After years of only buying plain, white, cotton bedlinen, I’ve been increasingly seduced by images of the softly-coloured, invitingly-crumpled linen bedding that’s popular right now. So when Australian home textiles brand Sheridan got in touch, I jumped at the chance to review some of their pure linen bedlinen.
I chose the reversible Ekard duvet/pillowcase ensemble pictured above. Regular readers will know we did a bedroom renovation fairly recently, so I was excited to try out some colour on the bed and this subtle blush pink/charcoal grey combination could have been tailor-made for me.
As a textile geek, when the duvet cover and matching pillowcases arrived I was in heaven – and it wasn’t even on the bed yet. The beautifully weighty linen fabric was soft and smooth with just the faintest sheen, and the colours were perfect. Following the “wash before use” instructions, into the washing machine it went and, once dry, the fabric still had the same smooth and silky sheen. I mention this because I recently bought a linen shirt from a well-known discount outlet store at a bargain price. Two washes later it looked (and felt) like brushed cotton. So much for my bargain. With textiles, as with most things, you get what you pay for and I should have known better. Actually, I did know better, but ignored the little voice telling me so.
As I hoped, the dark grey/blush pink combination looked just lovely against our newly-painted pale aqua walls, and it’s great to get two looks in one. Reversing the colourways gives the room a very different feel, which is perfect if you’re like me and like to mix things up fairly frequently to keep spaces looking fresh.
As you can see from my photo above, I’ve gone for the ‘relaxed’ (i.e. crumpled) approach as opposed to the crisp, ironed look in the other images on this page taken from the Sheridan website. Either way, I think it looks great, but I’m afraid ironing bedlinen is just a domestic effort too far for me.
And I’m happy to report that it’s been an absolute delight to sleep in. Despite having heard about linen being warm in the winter, cool in the summer etc etc, I have to admit I was a bit sceptical. Having felt the weight of the duvet cover (a marker of the quality of the fabric) compared to our usual cotton ones, I was worried it might also feel heavy – and hot – to sleep under. But it didn’t. It’s hard to describe, but there was a feeling of the fabric having real substance to it but also being somehow lightweight and smooth, all at the same time.
And this during some of the hottest weather we’ve had for a long, long time, including night-time. I mean – 24 degrees at 4am? In the UK? Crazy. Talk about demanding conditions to test out new bedding. As usual during really hot weather we took the duvet out and just slept under the cover, and the linen felt deliciously light and cool.
I have to admit, Sheridan was a new name to me. Well-established in Australia since 1967, they’ve been selling in the UK for the last few years in stores and via their own website, specialising in quality fabrics and art-inspired designs. Their founder, Claudio Alcorso, believed that “beauty in art belonged to everyone, everywhere” and his vision was to “introduce creative thought and beauty into the everyday things of life”.
I’m a big believer in beautiful things that give “everyday pleasure” and Sheridan have certainly created something very beautiful with their Ekard pure linen bedding. It’s impeccably tailored from top quality 100% linen marl fabric that, they tell me, has been created:
Properly laundered and cared for, pure linen bedding like this will last for years and years and can be passed down through the generations. An extremely strong, breathable material, linen doesn’t degrade over time like other fibres can, and actually gets softer with age and use.… by combining colour variations within the individual yarns prior to weaving. The result is a contemporary textured, soft fabric that yields to the touch, and yet offers all the properties of natural linen – warmer in winter, cooler in summer, with a beauty that only improves with age.
We have some beautiful, vintage 100% cotton sheets that have been passed down to us, and hopefully we can do the same with this linen bedding from Sheridan. – it’s very special and deserves to become an heirloom too.
Images: sheridanaustralia.co.uk, unless otherwise specified
Products kindly provided for review; all views my own.
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