Saturday, June 25, 2005

Buying The Right Bed Sheets For Your Bed by Duane Jones



You spend a lot of your life in your bed sleeping and rejuvenating for the next day's activity. Sleeping is a process that takes up roughly about about a third of the average person's life. So it makes sense that you would want to make your bed comfortable and a pleasure to be in. It also is a nice bonus if the bedding you choose enhances the overall decor of your home and is pleasing to the eye.

Bed sheets are an important part of the overall bedding items used on a bed, and here are a few guidelines for choosing high quality bed sheets that you will be happy with:

Size is a very important factor in choosing bed sheets. It used to be that most mattresses were pretty standard sizes and so you could buy sheets in genralized categories like "Full", "Queen", and "King", and be reasonably sure that they would fit right out of the box. But lately, mattress manufacturers have gone to adding more features to their mattresses to make them appeal to a wider range of customers, like adding pillow tops on one side or even both sides of the mattress. This added material makes the mattress much wider and therefore any bed sheets that are used on that bed will need to be bigger as well in order to fit properly. That's why it's a good idea to actually measure your bed in advance and make sure that the sheets will fit your particular mattress before buying them. You may have to buy one category larger or more to fit your bed.

Thread count is another important consideration when buying bed sheets. Thread count per inch, or TPI, states how many threads are in a square inch of the bed sheet material. Generally speaking, anything over 250 makes for a soft, comfortable feel, and also tends to last longer and hold up under more use. Try to avoid bed sheets that have very low thread counts under 200.

The kind of material used for bed sheets can vary considerably, from cotton to exotic silks. Cotton seems to be the most popular, but you may also want to experiment with flannels, and cotton mixed fabrics. Satins and silks are considered very high end and tend to be expensive, but some people really enjoy them as bed sheets, and wouldn't use anything else.

After practical considerations such as these are made, you just have to decide what colors and designs that you want on your bed and we recommend that you try to stay within the overall theme of your bedroom's decor. Selecting bed sheets is is simple if you follow these basic guidelines, and they will reward you with years of good service.
About the Author
Duane Jones - All About Bed And Bath provides free information, resources and tips on finding bedding, comforters, bathroom fixtures, tubs, and more for your home at the very best price.