Where to keep quilts when not in use?

August 25, 2011 5:05 PM

What do you do with your heavy quilts or coverlets at night when its too hot to use them? I'm looking for alternatives to my current tactic of leaving them piled on the floor.

I've finally got a bedroom cobbled together out of more than Ikea furniture and hand-me-downs. But I'm still having trouble breaking the habit of not making my bed all the way. What's the point of having a coverlet you leave on the floor? Ideally I'd like something that would allow me to easily re-make my bed without having to unfold or unpack every morning.

I can't just fold it down to the end of the bed because I'm a weird sleeper and I don't like anything tucked in or heavy around my feet. Which leads to everything but my blanket ending up on the floor.

Ideally I'd like something nice at the foot of my bed to push it on, so I can easily make the bed in the morning. Does anybody have any creative ideas other than the standard "quilt rack" in the corner? Bonus points for affordability and possible DIYness.

posted by gilsonal to Home & Garden (21 answers total)

I don't understand. Why wouldn't you just pack them away in a closet until the weather gets cold again?
posted by mannequito at 5:09 PM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

In the warmer months I only keep a light cover on the bed. The rest go into storage bins. Is there some reason you need all your blankets on the bed? On preview what mannequito said.
posted by ephemerista at 5:11 PM on August 25, 2011

I use something similar to this vacuum bag so that my big, warm down blanket for the winter lives underneath my bed for the summer.

Generally when it's warmer, I use a pretty thin blanket. I have no idea what it's called in English, but it's called a "towel blanket" when literally translated from Chinese.
posted by astapasta24 at 5:12 PM on August 25, 2011

We have a small sofa, almost like a bench with a back that buts up to the foot of our bed. When I throw the covers off they land on its cushions.

Unless you can fit a piece of furniture there, or a basket, what else would you do? Like the others I put heavy stuff away in the summer, but still have to kick off the light bedspread when it's hot, even with AC.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 5:14 PM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Now that I'm a "grown up" I do what mannequito and ephemerista do, and don't have unnecessary coverings on the bed. But I grew up in a family where you have a bedspread/quilt to "make" the bed (not that we ever actually got around to making the beds, but it's the thought that counts). I had a window seat in my room, so I always threw the quilt on top of that. A cedar chest or dressing bench at the foot of the bed would accomplish the same thing.
posted by phunniemee at 5:15 PM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Roll the quilt up, starting at the pillows. Wrap three bungee cords around rolled quilt, one in the middle and one on each side of it. Suspend cords from frame at the foot of the bed. (You specified DIY and affordable, not attractive.)
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:16 PM on August 25, 2011

I leave the down comforters piled in the closet. When it's warmer, my bedspread inevitably ends up on the floor at some point, but then it gets suddenly cold at about 4 AM, so I just pull it back over me. Get a chest or set of drawers for the foot of your bed if you don't want the bedspread to end up on the floor every night while still being in easy reach.
posted by yasaman at 5:18 PM on August 25, 2011

Best answer: I used to keep a nice wooden bench (something like this or this) at the foot of my bed, and just fold extra throws or blankets back. You could remove the coverlet/blanket/etc altogether and store it on the bench, or if you don't have a footboard, just fold it back foot by foot or so until it gets folded onto the bench. Then in morning, fold it back for bed prettiness.
posted by raztaj at 5:24 PM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I think the OP is saying the bed isn't completely made unless there's a quilt/coverlet/heavy blanket on it, but it's too hot to use these things at night. I see three options:

1. Get a lighter blanket that still gives you the made-bed look, but is light enough to sleep with. Remove the flat sheet and that's one less layer to make you hot or that you have to tidy in the morning.
2. Nthing others' suggestions to get a bench or chest to put at the foot of the bed on/in which you can put the folded blankets during the night.
3. Sleep on top of the blanket (if it's one that can be washed easily or has a washable cover).

I'm a combination of one and three. I sleep on top of a light blanket with no flat sheet. If I do get chilly, the blanket is enough but not too much. All it takes to make the bed in the morning is straightening the blanket and pillows. Super fast!
posted by youngergirl44 at 5:31 PM on August 25, 2011

My mom has a quilt stand that she uses (not to imply that one's any good, it just looks exactly like hers.)

I'm on team "what's wrong with the floor," so I can't really recommend a particular model.
posted by SMPA at 5:35 PM on August 25, 2011

We have two things - a footboard as part of our bedframe and a bench at the foot of the bed - that ensure that the quilt will never reach the ground. Usually it ends up getting stuck between the mattress and footboard at the foot of the bed if it is the summer cover which is thin. Our winter duvet we usually use at night, so no worries there.
posted by echo0720 at 5:58 PM on August 25, 2011

We use a comforter in the winter & a light coverlet in the summer (like this one). We do not put things on our bed that we won't use. (which included the flat sheet until recently when I tried one again and found I quite like the flat sheet in my older age)
posted by Kronur at 6:09 PM on August 25, 2011

If you're the only one in a double bed, I'd throw it off to the side while you sleep. That way it's out of the way and not around your feet.
posted by la petite marie at 6:21 PM on August 25, 2011

Put the blankets or coverlets away in a closet - make the bed with just the top sheet, turned attractive side up. Pile pillows at top.

Or do what I do - use a very light blanket in case it gets cold (in Tucson - hah!), throw it off onto the floor sometime right after going to bed, pick it up off the floor and draw it up over already made bed. Wash frequently.
posted by Squeak Attack at 6:32 PM on August 25, 2011

My parents had this cool chest. Old timey naval looking thing.
posted by deludingmyself at 6:42 PM on August 25, 2011

I just sleep on top of the comforter if it's too warm to sleep under it and it's on the bed.
posted by MrBobaFett at 7:25 PM on August 25, 2011

I've found quilts at Walmart that are super light. These quilts are light enough for me and my wife, and we live in the desert. They're lighter than the 100 thread count sheets we use for the summer. You should be able to find something light enough to use comfortably.
posted by BurnChao at 8:14 PM on August 25, 2011

The mister and I share a queen-sized bed. He likes the duvet even in the summer so it's on the bed all year. I fold/shove it towards the middle of the bed (it makes a long lump between us) and sleep with just the sheet. We're both happy. If you're alone in bed, you can do the same thing - just shove/fold it to whatever side you don't sleep on. That's the cheap option.
posted by deborah at 8:30 PM on August 25, 2011

I got a thin, decorative tapestry to use AS my coverlet in summer and packed the quilt away; one of those things that's basically a decorative bedsheet weight. The bed is decorated, but with something that's summer weight.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:13 AM on August 26, 2011

Does your bedframe have a raised footboard? Despite the fact that modern bed designs tend not to (makes it easier for tall people not to feel cramped) there's a reason those footbards were there - specifically for flinging the bedclothes over. So when the bed's made up, and you want to get in it, fold back the quilt (pretty side to the rail) until the rail's at abouth the halfway point, then push down the remaining lower part of the spread till it bunches up at the foot of the bed. When you want the quilt back, you just grab the topedge and pull it up, and the whole thing straightens back out again.
posted by aimedwander at 9:35 AM on August 26, 2011

I use Ikea duvet covers without the duvet inside. They look pretty but are light enough for summer (and they're affordable!).
posted by Maarika at 2:56 PM on August 29, 2011