Toile bedding is the perfect addition to your bedroom if you are going for a classic French country look.
History of the Toile Pattern
The toile pattern was first create sometime during the late 1700s in France. The full name of this particular design is Toile de Jouy, which mean cloth from Jouy (Jouy-en-Josas). Jouy was the town in France where the cloth was first made. The cloth was printed using engraved plates or rollers.
Toile de Jouy has been used for centuries in bedrooms, dining rooms and living rooms. The background is usually a white or off-white.
Traditional Toile
The pattern resembles a pen and ink drawing and is created in one color used in a monochromatic color style. The subject matter is usually a pastoral scene with a 17th century couple. In some patterns, the man is pushing the woman in a swing, while other patterns depict a romantic country picnic scene. The scene may include a pond with ducks or swans, swimming along a glasslike surface. Other times the toile pattern is a floral centerpiece.
The toile pattern comes in solid colors:
- Black
- Blue
- Green
- Burgundy
- Tan
- Brown
- Yellow
The pattern was also very popular during the Victorian era and enjoyed a revival in early 2000.
Modern Toile Fabrics
Many of the modern toile fabrics are screen-printed onto 100 percent cotton, usually cotton duck material. If you're wanting to step outside the traditional box, you can find some modern color combinations that break the color on white. Many manufacturers are offering different colored backgrounds on their toile bedding patterns for a special blending of the old and new. If traditional is more your style, you still have an ample supply of choices.
Toile Bedding Is a Great Choice
Toile is a great choice for your bedding. The pattern has almost magical qualities about it because you can fill your room with it and the pattern doesn't overpower the room. You can use a wide range of patterns for bed pillows.
Pillow Up Your Toile
When selecting pillows to go with your new toile bedding, stick with the monochromatic scheme in the toile and add striped pillows with varying hues of the color used in the toile comforter or bedspread. A solid stripe pattern in chintz or silk looks perfect with toile. You can also step outside the box and use a different stripe pattern like a ticking stripe. Don't forget to add solid colored pillows for contrast. Don't be shy about using the white or off-white background color for accent pillows. Add some embellishments to plain pillows or purchase pillows with soft fringe, tassels or rope trim. Horchow has a great spin on the toile look for bedding with toil patterned pillows with stripe ruffled trim for a truly stylish chic toil bedding ensemble. Instead of a comforter, a scalloped edge toile quilt drapes the bed.
Pink and Brown Can Work
If you have your heart set on the ever popular pink and brown color scheme, don't panic, you can have it all with the pink and brown toile bed linens by JoJo Designs. This striking color combination is highlighted by a brown and pink toile edged in a brown background with pink polka dots. If pink and brown are your colors, then you can also purchase the matching comforter ensemble, complete with dust ruffle and pillows.
There's truly something for everyone, you can purchase the same pink and brown toile for your nursery crib ensemble or a toddler's bed. Your kid can be coolest one in the neighborhood with her pink and brown toile.
Choosing Bed Linens
You can truly enhance your toile bed with the perfect sheets and pillow cases. Repeat the fabric choices for your pillows by going with a ticking stripe for your linens or mix it up and use solid sheets and ticking striped pillows. L.L. Bean has a perfect set of linens for your bed in an old-fashioned ticking stripe design that should go with just about any toile comforter or bedspread. If you sleep with more than one pillow, use a solid color, either white or the color of your toile comforter for the other pillow(s). If you're just absolutely in love with the toile pattern, then go for a set of linens but choose a different color to create a really unique and fun look.
Emotional Reaction
People talk about toile and how it makes them feel. The toile pattern depicts serene scenes that affect people with an emotional response of calmness and peace. This may be why the toile is such a popular choice of fabric, especially for bedrooms.
If you're using toile as part of a French country themed bedroom, you don't want the other fabrics you use in your bedroom to upstage the toil bedding. Aside from the stripes mentioned earlier, you might wish to use gingham checks, small plaids, small rosebuds or other tiny flower.
Other Toile Choices
To highlight your new toile bedding, you may want to use a toile wallpaper to create an accent wall or cover a favorite chair with a toile pattern in the same color or be bold and use a different color with the same bedding color choice as a chair pillow. Choose a blue toile bedspread or comforter and pile it full of red, green and yellow toile pillows. Toile canopied beds will give your bedroom décor a feeling of authentic French. You can purchase toile water pitcher and vases to accent your bedroom. Whatever you do to accessorize your bedroom, you're sure to enjoy your toile bedding for a long time.
