Perhaps you prefer a firm mattress and a heavy down comforter, or maybe you need a softer mattress and could sleep with just a top sheet and a quilt. And depending on your height, you might be fine in a full bed or need a queen in order to properly stretch out. And don’t even get us started on sheets and pillows! Actually, do … because we love this stuff! Bedding matters to us. If you’re setting up a bedroom from scratch or ready for a decor makeover, we can help you get started. From the mattress to the linens, these are six things to think about when you’re buying a new bed set. As far as mattresses, online-only brands are on the whole more affordable than (and often just as comfortable as) traditional department store brands such as Sealy, Serta, or Tempurpedic. We recommend shopping at discount stores like Home Goods to find amazing deals on pillows, mattress pads, and more bedding essentials you might not necessarily see. Taller people will probably be most comfortable on a queen size mattress or larger, since full and twin sizes are a few inches shorter traditionally. As far as the makings of the mattress yourself, you may need to test a few out before you make a decision. The mattress will likely be the most expensive purchase you make as you start to build your bed set, and it is absolutely the most important one. These days thread count doesn’t matter quite as much as it used to, you can get super high-quality sheets at a more affordable price (without that thread count price hike) from brands like Crane and Canopy, Parachute Home, and Brooklinen. Since your sheets are what touch your skin each night, you want them to be just right. Make sure they’re the correct size for your mattress, and for your mattress depth. Sometimes thick pillow-top mattresses can be too tall for standard sheets. We prefer a comforter and duvet cover to a light coverlet, but it really depends on the season and your body temperature at night. Up-and-coming companies like Buffy are making comforters cool, offering a direct-to-consumer model that allows higher quality at a lower price point. For more affordable comforters, both down and down-alternative, check out Home Goods, Target, Macy’s sales, and even other DTC brands like Brooklinen and Parachute make their own down goods as well. A family of colors that all play well together—like white, beige and red, for example, or black and white with punches of color—can be mixed and matched especially with different patterns and textures to create a unique and fully grown-up bedroom set.
