Review: Changing Sheets

Changing the sheets the other day I realised I had no idea where time had gone – not changing the sheets mind, that doesn’t take very long, unless of course, I am joined by the Boys or event the dogs.

No, I was looking at Dear Charlie’s sheets and duvet cover, well actually his duvet cover, and it dawned on me that he had had this self same cover for as long as I have known him – now we’ve been married ten years and I knew him a long time before that.

I know some may be shocked by the knowledge that I knew what his duvet cover looked like before we were married but I did help him move house long before I actually got engaged to him. (That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it – you never know who might be reading do you!)

Anyway his Duvet cover must be an antique by now. In fact it is so old, its blue and orange and red geometric design is bound to be fashionable again. It’s a very student boy duvet cover; really dark and well you just know it’s the type that his Mum sent him to University with, and then washed in the holidays, and between that day and they day she washed it, it is extremely unlikely to have been removed from his bed.

I came across a lot of duvet covers like it when I was still a gallivanting. I think it is the reason why I got my own accommodation as quickly as possible so I never had to go through the disappointment that you get when fuelled up by the moment you are swept in his arms and anticipation is at its peak and then you see his duvet cover. Well you know that moment? It’s gone, gone for good and suddenly you just don’t feel like it anymore. A lot of young men were crossed off my list for poor aesthetic taste in the bedroom department.

Perhaps boys should take note here, the duvet cover you choose and they way you tend it, or not, as the case may be can have a direct correlation as to how successful you are on the, let’s call it, romantic front.

Suffice to say, Dear Charlie’s duvet cover has got to go but trying to find him a new one that’s the problem. (Some at this point might be wondering why Dear Charlie seems to have separate linen to me, well we take a pragmatic view in our household in that we both like to function in the morning and what with his snoring and my insomnia we have separate rooms thus we require separate linen. It also heightens that need for him to have linen that I like but that’s not too girly ‘cos face it both people have to be comfortable with the choice.)

Anyway I have been looking, and looking and looking. I’ve tried Next, The White Company, John Lewis, M&S and now I’ve found Dorma…I think I could have the answer to our dreams.

I am extremely fussy about my bed linen. Dear Charlie says it borders on paranoia. I cannot bear synthetic fibres and have an abhorrence of flannelette – however cosy and warm some may feel it to be. I prefer cotton and if pushed I will opt for silk as long as it is white ‘cos I still have ghastly associations of a water bed with black silk bed clothes. Suffice to say that was not a good night and the poor man I was with must have been so disappointed - I suffer terribly from motion sickness…

That aside, I am obsessed with thread count and where the cotton is sourced to make my bed linen – up until now it has had to be from Egypt and at least a 300 thread count making it nice and soft.

I’ve lost you on thread count haven’t I? Briefly thread count is the number of threads per square inch in both directions in the weave. The higher the thread count, the more luxurious the feel of a fabric and softer it is. But beware, as a higher thread count usually means that the threads are thinner and may not wear as well. Also the higher the thread count the more expensive it is and there’s the rub. I think I have expensive tastes. I love the White Company and it’s wonderfully grown up designs but unfortunately the items I like are usually just too expensive for me, John Lewis does some great Egyptian Cotton but here I personally have a problem with the designs – at present there are none I particularly like – unless of course they are very expensive. Now I have found Dorma – and it seems I may have hit the jackpot. A whole host of designs and seriously good prices. I am willing to take a closer look.

Some are just too fussy and I wonder at the embroidered ones, just how long will they last in my household with boys and dogs and well just the rough handling they’ll be expected to undergo?

But I’ve been given a sneak preview Dorma are launching a new co-ordinated range called Capri, available exclusively in Dunelm Mill, with blue and cream stripes and spots (a soft blue that appeals to the girl in me and is not so girly as to send Dear Charlie running for the hills). It meets my exacting criteria of 100 per cent cotton and it has a 300 thread count. Problem is I’m going to have to wait until the end of January 2010.

I suppose I’ll just have to be abstemious this holiday season – or perhaps I shall just send him an invite to come up and see me sometime…corridor creeping does add that extra frisson don’t you think?