Click here for PDF Version Decorating with Vintage Quilts by Barbara Weiland and Darlene Zimmerman Photo by Brent Kane Quilts add a warm and inviting touch to any room of the home. Their underlying message is one of comfort—perhaps that’s why you'll notice them in more and more TV and movie sets if you're a watchful viewer. Although keeping them under wraps and out of sight is the best way to preserve vintage quilts, it's not the best way to enjoy owning them. Instead, let them be the visual treat they are by displaying them in your home—with a few precautions (see Quilt TLC). Quilts All Through the House Naturally, a bed is the first place you think of when planning to use or display a quilt—and it is the place where it will receive the least stress and strain as long as you or your guests, kids, and pets don't make a habit of sitting on the bed! You can decorate an entire room around one special quilt on the bed. Folding additional quilts and placing them at the foot of the bed for decorative purposes is also a great way to use your favorites, but if you don’t want them used, store them out of sight when guests arrive. Even a small quilt can feel right at home on a larger bed, centered on top of a plain white comforter and accented with coordinating pillows. Providing a place to put a quilt when the bed is in actual use is a good idea; you don't want makeup or anything else to touch the edges in order to keep cleaning to a minimum. What a good excuse to buy that pretty quilt rack you've been wanting! If you don't want your guest to sleep under the quilt, leave a little love note on the bed explaining the quilt’s value and asking that it be put aside at night. (Of course you need to place blankets underneath the quilt when you make up the bed!) Decorating with quilts in the kitchen, laundry, or bathroom can be an unexpected pleasure, but since these rooms usually have higher humidity than other rooms in the house, new quilts that can be laundered are a better decorating choice. It's easy to turn a quilt top into a colorful shower curtain to mask a sliding shower door. Use a tension rod to hang it.