How to Build the Warmest, Coziest Winter Bed

When you've reached the point in winter when you're ready to crawl into bed and hibernate until spring, these bedding tricks will help you make the coziest bed ever. Starting from the base—a heated mattress pad—and working all the way up to an extra throw blanket, this is the recipe for bedding success. Careful, it's almost impossible to get out of a bed this warm and comfortable—especially once you add the perfect pajamas .

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Start With a Heated Mattress Pad

Target

Step aside, hot water bottle. When you're hoping to achieve maximum warmth, the heated mattress pad is a total game-changer. Similar to a regular mattress pad but with adjustable heat settings, this cover can warm up your mattress before you even go to bed. This quilted option (from $100, target.com) comes with 10 heat settings, and the queen and king sizes have separate controls on each side, so you can crank the heat to a 10, even if your bedmate leaves their side at level two. Just think: You'll never have to quarrel over the temperature (or hop into a chilly bed) again.

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Choose Warm Materials

Brooklinen

If you wrap yourself in refreshing cotton percale, linen, or sateen sheets most of the year, consider swapping them out for a warmer option during the coldest months. To build a warmer bed, choose soft flannel sheets. Flannel may remind you of the cutesy patterned sheet set you had as a kid, but don't worry, they've grown up.

Choose one of these solid flannel sets (from $17; target.com) in sophisticated colors, like indigo, white, and soft blush. And if you really can't bear to part with cotton bedding, opt for twill sheets, like an elegant set from Brooklinen (from $189; brooklinen.com), which is woven from long-staple cotton but was made for cold winter nights.

RELATED: How to Choose the Best Bed Sheets

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Try Triple Sheeting

Spyridon Evangelatos / EyeEm/Getty Images

When we reached out to Lynn Easton, one of the owners of the boutique hotel Zero George in Charleston, for her advice on creating a five-star bed, she let us in on a little hotelier secret: triple sheeting. By layering a warm but thin blanket or lightweight quilt between two sheets, you can add an extra layer of insulation, while the sheet barrier means you won't have to wash your blanket as often. The coziest bed is all about layers and creating pockets of warm air, so sneaking in an extra layer of warmth before you even add your duvet, down comforter, or down alternative comforter is pure genius.

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Buy the Best Duvet

Parachute Home

While you've probably bought a duvet before, you may not know that the warmth of a duvet is rated by a universal unit known as a tog. It's a measure of the duvet's ability to trap warm air—the higher the tog rating, the warmer the duvet. As a general rule, a tog of 13.5 or higher is considered suitable for the winter months.

Also, consider the fill power, or the amount of space one ounce of down takes up. In general, the higher the fill power, the fluffier the down duvet, and the greater its ability to insulate. Visit Parachute Home for a more in-depth explainer, and to shop their 750 fill-power duvets.

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Top it Off With the Perfect Throw

lilyandpeabody.etsy.com

For the final touch on your sleep sanctuary, add a throw blanket you can cuddle up with on the coldest nights. Whether you spread the blanket out or leave it draped on the bottom of the bed, pick a design you love (and that complements your decor) since this will be the top layer of your magnificently cozy bed.

If you're going for the rustic winter cabin look or another cozy design idea, a faux fur throw (from $179; potterybarn.com) is the perfect topper. But for the ultimate in sweater-weather luxury, nothing beats a chunky hand-knit blanket. You can find them on Etsy (like a chunky knit blanket, $150), or try your hand at knitting your own. Bonus: It won't require leaving your bed.