“I’m selling products for people who are tired of having things break,” says Renate Ruby of the fine home goods selection at Adorn, her Phinney Ridge boutique and showroom. 

Ruby’s collection of Belgian linen is getting us excited about making the bed. The interior designer sings the praises of linen as a textile for upholstery and drapery, but says that, most importantly, it facilitates the ultimate night’s sleep. “If you haven’t slept in linen, it’s really different,” she says. “Cotton is smooth, but linen is soft.”

Image by: Alex Crook
White linens from Libeco’s ‘Classics’ collection: kids love that it’s softer than cotton

Ruby’s linens (about $600 for a queen sheet set) are sourced from Libeco, the top linen mill in Belgium. The linen starts as flax and grows for more than three months before blooming for a single day. It’s then pulled up by the roots and left in the fields for three to four weeks for a process called retting, which breaks the flax down into soft fibers to be spun into yarn. Belgian mills get first pick of these fibers, which, like produce, vary with each harvest. This means the linens Ruby sells could likely become heirlooms. “People hand their linen sheets down,” she says. “Think of your Levi 501s. You buy them, break them in yourself…and you have them for the rest of your life. With these linens, it’s the same.” Did somebody say bedtime? Phinney Ridge, Adorn, 7003 Third Ave. NW; 206.499.6220; adorn.house