For the past 25 years, we’ve been perfecting the art of sleep. To us, sleep isn’t a passive action, it’s something we want to enjoy since we spend a third of our lives in bed. In our quest to perfect the art of sleep, we’ve amassed lots of knowledge that we’d love to share with you.

1. Different bedding for different temperatures  
If you’ve just bought flannel for your winter bedding and percale for your summer bedding, great! However, you should also pay attention to what you like to sleep in during the transitional seasons. On top of the seasonal temperature, you need to consider your own body temperature which could change depending on your lifestyle. You might for instance suddenly be cold at night even if you’re usually a hot sleeper. It could be because your newly born baby is keeping you up at night and you’re exhausted. This doesn’t mean you should throw away your percale, you should however optimize your sleep by using pinpoint during this specific time. This will keep you warmer than a percale which equals better sleep and an even better life. To sum it all up, pay attention to your body and your surroundings and how sudden changes affect your sleep.

2. All bedding is not equal
Percale and linen are cool fabrics, but the hand feel and the properties aren’t the same. That is the reason you prefer to sleep in linen and not percale. The best way to get the right bedding for you is not to get bedding that is simply cool or warm but to consider what feels good on your skin and what you expect from your bedding. Should it be crispy, absorbent or moisture-wicking? Our advice? Read up about the bedding you want and give it a try in our stores.

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3. Match your pajama with your bedding
Just like bedding, pajamas are made of different fabrics suited for different seasons and body temperatures. Make sure to try out the compatibility of your pajama with your bedding. You might not need to sleep in flannel pajamas and flannel bedding if you’re soaking wet every morning. Substitute one or the other with a lighter option.

4. Don't share bedding with your partner
If you’re sharing a bed with someone, you know very well the bitterness that ensues because of the uncomfortable bedding your significant other loves to sleep in. There’s nothing wrong with your taste. You most likely just have different body temperatures, so you need bedding that caters to each individual’s needs. For hot sleepers, we advise linen while cold sleepers we know would love a fluffy flannel.

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5. Your duvet and duvet cover should complement each other
Just because you’re a cold sleeper doesn’t mean you should pile on with warm bedding. If you’re sleeping in flannel, try a lighter down duvet, so you’re not swimming in your sweat at night. Sweaty or cold nights mean bad sleep, so try to find a combination that will keep your body temperature just right.

“Your starting point when making your assessment has to be the child you are dealing with.”

- Liv Svirsky, sleep expert and co-author of "Godnatt! Om små och stora barns sömn” (which translates to Good night! On small and big children’s sleep)

6. Cell phones are the worst for your sleep
The advent of mobile phones revolutionized the way we connect, but it also disrupted our sleep. Not only is fear of missing out on something online keeping us up longer at nights, but so are the algorithms and the blue light emitted from these phones. Our talks with Lexington friends as well as sleep experts have taught us to put our phones away 2 hours before bedtime.

7. Infants’ sleep cycles vary
Stressed over your baby not sleeping 9 hours straight? Don’t be. Every baby is different and has therefore different sleeping cycles. That’s what we learned during our webinar with sleep experts Liv Svirsky and Kristoffer Bothelius, authors of "Godnatt! Om små och stora barns sömn” (which translates to Good night! On small and big children’s sleep).

“Your starting point when making your assessment has to be the child you are dealing with,” Svirsky said. “Consider if the child seems to be feeling well. Is it awake when it needs to be and is it doing other things adequately? If so, sleep is probably not an issue.”

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10. The 8-hour-sleep rule is not for everyone
We’ve all heard we should get 8 hours of sleep, but we don’t. At least not all of us. During the abovementioned webinar, we learned that 2-month-old infants may sleep anywhere between 9-20 hours a day. That range does get narrower as we grow older. It’s normal for teenagers to sleep between 8-10 hours a day. And adults can sleep between 6-10 hours a day. A lot is considered normal as long as you’re feeling well emotionally and physically. So, there’s no need to force your teen up when they sleep 10-12 hours on weekends.

11. The correlation between sleep and food
Though most of us know to lock sleep thieves such as coffee away after lunchtime, the dietary secret to a good night’s sleep goes far beyond ditching coffee and opting for a nightly cup of warm milk. A dinner high in saturated fats, which is found in red meat and cheese, slows down the digestive process which can mess up your circadian rhythm.

12. The correlation between sleep and exercise
You might want to dig up your jogging shoes from the back of your closet if you’re having trouble sleeping. Helena Kubicek Boye, sleep expert and author of “Konsten att Sova,” recommends hour-long, low-intensity exercises, because of how it improves the quality of our slumber. Unfortunately, the connection between exercise and sleep is lost on most. In the U.S., about 1 in 4 short sleepers reported being physically inactive, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

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13. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. your bedtime rituals
Maintaining a consistent bedtime routine is proven to help us fall asleep. In her book, Kubicek writes that sticking to bedtime habits conditions our minds to slip into sleep mode.

