There was a time when the height of sophistication was owning white bedding. The kind you see in boutique hotels, where someone else is responsible for laundering it the moment you spill an espresso. But the reign of chic white sheets is finally being challenged – and in their place comes colour, pattern and a welcome dose of personality. Ideal for hiding creases and tea stains, too.Think florals layered with stripes. Checks mixed with squiggles. Colourful flat sheets and quilts… It sounds chaotic, but the effect is playful, expressive and surprisingly refined. Weirdstock’s bedding collection features zigzags, florals and geometrics in eye-catching shades. Clashing your prints is encouraged. From £119 for a double duvet cover, pillowcases, £56 for two, weirdstock.co.ukLeading the charge is bedding trendsetter Weirdstock, whose tagline proclaims: ‘Bedding for the bold’. Its duvet covers are crafted from 100 per cent cotton and splashed with retro-inspired prints. ‘People are tired of clinical spaces and want their homes to feel joyful,’ says the brand’s co-founder Johanna Haughey-Lewis. ‘Bedding is essentially a massive canvas in the centre of the room and the perfect low-commitment way to experiment with maximalism.’ Haughey-Lewis and her husband Ben, who co-founded the brand, too, have recently teamed up with Ibiza’s Concept Hotel Group to bring its bright mid-century modern aesthetic from the Balearics to British bedrooms. Mix and match your patterns with colour- block bedding in complementary shades. Double duvet with two pillowcases, £21, habitat.co.ukMeanwhile, the London-based linen brand Piglet In Bed has declared butter yellow as the bedding shade of the season, featuring it across duvet covers, sheets and pillowcases. ‘Yellow feels both nostalgic and fresh at the same time,’ says founder and CEO Jessica Hanley. ‘It behaves like natural light: it brightens, softens and instantly makes a space feel more joyful. It’s also a colour people instinctively relax into.’ To incorporate butter yellow, Piglet In Bed’s shade of the summer, without it dominating the space, pair with small-scale prints such as gingham and slim stripes. Double duvet cover, £169, and pillowcases, £39 for two, pigletinbed.comThe secret is to mix and match. In Haughey-Lewis’s own bedroom, bold, high-octane patterns are tempered by calming elements. ‘I love a pattern clash, but I tend to anchor it with solid, block-colour staples. For instance, I’ll pair a bold, psychedelic wave print with a muted, solid sage-green sheet or pillowcase to give the eye a place to rest,’ she says.If the thought of mixing stripes with checks makes you wince, ease yourself in with smaller touches. A patterned throw draped across an otherwise neutral bed will instantly lift the room (Heal’s offers a good selection). Or choose a busier print in a muted colour such as mineral blue, oatmeal or blush pink – made.com has plenty of options. Pick out bedding colours from surrounding elements in the room such as wallpaper, paint, the bedframe or furniture to help tie a scheme together. Striped duvet cover, from £56 for a double including two pillowcases, next.co.ukThe appeal of ditching white sheets goes beyond aesthetics. Bedding is one of the quickest and most affordable ways to inject character into a bedroom. Unlike paint or furniture, it can be swapped out with minimal effort when your tastes change – and it has an outsized impact. As Haughey-Lewis says, dressing a bed in a statement print or shade can make the entire space feel more thoughtfully designed. Keep the rest of the room calm if you wish, and let the bedding do the heavy lifting.Don’t despair if you’re devoted to white, however. ‘White bedding will always have its place,’ says Hanley. But as she also points out, ‘pattern and colour offer something white can’t: a sense of personality’. And for most of us – the tea-spillers, the parents of sticky-fingered children and those who can’t be bothered to iron sheets – it finally signifies the end of perfectionist bedding. Enjoy it while it lasts. If statement bedding feels like too much of a commitment, start small with Clarissa Hulse’s patterned cushions, from £45 each, clarissahulse.comPATTERN MIXING: THE GOLDEN RULES1. Pick a star playerEvery successful bedding scheme starts with one standout print. Whether it’s a bold floral, a jaunty stripe or a retro geometric, let one pattern take centre stage and build around it.2. Think big and smallThe easiest way to make patterns work together is to mix scales. Pair oversized motifs with smaller prints to create contrast and stop the look becoming overwhelming.3. Find a common threadPatterns don’t have to match, but they should speak the same language. Repeating a colour – even subtly – across bedding, cushions and throws will tie everything together.4. Give the eye a restMaximalism works best with moments of calm. Block-colour sheets, plain pillowcases or a simple quilt can act as visual breathing space between busy prints.5. Trust your instinctsIf a combination makes you smile, it’s working. The most stylish bedrooms should feel personal, not curated.