Duvets are a staple of bedding, being the bedding of choice in many countries. The advantage of a duvet is that you can change the cover as often as you like. In fact, to clean you bedding you wash the cover and not the duvet itself (which is a good thing because duvets don't fit in normal washing machines!).

Duvets come in different "tog ratings", and this number tells you how heavy, or warm a duvet is. The lower the tog rating, the lighter the duvet, so you should have a low-tog duvet for summer and a high-tog duvet for winter.

Duvets range in price from very cheap supermarket ones to expensive, luxury, duck-feather-filled ones. You can even get his n' hers duvets which have different tog ratings on each half so both partners are the right temperature at night!

Even though you don't generally wash a duvet, you should try to dry-clean it once a year. Strangely, it might actually be cheaper to buy a new one every year!

Hot water bottles are absolutely brilliant for when you're feeling ill, and they're great for those cold winter nights too. The heat lulls you off to sleep and as anyone who's shared a bed knows, warmth is comforting at night.

Rubber bottles can be unsightly, but nowadays you can get bottle covers in all sorts of shapes and sizes. A luxury cashmere hot water bottle cover makes a perfect wedding gift along with a dressing gown and make-up case. A cute animal character cover is a brilliant birthday present for a friend.

You can even make your own hot water bottle cover - it only takes some simple sewing skills!

Quilts are the bedding alternative to duvets. A quilt is the only bed covering you use - you don't cover it, it provides both the warmth and the decoration. You can get quilts stuffed with man-made fibres, or luxury duck-down quilts so there's something for every budget.

When people think of quilts they often think of patchwork quilts. Patchwork is a great pastime - it's therapeutic and if you have the time and patience you can create something really beautiful. All you need is some old fabric and you can find this almost anywhere, from old clothes to table cloths and pillow cases. Vintage quilts made with skill can fetch hundreds of pounds when they sell, which shows the high demand for these time-consuming objects.

A quilt can't be washed like a duvet - you have to be a lot more careful with it. Dry-cleaning is essential and should be done every few months to stop dirt becoming ingrained.

The main benefit of quilts is their homely feel. Especially if they're handmade, they'll be unique and give an atmosphere to your home that a duvet will never achieve. For the ultimate snuggling experience a quilted bedspread is perfect.