Bedspreads

A bedspread is the layer that makes a bed look finished. It sits over the duvet through the day, holds the shape of the bed, and comes off at night, so it is the easiest way to change how a room feels without changing the whole bed.

Our bedspreads come from Pratesi, the Tuscan house founded in Pistoia in 1906, and Woods is one of only two authorised stockists worldwide. Each design is distinguished by its embroidery. Tre Righe carries the three crisp lines first commissioned for Coco Chanel’s Paris home in 1927, worked on Angel Luxe, Pratesi’s signature Egyptian cotton percale. Federico takes the acanthus leaf of Italian Renaissance architecture in soft metallic thread, on the finer Paradise percale, finished with mezzo punto hemstitch. Treccia is embroidered with a braid motif in a contrasting colour and edged with a scallop in the same stitch. All three are woven, embroidered and hand-cut in Italy. For more on how this layer works with the rest of the bed, read our guide to Egyptian cotton bedspreads.

Size matters more than people expect. A bedspread should hang past the mattress on both sides and at the foot, so measure the mattress and add the drop you want rather than buying by bed size alone. Deep mattresses and divan bases need more drop than a standard measurement allows for.

For layering, the order that works is fitted sheet, flat sheet if you use one, duvet, then the bedspread over the top, with a throw folded across the foot for contrast in texture. Keep the palette quiet and let the textures do the work. Start with Egyptian cotton bed linen underneath, add a duvet at the right tog, and finish with blankets and throws. If you would like help pairing a bedspread with duvets, sheets and pillows, join the Heritage Partnership for personal advice.