If you sleep 8 hours per night, you're in lying in your bed 2,920 hours per year. If you're going to be in one place that long, you're going to need to dress it up. Luckily, there are a million resources for bedding out there. Maybe a few too many. We've rounded up 10 of our favorites to narrow it down a bit. • The Company Store has been making bedding in La Crosse, Wisconsin since 1911. That's doesn't mean they're old fashioned though. The Wildwood Collection from their Lofthome series is thoroughly modern. • Cuddledown is another American bedding manufacturer, though not quite as old. Cuddledown got its start creating down comforters at its factory in Maine in 1973 and they're still at it. Cuddledown has expanded from comforters to include all bedding and some sleepwear and bath products as well. • Castle, from designer Rachel Castle, puts the emphasis on the borders. The crisp white sheets are given a pop of color on the top edge. The pop of fun continues with the vibrant pillow shams.
• Dwell Studio, as far as we're considered, is synonymous with cute prints. While the prints are often bold, some prints are soft and subdued. • Jonathan Adler makes everything he touches look cute. So it's not surprise that his bedding, like this grey printed hollywood sheet set, is as adorable as the man himself. • Lands' End may now be a part of Sears but little seems to have changed. They still make classic bedding and they still offer an unconditional refund guarantee. • Ann Selke's Pine Cone Hill is known for vibrant color, like this Cubix Sheet Set, but they do neutrals really well too. • Target has done a great job of bringing stylish designs to the masses. From this DwellStudio for Target Orbit Comforter Set to the Room Essentials brand bedding, the pricing is reasonable and the styles are current. • Williams Sonoma Home offers a fairly vast selection of bedding in a wide price range. Shown here is the Indigo Block Print Bedding, currently on sale.
• Frette is the name in luxury bedding, but we hear it's like sleeping in a cloud. The Dopio Purple Bedding Set from their Fantasy line retails for $995. MORE SHOPPING GUIDES ON APARTMENT THERAPY: Images: As credited above. Photo By: Werner Straube Photo By: Sarah Hebenstreit / Modern Kids Co. Photo By: Kristina Wolf Photo By: Photography by Chad Jackson Photo By: Hilton & Hyland, a member of Luxury Portfolio International Photo By: Hyde Evans Design Photo By: Amy Lutz Cotton sheets are described by thread count, which literally means the number of threads in the cloth. Most sheets are in the 200 range, while expensive sheets are more than 500. The higher the thread count, the softer and more durable they are. Hold up a sheet to the light to determine its quality. Light will not shine through a high-thread-count sheet. Also, high-thread-count sheets won't fuzz or pill. Another great way to test this is to scratch the sheet with your fingernail to see if any pill comes off.
If so, it's a lesser-quality sheet. The finest-quality wool blankets available are of merino wool. They are also the warmest. Synthetic blankets, however, are non-allergenic, less expensive and easier to wash. Fill power, or "loft," is a measurement of the quality of down products. Down comforters with great loft have fluffy clusters of down that have the power to fill the comforter with fewer ounces than inferior types of down. Down comforters with high fill power listed on the package are lighter and warmer than down comforters with less fill power listed on the label (or not listed at all). Remember, it's not the ounces that are important, it's the fill power of the down. Rather than buying an expensive duvet cover for a comforter, buy a couple of flat sheets in the size and color you need and sew them together on three sides. Sew grommets into the fourth side and close with a decorative ribbon. You can buy a full flat sheet to use instead of a queen flat sheet for a queen-size bed.
Not only is a full sheet less expensive, but there's much less material hanging over the edge when you make the bed. When buying flannel sheets, make sure the label says "preshrunk." Otherwise, the flannel will probably shrink, causing your fitted sheet to no longer fit. For the summer months, buy easy-care cotton or thermal blankets. These will allow air to flow through them. If you want to give your mattress a pillow-top look and feel, buy either a featherbed or a polyester fiber bed. They're soft and luxurious and give your bed that "lofty" look. They're also less expensive than a new mattress. When buying a mattress with a pillow top, it's important to buy fitted sheets deep enough to fit over the extra thickness of the mattress. Many people think that buying a larger size will do the trick, but they're just longer and wider and end up not fitting. Deep fitted sheets run anywhere from 13 inches to 22 inches depending on how thick your new mattress is. If you own some wonderful sheets that you want to continue using, just buy "suspenders" for the fitted sheet, which will keep it from popping off.
To fill a decorative sham, buy an inexpensive queen-size pillow. It fills the sham completely — even in the corners — and will give your bed that beautiful full look.DIDN'T FIND THE BEDDING YOU WERE LOOKING FOR? Shop for a wide assortment of bedding from our other brands. KIDS BEDDING at Pottery Barn Kids TEEN GIRLS BEDDING at PBteen TEEN BOYS BEDDING at PBteen LUXURY BEDDING at Williams-Sonoma Home“Bedsheets are the most important thing in the world,” muses Bunny Williams, who has been decorating Upper East Side apartments and Connecticut country homes for over 30 years. Because if you’re going to spend one-third of your life between the sheets, shouldn’t they feel fabulous? Here, Williams, along with some other very particular New York tastemakers — Sheila Bridges, Kai Avent-deLeon, and Aelfie Oudghiri — tells us the best sheets to buy. “The go-to sheets I choose for the majority of my projects. Clients love them for their comfort and accessibility, while I love their simple designs.
