I tried a virtual ‘bed builder’ to customise my bedding from scratch

The sheets of my dreams.

While I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself a frugal person (some may say the opposite), I don’t often splurge outside the realm of clothing and beauty. I’m all too eager to drop a nice amount of my paycheck on archive Gucci shoes or a vintage leather trench coat, don’t get me wrong. But for some reason, I just can’t bring myself to upgrade my broken iPhone or buy cutlery that doesn’t bend when you’re eating breakfast. It just doesn’t seem that pressing, you know?

In reality, I like to spend ‘fun’ money and struggle to shell out when the item doesn’t bring me an immediate serotonin boost. For me, bedding always fell in the latter category – a passive purchase, something I thought about only when the situation was particularly dire.

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I was stuck in a continuous cycle of buying very cheap, very thin white sheets. Occasionally I’d use them until (and sometimes after) they ripped, often waking up with a foot through my doona cover. Sometimes, they’d last a month before getting mixed up in our sharehouse stash of inexpensive and anonymous linen, never to be seen again. Into the void, along with a bunch of single socks and a few of my favourite bras.

It took all of my friends upgrading to linen sheets in shades of sage green, mustard and rust for me to finally change my ways. There was a Maison Balzac carafe and a stack of incense on my bedside table, for crying out loud. It was time to fully embrace my mid-twenties and say goodbye to the stained sheets of my past.

As I was now an entirely new woman, I had to fully commit to my new persona. I’ve always loved existing beyond my means (reach for the stars, hun), so set out on a mission to find some truly bespoke bedding. After trawling the internet for too long, I found Sheet Society offered a virtual ‘bed builder’. Promising to help build ‘the bed of my dreams’, it seemed like a solid option for the new-and-improved me.

The software itself is easy enough to use. You can choose between different colours, materials and sizes, customising everything from your sheets to your big fancy Euro pillows (I’m not there yet, but watch this space). My issue was my absolute inability to make any kind of decision, which left me agonising over four different shades of pink for at least an hour. I texted photos to my boyfriend, mum, sister and two friends, asking for a majority vote.

And thank goodness – otherwise I might’ve chosen the Savannah Stripe instead of the Santorini Stripe and my bed wouldn’t look nearly as lush. My stunning cardboard box of bed linen arrived in a week or so (impressive) and the sheets were even better IRL. I opted for sky blue linen sheets and a light pink, thick-striped quilt cover, with two of each pillowcase to match.

Not meaning to be hyperbolic here, but lush sheets have truly changed my days. The soft linen feels incredible to sleep on and so cool on my (always hot) face. I’ve started making my bed because it looks so damn good. I got some new pyjamas to go with my new bed, which has prompted a (previously non-existent) slow, wind-down nighttime routine.

For the first time in my life, I’ve begun to understand the importance of my own sleeping space. Instead of leaving mascara smeared on my pillowcases, I now religiously take off my undereye makeup. I’ve stopped eating in bed to prevent crummage, with has encouraged proper dinners instead of a continuous two-hour snack episode.

Do they work the same as the scraps in our sharehouse linen graveyard? Absolutely. But bedtime is sacred, routine is important and nice linen is worth every dollar.

For more on healthy bedtime routines, head here.