I am not really sure why, but I used to think that bed and table linen (and cotton) should only be white in colour and light in texture. Possibly something to do with cleanliness, crispness and everything perfectly ironed. AS IF! But I was feeling brave recently and bought myself an enormous, greyish, french linen sheet at a textiles fair. Heaven. Pure heaven. SO warm. I can’t get enough of the chunky floppiness (terrible expression, but ‘chunky’ and ‘floppy’ just nailed it for me).
We can’t all go around buying up old french linen sheets now, can we? There would be none left for me. So, spurred on by the warmth of my french find, I stepped forth to hunt down some ‘mainstream’ linen suppliers.
This is what I found….
Who better to show us how to rock the ‘warm, cosy bedroom’ look, than those who know a little bit about chilly climates: Lithuanians, Danes and Finns. We spend a fair bit of our time in our bedrooms after all, so we really need to treat with these little sanctuaries with respect and love (man).
Here is my recent find from Lithuania….check out the colourways on the website, delicious!
From Denmark….Kings of the ‘H’ word (hygge=cosy, in case you have been hibernating for the last year)
http://www.brostecopenhagen.com
And to go even further north – my discovery from Finland
Linen is the oldest textile of them all. Who knew that cooler northern European countries are so hot at linen production, purely because poor old French Huguenot weavers, kicked out of 16th Century France, headed north, taking their flax cultivation and weaving skills with them? They themselves grabbed it from Spain, where it had spread during the Islamic dynasties, after the fall of the Roman Empire. Egypt….Fertile Crescent….it goes on.
And did you know that tablecloths came about only in about the 12th Century, with the advent of the table for something to eat around for formal dining. As opposed to lounging about à la Roman style? Where do you wipe your mucky fingers, having devoured half a swan? Your doublet or gown? Certainly not! The tablecloth of course.
So go and investigate these warm textures and colours. Guaranteed you may just have to stay in bed for a bit longer.
PS Quick favour….if you DO upgrade your bed/table linen from the above companies, please mention that you read about them here and send them my link!
All photographs courtesy of the respective suppliers.