LIVING LARGE IN THE MEADOWS
Spacious, two-storey homes are offering families plenty of room to grow.
Maybe the best test of a bedsheet’s quality is done at a hotel, where sheets are being put through the literal wringer daily.
“We’re flipping the sheets every single day, so they need to be as soft, sturdy and pristine as they were on Day One,” says Ave Bradley, creative director and senior vice president of design for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants. “We also pressure-test our linens before they’re rolled out.”
While Kimpton uses 300-thread-count Frette linens (and sells them to guests who want to take them home), Bradley uses 100 per cent organic Coyuchi crinkled percale in her guest bedroom in Los Angeles.
Which made us wonder: What do bedding experts — designers, hospitality gurus — choose for their own beds? Most of the professionals we spoke to advocate for natural materials, especially linen.
Lightweight linen is nice for warmer climates, while a heavier linen is preferred for cooler climates or seasons, Bradley explains. Thread count doesn’t matter as much as the material, which should be 100 per cent cotton. Note that percale sheets are a bit heavier than others, with more texture, a more-relaxed feel, and a 200-thread count; sateen sheets have a slight sheen to them, with a 300-thread count. Color or no colour is up to you and your bedroom’s design scheme, so find what you like and sleep easy.
Moorea Seal, a Seattle-based retailer and author of the 52 Lists project series, is a fan of any material that Nate Berkus designs, including the new sateen, 100-percent cotton Modern Printed Sheet Set in blue stripe by Project 62 + Nate Berkus ($45.99 for queen fitted sheet, flat sheet and two pillowcases, target.com, ships to Canada).
“They are super-soft and cosy and have held up well for being such an affordable set of sheets.”
L.A. designer Vanessa Alexander uses linen in most of the bedrooms she designs. While a favourite is the local-to-her highend Matteo brand, she also likes Parachute’s Linen Sheet Set for a less-expensive linen option ($169 for queen fitted sheet and two pillowcases; $110 for an added top sheet, parachutehome.com, ships to Canada).
The neutral colours bone, fog and grey are her usual picks.
Kimpton’s Bradley agrees with the linen choice: “Linen to me is a symbol of true luxury — the finest hotels in Europe use linen bedding. It’s a fabric that will always be chic and never go out of style.”
Sheets are more widely available than they have ever been, without even requiring a trip to the department store.
“I think the direct-to-consumer economy is always great for the customer, and I love how it has spread into amazing bedding companies,” says Christiane Lemieux, author of The Finer Things: Timeless Furniture, Textiles, and Details and CEO of the new textile company the Inside in New York.
Lemieux says some of her favourite sheets are from Brooklinen.
“I love that they strip out unnecessary costs and deliver real value,” shesays.
Brooklinen’s Classic Sheets in lightweight cotton percale come in a variety of bundles at different prices ($101 for queen fitted sheet and two pillowcases; $129 for queen fitted sheet, flat sheet and two pillowcases, brooklinen.com).