What irritates you Monday
What irritates you Monday is a meme thought up by Delores from TheFeathered Nest.
Here, on a Monday, we get a chance to vent our little, or not so little,
things that irritate us.
It doesn't have to be something on that particular Monday, it can be anything that irritates you any day of any week.
Today, my irritation is....
Fashion trends in Bed Sheets.
I don't buy homewares very often. I'll use things until they die a natural death, such as falling to pieces in the washing machine, like a t-shirt of mine did recently.
I was very sad, I loved that shirt....had it for close to 20 years.
Back to the sheets.
My sheets are probably 12 to 15 years old. I have three sets and they are all getting thin enough to see through.
So I'm shopping around for new ones.
And here is my problem:- I want quite specific colours that will tone nicely with my quilt cover.
Which I also love and it's 17 years old.
A little faded, but not at all worn.
I've visited four stores so far looking for the colours I want.
A certain dusky pink, a certain sage green, a certain buttery beige.
Every store has sheet sets in calm neutrals or wildly patterned designer looks.
But not in the colours I'm looking for.
And when did sheets get so damned expensive?
I did find one of the colours in a very upmarket store, but not the size I need, and the sheet set was $399.
Holy cow!!! That's two sheets and two pillowcases. For almost $400.
Made by the same company that made my quilt cover set, so of course the colour matches, but I'm not paying $399.....
The company has a factory outlet store very near my home and I'll check there tomorrow.
If one of the colours is available, maybe the other two I want will also be available, and maybe not quite so expensive as in the upmarket shop. I'll even ask if they can order the colours in the size I need.
Other than that, there's nothing much I can do except settle for near enough is good enough, when really, it isn't.
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Very frustrating indeed.
ReplyDeleteIt is more than a little frightening how much sheets (and towels) cost now. And the factory outlet sounds like a very, very good idea. I hope they have the colours you are after.
ReplyDeleteI so agree with you.
ReplyDeleteI don't change my bedlinen "style" every season. How expensive would THAT be?
Besides, I never see anything that comes close to my twelve year old doona cover - it's funky, bohemian, patchworked and oh so deliciously worn in :)
So, neutrals and "hot looks" don't appeal to me.
And why are sheets so expensive?
Like everything else I guess. Trendy = costly, regardless of quality.
Have you tried to source sheets online? Sometimes, you can find well made and reasonably priced items in the colours you want.
Even with the cost of postage, it ends up cheaper than the price of petrol and in-store price tags.
Worth a try perhaps.
Geez, for that kinda money, you could have practically bought a new mattress!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about using things until they about fall apart, but even though we didn't "need" new sheets at the time, we "discovered" flannel sheets about five years ago. They are absolutely wonderful in the winter, and are usually quite reasonably priced, too. (But you probably couldn't find them in the colors you want.)
Wow thats a lot of money for sheets, I buy mainly blue sheets, light purple or rarely pink but I make all my pillow cases now because sets are always expensive.
ReplyDeleteSome of my pillow cases are works of art well I like them and they are so easy to make.
Merle......,
You wouldn't remember of course but during the war when it was impossible to buy lots of things (yes, even in Australia) we had unbleached sheets!!! Mum used to wash them and hang them on the line to whiten a bit but do you know they were great sheets and lasted for y.e.a.r.s.
ReplyDeleteI know longer worry about matching sheets as only MOH and I see them anyway. My daughter recently decided to change her colours and gave me her 'old' sheets to dispose of. They were good Target sheets and in excellent condition so I cut them down to the size I wanted, hemmed one side and now we have all sorts of colours that don't match anything but are pretty colours and like new. I then sent MY really old sheets to the animal shelter where all my old linen goes.
Good luck with your search but $399!!! That is so ridiculous and incidentally pillow slips are really easy to make, I've made heaps over the years.
I usually buy sheet set during stock take sales.
ReplyDeleteIf the factory outlet didn't have your colours, maybe you can put it on the X'mas wish list and get everyone to chip in? Well, the set will last another 20 years, and that will cost less $20 a year, really.
Delores; it would be so much simpler if I hadn't painted the furniture too. It tones with the quilt cover which is why I need sheets in "my" colours.
ReplyDeleteElephant's Child; there are much cheaper sheets (and towels) available at places like K-Mart, Target and Ikea, but basic neutrals, not the colours I'm looking for. White is out of the question.
Vicki; welcome to drifting. The expensive set I found is at a very upmarket store where everything costs top dollar and the quality is excellent. But even they didn't have the sage green or dusky pink I also would like. I didn't think of looking online.
Susan; it's a very expensive store, so I expected sheets in there would cost a lot, but that made my eyes pop out of my head. and it was a sheet set, which I don't want, because the fitted sheet can only go on the mattress, so wears out faster. Flat sheets can be swapped top to bottom, so the wearing is more even. I don't like flannel sheets, they "fluff" all over my PJs and everything else in the wash too.
Merlesworld; I won't be buying those expensive sheets. I'll keep searching for cheaper ones.
Mimsie; I wasn't around during the war, but I do remember unbleached sheets. My mum, and later myself, bought unbleached calico by the metre, she used it for aprons, tablecloths as well as sheets and pillowcases. I remember how soft they were after a few washes. I used it for curtains and small drawstring bags to carry vegetables and bulk dry goods such as rolled oats when shopping. I used to make pillow slips, but haven't for years.
mm; I last bought sheets at a closing down sale in 1996. I only bought three sets and they've lasted well. I don't think my family would chip in for $400 sheet sets. They might all chip in for new sheets but not that amount of money for one set. I don't want sheet sets anyway, as the fitted one always wears out faster. I prefer flat sheets.
Im hearing you loud and clear. I buy good stuff then use them until theyre totally had it..unlike my daughters who use things for a couple of years at best before giving or throwing it away. I cant believe the waste of the newer generations.
ReplyDeleteyup, I'm with you on that.
ReplyDeleteAny chance you could get a white set and die them?
ReplyDelete$400 for sheets. What kind of stores do they have down there? Like Susan said, you could buy the whole bed for that.
ReplyDeleteKymbo Whitford; I agree the times have become wasteful. People following fashion trends in particular are wasteful, using things for only a short time before ditching in favour of the newer style, colour, whatever. When I was little, household goods were bought to last and a "classic" look was favoured that would see you through seasons, styles, for years. Now people change with the seasons or get a new look every year or so. This is why second-hand shops are chock full of curtains, drapes and bedspreads.
ReplyDeleteThe Wicked Writer; nice to know you're with me.
Delores; dyeing is so far beyond my skills it's laughable. Plus I probably couldn't find dyes in the shades I want, and would they stay or run in the wash?
Manzanita; the $400 price was at the most expensive store in Adelaide. There are cheaper options, just not the colour range available. There are whites, beiges in various shades, greens, but not the green I want, there are pinks, but lolly pink or baby pink, not the dusky rose I'm looking for. Wednesday I'm off to the outlet store near me, perhaps they can order me some.