Whether you favour cool linen, crisp cotton or delicate embroidery, our guide to the best bed linen retailers – chosen by Home Design Editor Bed Kendrick – has a great selection of on and offline options to suit all tastes, budgets and seasonsSmall collection of fashionable changing bedlinen, throws and quilts (top). This season fresh, irregular stripes, subtly-coloured solid linen shades, fine ticking and lace-edging are current but they also favour printed designs, decorative details, patterns and hand-crafted style. They also stock printed quilts in a range of colours and good collections of throws, bedspreads and blankets in toning colourful stripes, or more traditional Welsh plaid or check designs.Favourite design: Indian printed Chirali bedspreads in vibrant colours and crocheted throws in wool.High quality plain linens in beautiful soft colours, including soft powdery pink (above), palest duck egg, knocked-back indigo, French and dove grey and white. The linen has all been pre-washed, which makes it extra soft.
Styles are simple with no borders and mother of pearl button closures at the back and all are machine washable. Also available is a range of nightwear, laundry accessories, a linen collection, duvets, pillows – in duck and goose downs – and mattress toppers.Favourite design: Duck egg linen in a pale watery blue, perfect for hot summer nights.Beautifully coloured and embroidered designs in high-quality, crisp Egyptian cottons or solid-coloured soft linens abound here. Styles include large scale printed florals like the one shown above and damask-inspired designs, many in vibrant, painterly styles and shades but also plains stripes and checks and children's bedding. Signature colours are soft limes and appley greens, warm blues, lilacs, pinks, indigos and aquas. Look out for their impressive and regular sales.Favourite design: Astor collection, high-thread count cotton with double-edged embroidered Oxford border. In a selection of colours including cobalt, aqua and lime.Catalogue which has a small selection of good-quality bed linen in classic designs.
Options include old-fashioned ticking stripes on herringbone cotton, natural linen valances, pure Irish linens and simple Egyptian cottons in crisp white with a small hemstitch detail, or fine blue and white stripes. Also on offer is a clothing collection of soft unstructured linens for women and men, plus accessories.Favourite design: Herringbone ticking in cotton in a vintage style which you can get away without ironing.Great selection of solid coloured cottons at reasonable prices and good quality, high thread count pieces. Also in stock are prints and designs with embroidered detailing, soft jersey, plus floral collections from Cath Kidston and new collection of faded English florals from Cabbages & Roses. Nautical prints by Seasalt and botanical silhouettes by artist Clarissa Hulse. Don't miss John Lewis' own House range, which features well-priced geometric prints. Plus a good range of affordable designs for children.Favourite design: Well-priced plain solid colours in a wide variety of shades in 200 thread count Egyptian cotton.
Good quality cottons in classic French styles are the order of the day at this online retailer with a handful of flagship stores in London and the South East. Ranges include elegant period-style embroideries, printed small-scale motifs and stripes, plus a good selection of quilts, throws and blankets. Many of the designs feature elegant details – scalloped or frilled-edges, hemstitched details, broderie anglaise and cutwork designs, some handworked. Don't miss the stylish new Marine blue solid coloured linen (pictured above).Favourite design: White Victoria, a classic, crisp white Egyptian cotton percale with ladder-stitch border detail and embroidery.Hotel hell: If you don't do your research, running a B&B can be a financial disaster. Pictured, Gordon Ramsay starring in television show Hotel Hell: Many about to enter retirement will have a romantic notion of owning a business such as a B&B, pub or restaurant.However, there is a danger of underestimating the challenge running a B&B presents.
We have all watched shows such as Gordon Ramsay's Hotel Hell and Four in a Bed, where many owners of small B&Bs appear to have their head in the clouds when it comes to running a successful business.Sure, it's social, but what about all those rooms you'll have to clean each day, the breakfasts you'll need to cook and the small DIY tasks required on a constant basis. You'll need to be prepared – essentially, it is a 24 hour, seven days a week job, pandering to your customers' needs.And some will be really quite picky – in the age of the internet, bad reviews are there for all to see.In terms of the target area of the West Country, I would guess you need to be prepared for a real winter lull in customers, while in summer, you are likely to be swamped with enquiries – it is essential you get your pricing and booking policies right.According to statistics from Smarta Business School, the B&B sector turns over £2billion per year, making it 28 per cent larger than the low-cost hotel sector, and 35 per cent of the size of the hotel sector.
I turned to expert Karen Thorne. She has run Hopton House B&B in Shropshire for the last 10 years and heads a popular two day course for wannabe B&B owners. Beautiful business: Running a B&B can be both financially and socially rewarding, when done right. Pictured, a B&B in St Ives, Cornwall Running any B&B is hard work and one of 8-12 rooms is most definitely a full-time job for two people and you'd need other staff to help you.Guests may need to leave early, arrive late, have an emergencies that need dealing with in the night. You'll need to be there to greet guests, make breakfasts, clean rooms, check people out. Unless you employ a receptionist this can seriously impact your retirement social life.As with many businesses, B&Bs have suffered during the recession, but anecdotal evidence seems to show that business has improved this summer.However, B&Bs are particularly prone to external factors such as the economy, weather and even occasional outbreak of foot and mouth. So it's worth bearing in mind that one good year doesn't mean the next will be the same.
The most important thing to consider is location. Do your research, understand the area you want to set up in, find out the average occupancy rates, get to know your potential market and set up a B&B that meets its needs.While B&Bs in some areas are thriving, others are not doing so well. And bear in mind that many B&Bs are very seasonal. B&B owners work at full steam all summer and things can quiet down in the winter months – again dependent on location.It's important to realise that any size of B&B is governed by current legislation. For example, you need to understand if you need entertainment licenses if you play music to guests over breakfast and what you do if a guest is a no show.A must read is the VisitEngland Pink Book – Legislation for Tourism Accommodation. With 8-12 rooms, your turnover is likely to exceed the VAT threshold, which is currently £81,000. This means paying 20 per cent of everything you earn in VAT unless you're under £150,000 when you can opt for the flat rate scheme which is 10.5 per cent for accommodation businesses.
One of the first things you need to do is to find a good accountant who is used to dealing with accommodation businesses. They will advise you how to structure your business and discuss VAT registration with you.The way you market a tourism business is changing all of the time. Obviously the internet is really important these days. You must invest in a really good website with great photos.The website needs to be easy to use and viewable on mobile phones and tablets. Online availability and booking is essential. Freetobook is a very popular, easy to use, online booking engine.They can drive a lot of business but bear in mind that they charge a commission on every bookings. this currently 15 per cent. A system like Freetobook can connect you directly to the online travel agents so that you aren't maintaining lots of online booking diaries, which increases the risks of double bookings.Social media is a great way to promote your business. Set up a Facebook business page and Twitter account.
They are excellent ways of finding new guests and also keeping in touch with those all-important repeat guests.You should also collect guest's email addresses - with their permission - and send a regular newsletter to people who have stayed with you before.There are also the most traditional routes like advertising in guide books such as Sawdays Special Places to Stay. Not easy: Running a B&B requires plenty of hard work. Pictured, Maria and James, B&B owners who appeared on Channel Four programme Four in a BedMany people use review website TripAdvisor to find accommodation. And even if they find your B&B another way, most people then double check the reviews via TripAdvisor.You can get a free basic listing on TripAdvisor or you can opt for a paid business listing which will include your contact details.You need to be quite resilient when it comes to reviews and be prepared for getting bad ones. It's important you respond to these reviews in a positive way. Just a few negative reviews can impact a B&B business if they're not dealt with quickly and in a constructive way.