14. Adopt a calming ritual
If you’re a Instagram-and-sleep kind of person you should adopt simpler and healthier bedtime rituals. It’s not just the blue light that messes with our shut-eye, so does the highly curated feed we scroll through. Dr. Tim Bono, author of “When Likes Aren’t Enough,” explains in Healthista that “getting worked up with anxiety or envy from what we see on social media keeps the brain on high alert, preventing us from falling asleep.”

Now that you know better, do better by trying calming rituals like a bath or journaling.

15. Music can lull you to sleep
Studies show that certain types of music are proven to have a relaxing and soothing effect by slowing down both our heart and breath rates which in turn helps us fall asleep. The golden rule to achieve this effect is to listen to songs (from any genre) that are between 60-80 beats per minute. If counting bpms to create your bedtime playlist isn't an option, we’ve got a ready-to-play playlist for you.

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18. Take caffeine naps
If you want to avoid the grogginess but want a shut-eye between 30-90 minutes, forget conventional wisdom that coffee will interfere with your sleep. It won’t if you’re strategic about it. First off, make sure you avoid taking caffeine naps so close to your bedtime as you would a regular nap. Studies show that to get the most out of your caffeine nap, quickly drink a cup of joe right before a 20-minute nap. The caffeine will kick in 20-minutes after you’ve had which means you’ll feel energized and sharp immediately after you wake up, and you’ll stay that way for up to four hours.

19. Delayed sleep cycle real among teens
Teenagers naturally have a delayed sleep cycle. They get tired later in the evening and want to sleep longer in the morning. American sleep researchers recommend starting later in the morning, so teens are more alert in school.
Another reason teenagers will stay up is simply for social reasons. They want to hang out late at night which, of course, results in them getting tired in the morning. So, there are both biological and environmental factors that come into play here.

Many teenagers tend to feel that they’re missing something if they log off. One piece of advice we usually offer is that the parents, in a school or community, come together and establish common curfews. For example, everyone should log off at the same time so that none of the teens feel "everyone has a social life now, and here I am lying in bed and trying to fall asleep." Instead, it’ll be easier for them to relax because everyone logged out and they won’t miss anything.

20. Find your own cool
Experts say a cool bedroom results in a lower body temperature making you sleepy, whereas a higher temperature helps you stay alert. With that said, there is no set bedroom temperature you should maintain to sleep better. That’s because what’s cool for you might be hot for someone else. A range of 60 to 71.6 °F (15.6 to 22.0 °C) should be suitable for most sleepers.

If you still find these settings too cold, try warmer bedding like flannel. If you’re too warm or the weather is particularly hot or humid, introduce lighter materials like linen to your bedroom or wear lighter pajamas to stay cool in bed.

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24. Higher thread count doesn’t mean better sleep
There’s a lot of buzz about thread counts in the bedding industry, but we’ll let you in on a secret. A higher thread count doesn’t always mean high-quality bedding. Thread count measures the number of horizontal threads and vertical threads in a square inch of fabric.

It’s only possible to fit a limited number of threads per square inch of fabric. The exact number depends on the thickness of the yarns, but it’s normally around 300-400. To manipulate this number and boost thread count, some manufacturers use low-grade cotton that's thin when spun. This allows them to cram more threads into a smaller space. They can also twist multiple individual yarns together to create plait-like threads before weaving. This is called multi-ply yarn. Since they've fit multiple threads in the place of one they can claim double the thread count. The higher thread count doesn't make the sheets any softer or stronger. In fact, a fabric made of single-ply yarn makes for more breathable, softer and durable bedding.

Since we’ve always been committed to creating high-quality bedding that lasts, we focus more on the quality of the yarn rather than the quantity. Organic cotton, long-staple cotton, high-quality cotton, TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers are more our beat.

Many teenagers tend to feel that they’re missing something if they log off. One piece of advice we usually offer is that the parents, in a school or community, come together and establish common curfews. For example, everyone should log off at the same time so that none of the teens feel "everyone has a social life now, and here I am lying in bed and trying to fall asleep." Instead, it’ll be easier for them to relax because everyone logged out and they won’t miss anything.

25. Cleanliness is next to godliness
You may or may not believe in a higher being, but a sanitary bedroom will have you in the clouds amongst gods and angels. Not only does it feel nice to jump into a bed of clean sheets, but clean sheets promote healthier sleep. You should wash your sheets every week and more often if you live an active life. Vacuuming your carpet and regularly washing your bedding can reduce the presence of dust mites that trigger allergies.