Duvet

April 18, 2009 11:09 AM

Potential buyer's remorse over a duvet - help me decide!

I just ordered a Kauffmann duvet, king size (UK sizing), 13 tog. It cost me an arm and a leg (and probably a torso).

Also information here

I did some research beforehand and found that cheaper duvets (down-filled) don't last as long or the down starts coming out the duvet. I was wondering now if I've gone over the top with my "buy cheap, pay twice" belief and should've bought a cheaper one. Has anyone ever slept under one of these, and if so, is it worth the extra price? I'm now of the opinion that cheap bedding isn't worth it and a good night's sleep is the best thing you can do for yourself. I'm just worried now I've gone too far in this!

posted by stenoboy to home & garden (15 comments total)

I don't know the duvet you speak of but I heartily agree that one should indulge in quality bedding. Cheap duvets are invariably scratchy and feel like canvas. Look forward to that grand duvet's arrival I say. You'll forget the price after a night or two's sleep.
posted by vincele at 11:13 AM on April 18

You paid $1,500 USD for a duvet? Uhm, no, probably not worth it. Especially considering that you'd only get to use it several months a year during the coldest days of winter. You are just asking for an opinion, right?
posted by halogen at 11:43 AM on April 18

It's a duvet. It's not worth it. There are much better ways to spend that money; that duvet will not make you a better human being, happier, or anything else.

Return it.
posted by ellF at 12:46 PM on April 18

i evacuated for katrina, and took my cat, my car, and my computer--all the essentials. after i found out that my house was still standing but the area was definitely flooded, i obsessed over my 600-thread count sheets and my almost new bed with the memory foam top. i don't think i was concerned about anything but the bed & the sheets, both of which i'd paid more than my usual stingy self would allow.

i came home to, well ... a disaster. BUT, the bed was fine & the extra set of sheets i stowed in the next-to-the-bottom drawer of my dresser were just high enough to escape the flood waters flowing through my house. one of the first things i told people after my first trip to my house was, 'the bed is fine! the sheets are ok!'

you can't put a price on a good night's sleep.

go for it. (well, you've already done that.) even if it isn't as soft as angels' wings & as toasty warm as the corridor to hell, it's a functional indulgence that will probably make you feel a little sinful every time your snuggle under it. and it's yours, all yours! live a little.
posted by msconduct at 12:51 PM on April 18

You're looking for opinions? --- pay top dollar for the mattress, not the duvet. (Plus, get a lighter duvet that can use more than for half of winter, and throw a blanket on top if you need to).
posted by devbrain at 12:58 PM on April 18

I have a "lightweight" down comforter that cost a couple hundred bucks. It's so warm I can't use it except in the winter. My wife, who's cold al the time feels the same way. I can't imagine why you'd need anything heavier or more expensive.

In no way am I being cheap, either. I have nice sheets and top quality pillows. There's just no need for a really heavy comforter, IMO. Just get a nice cover for it.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 1:08 PM on April 18

You've probably bought it at exactly the wrong time of year to assuage your doubts, unless you're heading down to Tierra del Fuego soon. If you're going to buy a f-me-that's-expensive winter duvet, do it in October, not April. And walk around the house wrapped in it, instead of turning on the central heating.

I'm in devbrain's camp: get a three-season duvet and a nice blanket, and spend the money on a mattress. And I've never felt as if a cheap duvet was a false economy, as long as I had a nice duvet cover and sheets. Or had one leak its down, for that matter.
posted by holgate at 1:31 PM on April 18

Sorry I missed the price. No way would I spend that much on a duvet.
posted by vincele at 3:26 PM on April 18

Good lord. Is there no heat at all in your house? Otherwise I don't know how you could use that weight of duvet. I completely agree that cheap bedding is not the thing, but I think a bespoke duvet might be overkill. I rarely have feathers come out of my duvet (just at the corners once in a blue moon), and it wasn't nearly that price. I tend to splurge on support and materials (wool and silk mattress toppers, for instance), and go mid-range or cheaper for duvets.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:20 PM on April 18

I'm going to offer a contrary opinion to the general mood here. Yeah, that's a fucking expensive duvet and all, but I have one of my grandmother's eiderdowns for winter use, and she had it for many many years before it got passed along the line, and the thing is wonderful. Sheets wear out, mattresses wear out, that eiderdown looks brand new, even though I treat it like crap and wash it at home. I have other, cheaper duvets for summer use, but I live in a damned cold basement and sometimes, nothing beats pushing all the feathers to one end and covering my feet with about 20 inches of warm that feel like nothing.

If it'll let you turn the thermostat down at night and still be nice and toasty, and you didn't buy it on credit, say "Hell, yeah, I have me an awesome, awesome piece of bedding that will last me a lifetime" and keep it.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:27 PM on April 18

The nice thing about duvets is that you can use them all year round as long as it's not too hot. If I had the cash to spare, hell yes I'd get the best duvet I could... the luscious feeling os waking under a good duvet is wonderful for the soul.
posted by Billegible at 9:01 PM on April 18

If you can afford it, and it's not forcing you to eat yogurt and ramen for months on end to pay for it, why is it not worth it?

We spend a lot of time in bed. It should be wonderful time. It should be sheer bliss to roll into bed and a heartbreak to wake up. Bed is nice.

If I could afford to spend that much on a set of duvets (since if I'm reading correctly the one you bought is the 13.5, which is really two buttoned together) I totally would.
posted by winna at 9:22 PM on April 18

'We' meaning everyone, that is.
posted by winna at 9:23 PM on April 18

You're good - it's £1000 (which as we all know is not the same as $1500 whatever the exchange rate might be) but it's an investment that you can use most of the year. You'll love the fact that it's a top notch item and I'm kinda hoping that the naked gal in the picture comes with it.

I mean, just listen to what they say: "The goose down, which comes from free-range geese, is hand-sorted and hand-filled into the duvets and pillows in finely-measured quantities." It's made with happy geese!!

Keep the duvet. Enjoy the luxury.
posted by Xhris at 11:01 PM on April 18

I'm not against spending money in exchange for good quality but you might be better off going to your nearest John Lewis - they sell good duvets for less money than that. Even their best Siberian goosedown is just over £500 for the biggest size.

Unless you live in an unheated house in the north of Scotland you won't be able to sleep under a 13.5 tog duvet for more than a couple of months a year in the UK, in any case. I have one that thick, and it's great when it's really cold but I have to put it away in the spring as I feel in danger of suffocation.
posted by altolinguistic at 3:42 AM on April 20