Our Three Velvets, Compared: Stella, Stonewashed & the Diamond Quilt
We make velvet in three qualities: a dramatic faux silk, a soft everyday cotton, and an affordable diamond quilt. Here is how they differ, and a simple way to choose the right one for your room.
Three velvets. Three jobs.
pile close-up
Stella Faux Silk Velvet
Drama, depth, and a liquid sheen that shifts with the light.
Rayon-nylon face, cotton back
Choose it for the dressed, elevated bedroom. The finishing layer that makes a room look designed.
pile close-up
Stonewashed Cotton Velvet
Matte, soft, and washed to a lived-in hand that goes anywhere.
100% cotton, machine washable
Choose it for the bed you actually use every night. Versatile, understated, endlessly layerable.
quilted close-up
Velvet Diamond Quilt
A soft sheen and a diamond stitch. Velvet at a price that says yes.
Diamond-quilted, machine washable
Choose it for your first velvet, a guest room, or a low-commitment way to add warmth to any room.
We make velvet in three distinct qualities, and the most common question we get is a fair one: which one is right for my room? The good news is that they aren't really competing. Each is the right answer to a different question. One is built for drama, one for everyday softness, one for an easy first yes.
Before you choose, one useful thing to know. "Velvet" isn't a fiber. It's a structure. It's named for the way it's woven, not what it's made of. Two layers of cloth are woven face-to-face with a third yarn shuttling between them; a blade slices them apart, and the cut yarns spring up as the dense, upright pile that gives velvet its depth. You can weave that pile from almost anything: silk, cotton, rayon, polyester. The fiber decides the hand-feel. The weave decides the drama. That is why our three velvets can feel so different and still all be velvet.
Three velvets. Three jobs. One easy way to pick the right one.
Stella Faux Silk Velvet
The one that looks like money. A liquid, light-shifting sheen that earns the silk-velvet look without the silk-velvet fragility. It is the finishing layer that makes a bedroom read as designed.
Stella is our bestselling line and our answer to real silk velvet: the drama, without the price or the dry-clean-only fragility. The face is a rayon-nylon blend. Rayon gives the silk-like sheen, the cool-touch hand, and the liquid drape, while nylon brings the resilience that lets the pile bounce back after a body sits on it. The back is cotton, which gives the fabric body and keeps it sitting where you put it. It is the most opulent of the three, a layer you add when you want the room to feel finished.
Where the other two whisper, Stella performs. Its pile catches lamplight and throws it back with depth, so a Stella bed looks like it has weather: quieter at morning, richer at night. If your instinct is "I want the bedroom to feel like a suite," this is the velvet.
Stonewashed Cotton Velvet
Velvet, made matte and endlessly wearable. All-cotton with a substantial hand and easy drape, channel-quilted for a simple, modern look. This is the velvet you reach for every night.
Where Stella is about sheen, Stonewashed is about softness and ease. It is woven from cotton and then stonewashed, a finishing process that relaxes the fibers and gives the fabric its soft, lived-in hand and quiet matte surface. The result reads calm and casual rather than formal, with a substantial hand and an easy drape that the channel quilting keeps looking modern.
This is the most universal of the three. It does not fight the rest of your room; it layers under a quilt, over a duvet, or on its own, and it works in a modern loft as easily as a ranch bedroom. Because the fabric is all cotton and fully machine washable, it is also the most forgiving to live with: a lightweight standalone piece in warmer months, a layering element when it turns cool. If you want velvet's warmth and texture without any of the ceremony, start here.
Velvet Diamond Quilt
The most accessible way into velvet. A soft sheen, a classic diamond stitch, and a machine-washable fabric at a price that makes adding velvet to a room an easy decision rather than an investment.
Not every room needs a showpiece, and not every purchase needs to be an investment. The Velvet Diamond Quilt is the easy yes: a velvet-faced bedspread with a soft sheen and a timeless diamond-quilted stitch, at our most approachable price. The quilting adds a little loft and a graphic, tailored pattern that reads well in almost any style of room, from urban to coastal to boho.
It is the piece we point people to when they want to try velvet without committing to a full designer bed: a guest room, a kid's room, a seasonal refresh, or simply a first step. The fabric is silky and fully machine washable, so it stands up to real use, and you get the warmth, the texture, and a touch of that velvet sheen for a fraction of what a faux-silk set costs. When the goal is "add velvet to this room, easily," this is the one.
All three, at a glance
| StellaFaux silk velvet | StonewashedCotton velvet | Diamond QuiltQuilted velvet | |
|---|---|---|---|
| In a word | Opulent | Versatile | Approachable |
| Fiber | Rayon-nylon face, cotton back | 100% cotton, face and back | Velvet face, cotton back, diamond-quilted |
| Sheen | High, directional, deep | Low, matte and soft | Soft, gentle luster |
| Hand-feel | Liquid, cool-touch, lustrous | Plush, broken-in, substantial | Smooth, lightly padded, silky |
| Mood | Dressed, formal, dramatic | Casual, calm, everyday | Classic, tailored, easy |
| Best for | A finishing layer on a designed bed | The bed you use every night | A first velvet, guest rooms, gifts |
| Care | Dry clean or delicate wash | Machine washable | Machine washable |
| Price tier | Mid-luxury | Mid | Most affordable |
Which velvet is for you?
Stella Faux Silk Velvet
You want the bedroom to feel like a suite: sheen, depth, a finishing layer that makes the whole room look designed. Nothing here reads richer.
Shop StellaStonewashed Cotton Velvet
You want velvet's warmth and texture without any ceremony: soft, matte, machine-washable cotton that layers with everything and lives easily.
Shop StonewashedVelvet Diamond Quilt
You want to add velvet to a room without the investment: a guest bed, a refresh, a first try. Soft sheen, tailored quilting, our most approachable price.
Shop the Diamond QuiltLayer two together
A designer's trick: pair a matte Stonewashed base with a high-sheen Stella accent, and the contrast makes both look more expensive than either alone.
Shop all beddingStonewashed, then Diamond Quilt
Natural cotton breathes best of the three, so reach for Stonewashed first. The Diamond Quilt makes a light, easy layer you can pull back when it's warm.
Shop StonewashedVelvet Diamond Quilt
Looks generous, feels plush, lands at an easy price, and needs no special care. The safe, gracious choice when it isn't your own bed.
Shop the Diamond QuiltHow to tell a good velvet from a cheap one
Whichever of the three you are drawn to, the same four checks separate a velvet that looks great for a decade from one that will look tired by month three. Take them into any showroom.
- Brush the pile both ways. A good velvet shifts from light to dark cleanly, with no patchiness. Blotchy shifts mean the pile was sheared unevenly.
- Press your thumb in and lift. The pile should rebound. If your print stays, the fabric will look crushed within a month of real use.
- Hold a corner to the light. A dense pile blocks most light. Sparse pile means less yarn per inch, which means thinner luster and faster wear.
- Check the backing. A smooth, tightly woven back means the pile is well-anchored and the piece will sit where you put it, not slide off the bed.