illustration of a very large white duvet on a bed folded.

By Pauline, co-founder of Devon Duvets

I have a small confession from someone who makes duvets for a living: Dick and I have a super king bed, but we sleep under a king size duvet.

It sits comfortably over us, there is enough for us both, and I rather like that more of it is on the bed with us instead of hanging over the sides.

This has led me to spend a perhaps unreasonable amount of time thinking about duvet overhang!

I do sometimes wonder whether other people discuss duvet sizes over dinner, or whether our dinner guests quietly hope someone will change the subject. In my defence, we all spend a fair amount of our lives underneath one.

Lovely to look at. Lovely to sleep under?

We are used to seeing beds dressed with generous duvets cascading down either side. Add several pillows and a carefully arranged throw and it all looks wonderfully inviting. Although I do sometimes wonder where everything goes when it is time to get in.

That generous drape has become part of our picture of luxury. It is easy to assume that a bigger duvet will make a bed more comfortable.

But once you turn out the light, you become much more interested in how your bedding feels.

Watercolour of a white duvet draping towards the floor on an oak bed with four white pillows.
A generous drape is lovely to look at.

Does it settle comfortably around you? Can you turn over without rearranging everything? Are you pleasantly covered, or do you find yourself hauling the duvet back towards the middle?

These are the things you cannot tell from a photograph.

Why I prefer a little less overhang

For me, a duvet that hangs a long way over the sides can feel as though it is pulling away from where I want it to be. I prefer the feeling of it resting over us, with less falling beyond the edges of the mattress.

Our king size duvet gives me that comfortable feeling on our super king bed.

This is my own preference, rather than a new rule for choosing bedding. How a duvet feels also depends on its weight, how easily it drapes and the cover you put it in. Size is one part of that experience.

Watercolour of a white duvet with a short side overhang, leaving the mattress and oak bed frame visible.
A little less overhang can feel just right.

Still, it made me wonder how often we choose a duvet simply by matching the name on the label to the size of the bed, without giving much thought to how we like to sleep.

Watercolour of a rolled white wool duvet resting on an oak bench.
The weight of a duvet is part of how it feels.
Watercolour close-up of a white duvet falling into soft folds on an empty bed.
So is the way it drapes.

The bed is only part of the equation

A duvet has to accommodate the people beneath it, too.

When it is spread over an empty bed, there may appear to be plenty to go around. Once two people get in, turn onto their sides and settle into their preferred positions, some of that spare width is soon spoken for.

And then there are our individual habits.

Some people sleep beneath a duvet. Others appear to roll themselves into it until only a small part of their face remains visible. If you share a bed with someone in the second group, you may have quite strong views about the value of extra width.

Overhead watercolour of a bed with two white pillows and a duvet spread evenly across both sides.
Plenty of duvet, before anyone gets in.
Overhead watercolour of a white duvet pulled to one side of an empty bed, exposing the sheet.
A familiar sight in some shared beds.

A smaller duvet works well for Dick and me. For another couple, it could lead to chilly shoulders and a series of increasingly determined tugs during the night.

There is nothing especially luxurious about having to negotiate for your half at three in the morning.

Try judging it from underneath

If you are wondering whether your duvet is the right size, the best place to consider it is in bed.

Lie in your usual sleeping position. If you share your bed, try this with both of you underneath. Is there enough to settle around your shoulders and sides? Can you turn over without uncovering each other?

Then notice the edges. Do you enjoy having plenty of duvet to gather around you, or do you find the overhang a little cumbersome?

If you are comfortable all night, your duvet is doing its job beautifully. But if it never seems to sit quite right, its dimensions may deserve as much attention as its warmth.

Watercolour close-up of an ivory duvet cover peeled back to reveal the white duvet inside.

And if you do choose a different size, remember that the cover needs to fit the duvet, whatever size bed it sits on.

What does luxury feel like to you?

After all these years at Devon Duvets, I am still interested in the small details that make someone comfortable. Sometimes those details are different from what we might expect—or from what looks best in a beautifully styled bedroom.

For you, luxury might mean an enormous duvet with plenty to curl up in. For me, it is one that rests comfortably over us and stays where I want it.

There is room for both preferences.

Though if you come to dinner at my house, you may find yourself being asked about yours!

Watercolour of white bedding in a softly lit bedroom, with a crescent moon visible through the window.