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These Christmas bedding ideas will make your bed the coziest spot in the house this December, whether you love red plaid, all white or something a little whimsical. In our farmhouse the bedroom is the last room I decorate, and some years the bedding is the only Christmas touch it gets. It is still the one I love most when it is cold out and the lights are on.
I gathered 25 real Christmas beds from 10 decorating blogs and grouped them by color, so you can scroll to the look that fits your room. Each idea links to the blogger who made it, and I added what makes it work and how to copy it at home. For the rest of the room, see our greenery bedroom ideas, our Christmas garland ideas and, if you are in a small space, our apartment Christmas decor list.
Red and plaid Christmas bedding
1. Candy stripe sheets with red tartan pillows
SaveCredit: Citrine Living
Red and white striped sheets set the whole tone in this bedroom, and two red tartan pillow covers on top make it feel like an old Christmas card. Citrine Living kept the duvet plain white so the stripes peek out at the fold.
If you only buy one new thing for the bed this year, make it a set of striped sheets. They look festive on their own and you can use them all winter.
2. Turn the sheet down so the stripes show
SaveCredit: Citrine Living
This closer look at the same bed shows the trick. Fold the top sheet and the white duvet back over each other at the pillows, so a wide band of red stripe shows across the bed.
It takes ten seconds when you make the bed, and it gives you a pop of color without buying a whole Christmas duvet.
3. Black watch plaid flannel with a tree pillow
SaveCredit: Twelve on Main
Twelve on Main swaps her son’s sheets for a flannel set every winter, and she picks plaids and simple designs so they last past Christmas. This black and white plaid sits under a set of three pillows, two in red plaid and one with little green trees.
Her money saving tip is to buy just the fitted sheet and the matching pillowcases and skip the top sheet.
4. Plaid sheets that last the whole winter
SaveCredit: Twelve on Main
Here is the same room from the side, and you can see how far the plaid goes with very little else. A wood bead garland and a pot of fresh greenery on the nightstand finish it.
Twelve on Main keeps seasonal pillow covers in the closet so she can change the look in a minute. If you live somewhere warm, she suggests a lighter cotton plaid instead of flannel.
5. A red sweater lumbar pillow on white bedding
SaveCredit: Clean and Scentsible
Clean and Scentsible finds that too much red can feel heavy, so she uses just a few pops of it. On this bed that is one long red lumbar pillow in a cozy sweater knit, set in front of white Euro shams.
The three white Euro pillows stay on the bed all year, and she only changes the pillowcases and one accent pillow for each season.
6. Hotel white bedding with a red felt ball garland
SaveCredit: Inspired by Charm
White bedding with a black border looks crisp next to a black painted wall. Inspired by Charm added a buffalo check blanket, faux fur pillows and a red and white felt ball garland across the shelf above the bed.
Her Let’s Mistletoe banner came from Etsy. A shelf over the bed is a great spot to change out art and little trees for each season.
7. Faux fur pillows and an old fashioned Christmas pennant pillow
SaveCredit: Inspired by Charm
Look at the front of that same bed. Two faux fur pillows add texture, and a red pennant style pillow that says Christmas sits right in the middle.
Inspired by Charm got the pennant pillow from Fabric Scout Studio and calls it the perfect bit of old fashioned Christmas. One word pillow like this is enough to make plain bedding feel festive.
8. A quilted red Euro sham behind plaid
SaveCredit: The Lilypad Cottage
The Lilypad Cottage always uses a Euro pillow on a twin bed, and this one has a red quilted sham for a pop of color. In front sits a crewel pillow with gray, white and red trees.
Underneath are blue plaid cotton flannel sheets from The Company Store, which she calls so cozy she wanted a set for her own bed.
Neutral and white Christmas bedding
9. Beige gingham and neutral linen under a beam garland
SaveCredit: Pine and Prospect Home
Pine and Prospect Home kept her everyday neutral bedding and let the room do the rest. Beige and brown gingham pillows sit on taupe linen, and a cedar garland with string lights hangs between the barn beams over the headboard.
She tied the tree into the bed with brown velvet ribbon and her own dried orange slices. Her bed proves that you do not need special Christmas bedding to have a Christmas bed.
10. A layered garland with lights over the bed
SaveCredit: Pine and Prospect Home
Step back and you can see the whole garland. She layers a few cheaper garlands from HomeGoods on top of each other to make one thick, full strand, the same trick she uses on her mantel.
Warm string lights tucked in make it glow at night, and the soft beige bedding keeps the room calm.
11. All white bedding with a striped wool blanket
SaveCredit: Zevy Joy
Zevy Joy proves a white bed only needs a couple of extra pieces. She laid a cream striped wool blanket with fringe across the foot of the bed and hung a wreath with brass bells above it.
Her advice is to layer blankets and pick wintry textiles. A wreath fits where a tree will not.
12. Fa la la pillows on soft navy flannel
SaveCredit: A Life Unfolding
A Life Unfolding starts with a light navy flannel duvet as a neutral base, then adds a knit blanket and a pillow that says falalala. A wreath hangs in the window behind the iron bed and a string of lights runs along the frame.
She says red and green are always classic, but creams, whites and blues can feel just as festive.
13. Word pillows on white bedding under a wreath
SaveCredit: A Life Unfolding
In the same house a second bed gets three small word pillows in a row on crisp white bedding. A plain green wreath on the wood plank wall above is all the Christmas decor the bed needs.
A chunky white knit blanket at the foot makes it look warm without adding color.
14. Gray woodland flannel sheets with white Euro shams
SaveCredit: Home Stories A to Z
The whole woodland bedroom at Home Stories A to Z started with gray flannel sheets printed with little trees and animals. She calls them affordable and comfy and keeps them on all winter.