There’s something uniquely versatile about them — it’s sophisticated enough for city life, but even in a country home it works perfectly against a more rustic backdrop. I never second-guess these sheets; more often than not they work for the interior I’m working on.” - Vicente Wolf, Designer “I have them on my bed right now and they are my softest sheets by far. They almost feel like flannel, but very lightweight, so they’re not as warm — just really soft and comfortable to the touch. Even though I have 20 other pairs of sheets folded in my laundry closet, I’ll take these off the bed, wash them, and put them back on.” - Sheila Bridges, founder of Sheila Bridges DesignFor me, the perfect bed is a heavy duvet, a cashmere blanket, lots of pillows, and these cotton-percale white sheets. I think the scalloped edges have such a lovely shape to them and are so luxurious.” - Amanda Ross, Designer “My favorite sheets are Matouk, mostly because everything’s customizable, from the color of the threading to the monogram and the ruffles, but there’s this one embroidery that I keep coming back to.
It’s this very Hollywood Regency scallop-shell pattern that’s kind of Miami-influenced too. It’s very 1940s, 1950s glam with the seashells and the scalloped edge, and I love it.” - Sasha Bikoff, founder of Sasha Bikoff New York “It’s not the world’s highest thread count, but the Egyptian cotton on these sheets has this really tight weave that makes such a difference on your skin. The sheets have this handsome pair of satin borders you can get in different colors, too. It’s a brand built on practical creativity and affordable luxury.” - Becky Shea, Designer, Homepolish “I recently used bamboo linens for a large project and I will definitely be using them more going forward. The company is BedVoyage and the quality of the product is excellent, the feel is amazing. Bamboo is one of the strongest and hardest natural materials, and yet when you feel the fibers on these sheets it’s just incredibly soft. Softer than you’d imagine. Like, baby soft on your skin.
Also, it’s extremely durable — it generally lasts about two times longer than cotton sheets — and it’s easy to clean. It’s usually more expensive, but overall quality and durability makes this the hands-down winner.” - Anishka Clarke, co-owner of Ishka Designs “I have this habit now that I like to sleep with a silk pillowcase. You don’t end up with as many pillow creases, it’s gentler on your skin, and your hair isn’t as frizzy when you wake up. Most of the silk pillowcases out there are really tacky, but I found a brand called Kumi Kookoon. They have this range of incredible colors. I use a really deep indigo-navy and it’s a dream to sleep on. They’re so soft and I really notice the difference when I wake up. My hair is not as crazy bedhead in the morning and my skin feels better.” - Zoe Mac, founder of Zoe Mac Design “My absolute favorite sheets are the hotel classic from Frette, which are kind of like the fantasy version of Upper East Side hotel bed linens.
They’re Italian-made in this Egyptian cotton that’s just the softest and butteriest fabric to laze around in. I love the chic and simple double-line embroidery, too.” - Michael Shome, Director of Photography, Architectural Digest “I really liked Snowe’s dinnerware, so I started using their sheets, too, and I’ve found that they’re really good quality and decently priced. As I got older I realized the importance of having quality sheets, and with these I finally feel like an adult. They’re cotton, which is the only material I buy now, and they’re really soft, kind of plush. They’re breathable and low-maintenance, so I don’t have to constantly clean them even though I buy an off-white color.” - Kai Avent-deLeon, owner of Sincerely, Tommy “For the breadth of their pattern options, I always go back to Pratesi — there’s a certain level of craftsmanship and luxury to the brand. You can feel how breathable the cotton percale is, and the embroidered patterns add just the chicest unexpected touch.
I think Andy Warhol’s favorite sheets were Pratesi, too. I get a huge kick out of that.” - Patrick Mele, Designer “I only buy my own bedding and I like block-printed Indian sheets. India is famous for its cotton because it’s been exporting cotton for, like, millennia and creates the most cotton in the world. Sure, people talk about Egyptian cotton, but Indian cotton is better. When you get a lot of the really soft bedding like jersey it’s because they’re going through these chemical processes where it’s washed a million times so it’s really fucking wasteful. I like my bedding to soften over time and grow with me.” - Aelfie Oudghiri, founder of home goods label Aelfie “Bedsheets are the most important thing in the whole world. You spend a third of your life in bed, so good sheets should be like buying a couture dress — they’re worth the investment. I happen to like really fine cotton percale; it launders beautifully, it’s cool. Other cottons aren’t as cool and I just don’t like satin sheets.