In my heart of hearts, I’m lazy. I usually start decorating with two colors (or non-colors, whatever) and then branch out color-wise as I see things I like. My living room, for example, started with a palette of blues and browns, but I’ve since added orange, which meshes with everything else a lot better than you might at first imagine.

Black and white are easy starting points because ‘black and white’ is a proven combo. Once you’ve got your timeless and classy black and white interior established, you can start adding other hues, like vivid red, bright yellow, baby blue, or even apple green. Voila! Instant eye draws!

But aren’t the linens shown above just divine? I might be persuaded to spend more time reading in bed and less time in front of The Beard’s computer watching Battlestar Galactica if I had a full set…or maybe just one of the duvet covers. All right, so on blah days like today I don’t exactly need a lot of persuading. The kicker is that I have to get up, out of my warm cozy bed, and actually do things if I want to afford the kind of linens specifically designed to keep one in bed!

Intricate embroidery will cost you, if a lumbar pillow cover that costs $79 is any indication. I’m going to guess it was machine embroidery, which is something the ladies at the sewing center I frequent seem to do without eighty bucks worth of effort. But maybe they jut make it look easy!

These pretty yellow and green tossers only look delicate. They’re made for open-air use, and polyester inside and out means that you can leave them out in the rain without fretting overmuch.

The fabric on this armless chair will dominate a room. Luckily, when it goes out of style and you just can’t stand it anymore, Pottery Barn sells slipcovers in a bazillion other fabrics.

The weird thing is that as much as I love the items featured above–including these darling placemats–I simply can’t bring myself to drop a big wad of cash on an overly dramatic chair or bedding set. The pillows? Can do, especially as they’re on sale. The placemats? Probably, especially as they remind me of my grandparents. But I’ve watched too many fabulous patterns come and go in my lifetime. I know that the chair that dazzles today will eventually be screaming out for a more sedate slipcover. Then, in two decades or so, the original print will be suddenly deemed vintage cool. Lather, rinse, repeat, spending all the while!