn't checked in with Frette for a while... so I thought I'd write about them today.  Among their new collections, in the Frette Essentials category they have a wonderful new style called Bicolore.  It's available in sheet sets and duvet covers/shams.  It features cotton sateen with contrst color insets.  It's quite striking especially with the gorgeous shade of blue they've used below.  It's also available in chocolate brown, sand and ivory.

A queen sheet set is $1,045 and a queen duvet cover is $945.

I do find it rather hysterical that they give next to no information about the style.  They just say 100% cotton and made in Italy (and the item sizes).  Why kind of cotton?  Does the fitted sheet have elastic all the way around? What thread count? We all know that thread count is over-rated, but still, when spending over $1000 for a sheet set, shouldn't you get to know what it is?

I'm sure it's amazing and their core customers know that, but it seems a bit smug perhaps?

Linenplace.com has the cutest feature up on their site right now with a panda that explains thread count along with a "Truth About Thread Count" article.  He explains how thread count is really not that important and people shouldn't be so focused on it.  It's SO CUTE.

He's the same panda that's on their home page now too.

Linenplace has some good deals right now in the bedding department.  One of the best deals is 100% organic cotton bedding on sale... a queen sheet set is only $74.  Organics can be so expensive, so that's a really good deal.  Also, 600 thread count Egyptian cotton in either a solid sateen or a stripe are $89 for a queen sheet set.  That's their everyday price too, also a very good deal.

I have a soft spot for antique beds since I grew up in an antique crazed family. High quality antiques often cost a fortune, but you can still get the look from a new piece.  Cuddledown of Maine has some nice antique-looking beds.

This Acorn Bed is very well made with solid maple wood and mortise and tenon construction. It may not be an antique today, but it's built to be one in the future.

A queen size bed is $3,399. They're made in the USA and in stock!

I know many people prefer more modern looks these days, but if you're lucky enough to have a second home like a beach cottage or rural getaway I think it's great to have a different look; and often a rustic feel mixed with antiques looks great and makes the space feel like the retreat that it's meant to be...

If you'd like to sleep in a big cloud, here's the perfect quilt from Pottery Barn: Cloud Quilt ($249 for full/queen).  The quilt is ruched cotton sateen and backed with silk habotai. The fill is polyester fiber batting.

The matching shams come in standard and euro for $49 and $59 each.

Here's an interesting find...

Hollandia Executive Bed, an adjustable bed with built-in storage and pop-up Sony tv.

Hollandia only has 4 locations in the US: King of Prussia and Philadelphia, PA; Short Hills, NJ; and West Palm Beach, FL.

I love owls!  So it was a nice surprise to see that Garnet Hill is doing owl print sheets, Night Owl Sateen, open stock prices from $32 to $98.

They're done in 330 thread count, 100% cotton.  It's nice that they're not flannel... it seems that most companies do their novelty prints in flannel.  I'm not a flannel fan because it doesn't wear well, it's so soft at first but it gets bunched up and pilled pretty quickly.

This is such a cute design, I wish that they had left off the hats etc. which makes these sheets more of a seasonal item, and not for year-round use.  I mean, really, you can't have your owls wearing hats in the summer!

I always love fun prints like this but I would never put them on my own bed, I like to keep that pretty classic looking... but I think these are great for a guest bed or kid's bedroom.

The Giving Tree has several styles of Yves Delorme on sale right now, including Byzance, a large scaled byzantine damask pattern.  The full/queen duvet cover is normally $725, now on sale for $435! (40% off)

Towels are just 20% off.  The Etoile, cotton/modal blend, and the Olympe (cotton) are both included. I like Delorme's towels because they are not as huge as most brands.  The bath towel is just 24 x 49 inches, whereas the standard bath towel is 27 x 54".  I actually like the smaller size since I am not a large person.  I love the Olympe towels, washed with Downy they come out very nice and soft...

I'm not a big fan of Macy's, I'm more of a Bloomingdale's girl... but taking a look at the offerings from Macy's Hotel Collection, I would say that they are certainly rivaling Bloomingdale's Hudson Park Collection.  Frankly I'm surprised, pleasantly surprised that is.

Take a look at these fabulous designs:

Hotel Collection "Frame" Bedding

Hotel Collection "Rings" Bedding

Hotel Collection "Glacier" Bedding

Nice, right? Sleek, modern, unfussy.  Love it.

For some reason I've always been fond of Asian motifs. (one of my great treasures for example is an antique Hiroshige wood block print that I found at a shop in New Hampshire) Cuddledown has a wonderful Asian print that they're calling Tea Time Toile, although to me it's not really a toile at all.

It's done in a mercerized 600 thread count sateen. Queen flat and fitted are $99 each, standard cases are $49 (pair).  The queen duvet cover is $169. If something like this would be too busy for you, but you still love it - - it's good to use it as an accent to your other bedding.  Like bedskirt and euro shams for example would be a nice way to mix it in.

I love the shabby-chic look of a frayed edge.  West Elm has an Organic Cotton Frayed Edge Sheet Set. A queen set is $99... pretty reasonable for organic cotton.

They're only 230 tc, I prefer a little higher like 300.  But these look like a pretty good deal for basic sheets.