There's nothing nicer than...

...fresh bedding.

I remember as a child, trying to slip in between the sheets of my freshly made bed without disturbing them and then breathing in the lovely smell of the outdoors from where they had blown on the washing line until dry. One of the Yankee Candle company's most popular fragrances is "Clean Cotton"...I can understand why.

I still love the feel of snuggling down into a freshly made bed but these days I am normally breathing in the clean smell of my washing liquid as time and the good old British weather don't allow me to peg out washing as often as I would like.

I also like my bedding to match.

It doesn't feel 'right' if the colour of the sheets & pillowcases are not matching or if they are 'wrong' for the duvet cover - is that a bit OCD? - probably but it still doesn't feel right. So when I purchase new bedding, I have to make sure that I have things that 'go with'.

I recently bought some beige bedding that had script on the duvet in white and matched it with the same beige colour sheets (I know white would have done and I already have white but...). This turned out to be a perfect purchase because the other week, Mum 'encouraged' me to buy this...

...super quilted throw that looks like a pretty patchwork quilt. They also had the duvet set so...

 ...matching top pillows...

...and the cushions were ones that I already had. With the bedside lights on...

...everything looks cosy and inviting.

Earlier in the year I decided to invest in some neutral coloured accessories and I'm so glad that I did because it has made it so much easier to pull everything together. Either side of the bed is a shallow alcove that was the perfect size for a couple of ottomans to provide additional storage and act as bedside tables - I went for a soft cream 'leather-look' (easy to wipe over). The side lights have a wooden base painted white and slightly distressed. Because they are switched on you can't see that the shades are beige with white polka-dots and I matched the colour to the central shade which has script over it.

It is starting to look how I want and last night, looking at this and then climbing into the freshly made bed brought back all those lovely memories of childhood.

Mum is a very bad influence. She also encouraged me to buy the most snuggly of throws with a lovely winter design (of course there was bedding to match). I'm being very good - it has been washed and put away as it is the set that I will be putting on the bed for Christmas. If I remember, I'll take some photos to share...................................................................