shopping

If you’ve never slept under cover of a 100 percent merino wool blanket, you don’t know what you’re missing. I was lucky enough to stay at a boutique hotel once where I needed an extra blanket, and that’s what they brought me. Would that I could have made it out of there with that blanket stuffed in my suitcase! It was the softest WOOL I’d ever felt, not the least bit itchy, and it breathed.

Ahhhhh!!

It wasn’t a Hudson’s Bay blanket, but it gave me a lifelong yen for anything merino. The traditional design and colors of the Hudson’s Bay multicolored stripe did the rest to spoil me for all other blankets for all time. I had a tough time controlling my drool while putting together this post. See if it affects you the same.

1. Blanket vs. Draperies

Country Living

See/read more about the upstate New York lake home of designer Thom Filicia, pictured on the left, at House Beautiful.

If you want the look of the draperies but like your blankets on your bed, just sew in bands of color on premade cream-colored panels.

2. Blanket vs. Slipper Chair

The Everygirl

Both of the photos are from the same Chicago apartment. Imagine being lucky enough to have TWO of these blankets! See/read more about this home at The Everygirl.

3. Blanket vs. Wall Hanging

Marion House/Apartment Therapy

Changing out your bedroom’s look for colder weather lifts your spirits and ups the room’s cozy factor. See/read more about the transformation of the bedroom on the left at The Marion House Book.

These blankets are often referred to as “point blankets” because of stitching at one edge that designates size. You can see four such stitched lines in the upper right of the wall hanging, designating a full-size blanket. Since the blankets new run $295 to $595, a wall hanging made from a twin blanket would be the economical way to go. You would, of course, waste all that softness on cobwebs and dustbunnies. See/read more about this Dallas, Tex., home at Apartment Therapy.

4. Blanket vs. Wing Chair

Design Sponge

Both these homes appeared on Design Sponge. See/read more about the one on the left here and the one on the right here.

Though Hudson’s Bay Company first started trading its wool blankets in 1670, the multicolor stripe wasn’t introduced until 1800. It quickly became (and remains) the most popular. The First Nation peoples of the time attached great significance to the colors used:

Green = new life
Red = battle or hunt
Yellow = sun and harvest
Blue = water

As you can see, it looks equally at home in a Native American bedroom as in a midcentury living room. I especially like the updated look the blanket upholstery gives to that traditional wing chair.

5. Blanket vs. Cat Bed

Atlanta Homes & Lifestyle/Freunde von Freundon

These stripes would be dynamite on my office chair, but since I already have enough trouble displacing the cat when I need to work, maybe I should rethink that idea.

6. Blanket vs. Christmas Stocking

Apartment Therapy/Pozey Pincushions Plus on Etsy

See/read more about the Brooklyn apartment pictured on the left at Apartment Therapy. If you choose to make Christmas stockings from your Hudson’s Bay blanket, you might want to wait up for Santa and see that he fills them with treats rather than his own FEETS.

7. Blanket vs. Midcentury Ottoman

bnvntage/Zuburbia

I love the mix of rustic and vintage in the bedroom on the left, especially the Red Cross pillow and the old-style alarm clock. And that ottoman, well, did I say that it would look pretty darn terrific in my guest room? Yes, it would.

8. Blanket vs. Wicker Rocker Cushions

Apartment Therapy/Midwest Living

Decorating with these blankets is as easy as adding throw pillows and other accessories that pick up on the richly saturated bands of color. See more of the Brooklyn home on the left at Apartment Therapy and more of the camp on the right at Midwest Living.

9. Blanket vs. Throw Pillows

Whaling City Cottage/Country Living

The bedroom on the left was redone as part of the One Room Challenge. I love how the blanket pops against the kelly green walls and black bedstead, don’t you? You can see/read more about the room’s transformation at Whaling City Cottage.

Of course, one can never have too many throw pillows, right? But what I REALLY groovin’ on is that arrangement of croquet mallets and tennis rackets. I love how the stripes on the handles match the stripes on the blankets. See/read more about this North Carolina farmhouse at Country Living.

10. Blanket vs. Storage Ottoman

Via Design Salad/Marcus Design

I’m RED with envy for these two room. First, I’m loving those red sheets on this bed! They make the ensemble and, quite possibly, provide a good reason NOT to make the bed in the morning. That could be a selling point Chris might go for. I also love that red leather sofa paired with the Hudson’s Bay ottoman. Do you think there might be another cozy blanket tucked inside it?

11. Blanket vs. Bench

Apartment Therapy/Paper Corgi on Etsy

I love the snug serenity of the loft on the left. See/read more about this Calgary home on Apartment Therapy. All the stripes at one end and just a hint of green at the other add to the interest of this hairpin-leg midcentury bench. Come to think of it, it would look great at the base of the loft on the left!

12. Blanket vs. Club Chair

La Maison Boheme/Mignonn Decor

Vintage blankets often pop up on online auction sites but have been known to sell for in excess of $1,000. Woolrich is the official Hudson’s Bay dealer in the United States, but Pendleton also makes a version that can be found at other outlets. If it’s any consolation, properly cared for, one of these blankets will likely never wear out. Your kids will be fighting over it long after you’re gone, and their kids after them.

Woolrich does carry a throw size for $175 and a pair of shams for $130, so maybe the answer for me is to ask Santa for a set of those shams and build a killer bed around them. They’d look pretty great in the guest room (hubby’s office), and I wouldn’t even need to change out the rest of the bedding.

Sooooo…perhaps instead of me asking Santa to bring them for me, I can buy them myself and put Chris’ name on the package. ;->

I’ll let you know how it turns out. Follow my blog with Bloglovin so you don’t miss it.