The Sheets You Need to Buy This Summer

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I’ll tell you one of my (many) secrets to happiness. No matter what kind of day you’ve had, or what the rest of your house looks like, climbing into a clean set of luxurious sheets will make you feel like a million bucks. The rest of your house can be littered with garbage, old takeout containers, and clothes that need to be put away. But as long as you can curl up in a well-made bed, everything is going to be okay.

You spend one third of your life sleeping. Sleep keeps you alive, so you should splurge on the sheets you decide to sleep in. For me, that perfect set of sheets has to be linen. I lived in Paris (sorry to be this person; I promise I’m more interesting) and during my time there, I picked up some ways of thinking from the French. First, fresh bread is always better than whatever you can buy prepackaged. But more importantly, I learned the importance of having a set of soft, worn-in linen sheets. Not many apartments in France have central air, because, well, they value the integrity of their historic architecture more than our cost-efficient, drywall New York City apartments.

Without air-conditioning, a cool and comfortable bed is paramount. But even here in New York, a soft and airy linen sheet is the height of summertime luxury. Thankfully, Brooklinen saved me with the launch of its Washed European Linen sheet set. The company perfected the worn-in, well-loved feel of your favorite sheets, with a garment-washed linen that feels perfect right out of the box.

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Linen Is the Best Bedding Fabric

Because of my Francophile tendencies, I preach the good word of linen to anyone who will listen. And because my bed is my favorite place to be, I am uniquely qualified to report on all things sleep related. I truly believe linen is the most elite material for bedding, and it’ll change your sleep experience for the better. I don’t believe in sleeping on synthetics. You want what you roll around in, nurse your illnesses in, and ride out your hangovers in to be made of natural materials. Save the polyester blends for budget hotels and hospital beds. In my home, where I reign supreme, the place I spend the most time is going to be covered in the most comfortable natural fabric possible.

Brooklinen gets this, with a deep obsession with fabric. Its relaunched Washed European Linen core set is made in Portugal with 100 percent certified European flax. That’s a promise that your sheets are made with high-quality, responsibly sourced flax fiber.

But I’m not just a linen freak because I’m trying to be bougie. I understand that most of the time linen is a little pricey, but it’s worth it if you want your bed to be your haven in an increasingly chaotic world. Linen is made from natural fibers that run vertically through the stem of the flax plant. That means linen is tightly woven and more durable than cotton, but those tight fibers also allow a plain-weave linen to be airier than anything made with cotton. So linen is more durable, ages better, and sleeps cooler than cotton. It’s a miracle fabric.

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These Sheets Are Built to Last

The sheets are also Oeko-Tex certified, which means that they’re free from harmful chemicals. If you have especially sensitive skin, this is your best option. Linen is naturally hypoallergenic, and Brooklinen’s dedication to using only the best-quality materials is just a bonus. If you have kids getting up close and personal with these sheets, you can rest easy knowing these are the best possible fibers they could be rolling around in. If you have a cat like mine that enjoys tunneling in the bed and using the sheets as a chew toy, the same thing applies. If you’re like me and you work from bed, eat in bed, read in bed, and so on, it’s the best for that.

If you want a durable set of sheets, again, rest assured. These Brooklinen sheets will hold up no matter how much spaghetti sauce or cat fur gets on them. The new and improved linen fibers are made to be thick and durable while not sacrificing their breathable, cooling quality. Even though I value a light and soft set of sheets, they also have enough heft to use through the winter, especially if you’re not a particularly cold sleeper. Luckily, since I use them year-round, this set is sturdy enough to hold up in high-heat New York City laundromat washing machines. My favorite quality of linen sheets is that they get softer with every wash. You can’t say that about many things in life—that they get better the longer you use them. But linen sheets do. The longer you have them, the more worn-in, silky, and pliable they’ll become. But again, because flax fibers naturally run along the height of the plant, they’re more durable than cotton fibers. Nature made these suckers, and Brooklinen’s partners wove them to last.

I can pretty much say that I’ve fallen in love with these sheets. If they were a human being, they’d be my perfect match—soft yet tough, reliable, and ready to wrap me up in comfort no matter what kind of day I’ve had. There are more than a dozen colorways, all lovely, muted earth tones that will remind you of the plants that the linen is made from. And since they’re made to last longer than any other kind of fabric, I’ve found a match for life.

Shop $322, brooklinen.com