Bedding Ideas: How to Choose the Best Sheets for Your Bed
Lately, more and more people are becoming conscious of how sleep quality affects our health and overall wellbeing. Sleep and sleeping habits also impact our daily routines and work efficiency. That’s why we want to do our best when it comes to our sleeping choices. We’re aware of the importance of having a quality mattress. And we care enough to provide ourselves with the best sleeping environment. But, what we often overlook is how important is the choice of bedding.
What Is Bedding?
Bedding refers to the linen we use to cover and protect our bed and mattress. We use different kinds of bedding for both practical and decorative purposes. These include mattress pads and covers, fitted sheets, flat sheets, pillowcases, comforters, duvets and coverlets. You can purchase a bedding set or single bedding items to your liking. A bed sheet set often includes a flat sheet, a fitted sheet and two pillowcases. Why is choosing the right bed linen set so important?
Why Is Bedding So Important?
The obvious use of bedding is to protect your mattress and to promote good hygiene. What’s not so obvious is that it’s vital for our comfort at night. It provides warmth and greatly impacts sleep quality. The right bedding can make or break a good night’s sleep. The wrong set of sheets can negatively affect our sleep in several ways. It can irritate our skin, trap too much heat or can’t keep us warm. All this can make it hard for us to fall or stay asleep.
The wide variety of terms used in the world of bedding can make shopping for it quite overwhelming. This guide contains some basic guidelines to make this experience more enjoyable and less confusing.
How to Choose the Right Bedding Set?
Choose the Right Material, Make It Comfortable
Comfort at night is the most important thing for getting a night of good sleep, and it largely depends on the bedding material and thread count. These are some of the most common fabrics used for bed sheet sets.
Linen
Linen is a fabric made from the fibres of a species of the flax plant, grown specifically for linen production. Coarser than silky fabrics, it still feels soft to touch. It absorbs moisture well and dries better than other fabrics. This makes it perfect for hot sleepers.
Comfortable yet durable, pure linen brings a rustic aesthetic to modern living. It has a timeless look that launders well and softens even better. It requires no ironing, as the creases and natural drapes add to the vintage appeal.
Cotton
Used worldwide, cotton needs no introduction. It’s a natural, breathable fabric that’s often less expensive than other natural materials. However, there are various cotton materials and blends. It all comes to the thickness of the weaves and how are they made. Egyptian and Japanese cotton are current favourites among cotton lovers. And, also flannelette. Made out of brushed cotton, flannelette bed sheets have raised fibres that feel thicker and cosier than regular cotton. That makes them perfect for colder months or if you’re simply prone to chilliness at night.
Bamboo
Made from hypo-allergenic bamboo crops, bamboo fabric is one of the most sustainable materials. It provides a soft, silk-like touch to the skin, yet it’s wat cheaper than silk. It has moisture-wicking properties, which makes it antimicrobial and hypo-allergenic. It’s the best option for people suffering from allergies and various skin sensitivities.
Does Thread Count Matter?
Besides the type of fabric, the thread count is another thing to consider. The thread count is the weave, or the number of woven threads in a square inch of fabric, ranging from 100 to 1000. It can play a significant role in how comfortable you will feel at night. Many people think the higher the TC, the softer the material. However, this can be misleading as high thread counts can include twisted threads of double yarn. 200-400 TC do the best for most people.
Oftentimes, the quality of bed sheets depends on the yarn fineness and the quality of finishing and weaving processes, not solely on thread count. As with many things in life, it’s more about quality than quantity.
Consider the Size of Your Mattress
You might think this is obvious, but many people don’t pay attention to the right mattress measures when they shop for a bedding set. Assuming they have a big bed they’ll go with king-size, while their bed might be queen-sized. This will result in sheets that don’t fit, and that’s not what you want. If the fitted sheet is too small, it will easily get off the mattress. And if it’s too big, it will crease and make it very uncomfortable for you, and it will wear off more quickly, as well.
Why Are Colour and Style Important?
A new sheet set doesn’t contribute to better sleep quality. It can add aesthetics to your bedroom, instantly transforming it from boring into a modern space. Some bedding ideas can cosy up the bedroom, adding style and comfort. That’s why the colour and the style of bed sheets and other bedding items are important factors to consider when buying a new set.
How do you pick up the bedsheet’s colour? Consider your bedroom design. Neutrals blend easily into every interior design and create an inviting bedroom look. If your whole bedroom look is neutral, don’t be afraid to add a pop of colour or an interesting stripe or circle pattern. Use blankets, quilts and decorative pillows for a layered, Instagram-worthy bed look.
The Bottom Line
Looking for the right fabric, thread count and size of the mattress are the most important things to consider when shopping for bedsheet sets. It’s also important to choose the right style and colour for the perfect bedroom look.
Last but not least, choose quality bedding sets. It can be tempting to buy a cheap yet visually appealing sheet set. If this is you, just think of the many benefits a bed sheet has on the quality of your sleep, and you’ll see it as an investment in your health rather than an unnecessary splurge.