White Euro shams from Better Homes and Gardens at Walmart keep the print from feeling busy.
15. A white chenille duvet with a pom pom throw
SaveCredit: Home Stories A to Z
Over the woodland sheets she uses a heavier white chenille duvet for winter, a gray pom pom throw and a chunky knit throw at the foot. A faux garland from HomeGoods runs along the top of the tufted headboard.
The pom pom throw was only about seventeen dollars on Amazon. Layering two throws at the foot is the fastest way to make a bed look cozy.
16. A Christmas tree right beside the bed
SaveCredit: Home Stories A to Z
This is the same room with the lights on. She put a tree from Lowe’s in the corner and a crystal chandelier overhead, and the white and gray bedding glows in the light.
If you have the room, a small tree next to the bed makes reading at night feel like Christmas morning.
Green, blue and layered Christmas bedding
17. An olive velvet quilt across a white duvet
SaveCredit: Clean and Scentsible
Clean and Scentsible keeps a white duvet cover on the bed all year and changes the quilt and pillows with the seasons. For Christmas it is a deep olive velvet quilt from Target with matching olive shams.
Fresh looking greenery sits along the top of the tufted headboard. She sleeps hot and uses bamboo sheets, but suggests flannel if you want a warmer bed.
18. Battery lights in the headboard garland
SaveCredit: Clean and Scentsible
Here is the headboard up close. She tucked battery operated lights into the garland so it glows at night with no cords to hide.
She also suggests a linen spray on the sheets, and her favorite Christmas scent is Thymes Frasier Fir.
19. Gingham, patchwork and a quilt at the foot
SaveCredit: Nesting With Grace
Nesting With Grace makes every bed with the same formula, a unique set of sheets, a charming quilt layered at the end and always a duvet. This one mixes red gingham, a navy and white patchwork quilt and a plaid bench.
She says a quality duvet insert is what gives the bed its fluffy look, so spend there first.
20. Soft blue bedding for a calm winter room
SaveCredit: Nesting With Grace
If red feels like too much in a bedroom, look at this one. Layers of soft blue and white bedding with a patterned rug and a velvet bench feel wintry and peaceful.
Add a little greenery and a candle and it is ready for Christmas, then it stays up through February.
21. Blue plaid sheets with a penguin throw
SaveCredit: The Lilypad Cottage
The Lilypad Cottage layered a cable knit blanket and a penguin print holiday throw from The Company Store over plaid flannel sheets. The penguins will carry the bed right through winter.
A felt wreath and a green and red felt garland on the picture ledge above finish it.
22. Gray windowpane plaid for a quiet winter
SaveCredit: The Lilypad Cottage
Changing the bedding is the easiest way to make a room feel new for the season. The Lilypad Cottage swaps her summer blue ticking stripe for a gray and white windowpane duvet in winter.
A chunky gray knit throw at the foot and a tray with a little tree make it cozy without any red at all.
Kids and guest room Christmas bedding
23. Gingham and plaid in a boy’s Christmas room
SaveCredit: Nesting With Grace
Nesting With Grace let her son help pick his Christmas bedding. A black and white plaid headboard sits over gingham sheets and a printed quilt, with a stuffed crocodile pillow just for fun.
Dark green walls and a small lit tree make it feel like a cabin.
24. A pink floral quilt for a girl’s room
SaveCredit: Nesting With Grace
Christmas does not have to be red and green in a girl’s room. This bed pairs a pink and red floral quilt with blue and white sheets, and a tall slim tree glows in the corner.
Two woven benches at the foot hold extra pillows when it is time for bed.
25. Reindeer flannel sheets for a little whimsy
SaveCredit: Clean and Scentsible
For a cozier sleep, Clean and Scentsible switches to flannel sheets, and these have little red and black reindeer on white. She found them at Superstore for a fair price.
A fun print on the sheets shows only when the bed is turned down, so the rest of the room can stay calm.
How to make a bed look like Christmas in five minutes
Start with what you already own. A white or neutral duvet is the best base, because every one of these looks layers color on top of it.
Change the pillows first. One or two pillow covers in red plaid, tartan or a word pillow do more than anything else for the least money.
Fold a throw or a quilt across the foot of the bed. Knit, faux fur, velvet and flannel all say winter.
Swap the sheets if you want more. Flannel plaid, stripes or a little print like reindeer or trees only show at the turn down, so they never look like too much.
Finish above the bed with a wreath, a garland on the headboard or a strand of battery lights.
Christmas bedding that lasts all winter
If you want to buy bedding once and use it until spring, skip the Santa prints and pick plaid, buffalo check, gingham, windowpane, stripes, woodland animals or solid velvet. Several of the bloggers above leave these on the bed well into February. Store the seasonal pillow covers and sheets in a labeled bin or under a storage bed so the swap is quick next year.
Christmas bedding FAQ
What colors look best for Christmas bedding? Red and white, red and green plaid, and green and white are the classics. Navy, soft blue, olive, gray and cream also feel festive and are easier to keep up past the holidays.
Are flannel sheets worth it? If your house is cold in winter, yes. They feel warm the moment you get in. If you sleep hot, keep cotton or bamboo sheets and add Christmas color with pillows and a throw instead.
How many pillows should a Christmas bed have? Most of the beds above use two sleeping pillows, two or three Euro shams and one or two accent pillows. One word or pattern pillow in the front is enough.
Is it safe to put lights on a headboard garland? Use battery operated LED lights, which stay cool, and switch them off or put them on a timer before you sleep. Keep plug in lights away from bedding and never cover them with blankets.
When should I put Christmas bedding on? Most people switch it the weekend after Thanksgiving. Plaid and woodland bedding can go on as soon as it turns cold in November and stay until spring.
