thermal blackout curtains – save your money and keep your sanity

Posted on December 2, 2011 by

I just recently moved into an awesome house in San Francisco, I love it! It has great charm, build in the early 1900′s. Beautiful hardwood floors, great neighborhood and I think I am slowly losing my mind.

Clearly I am exaggerating. . . kind of, I haven’t really slept all that well since I moved in. I constantly wake up at the crack of dawn, cold and wishing I could go back to sleep. You see I am not a morning person, not even a little and this was driving me a bit crazy. I was talking about this with a friend, and she pointed out that I always sleep in when I stay over. She is right, I seem to never want to leave the guestroom at her house, I was about to tell her that it’s because it’s just so dark in there – then it hit me. There is almost no light in the room because of her curtains, her total blackout curtains.

Light from my window

6:12 AM - I clearly need blackout curtains

Why we all need blackout curtains

Well maybe not all of us, but I sure do. It should be common sense that we all rest better with no distractions and when we are completely comfortable. What most of us don’t know is that light, even low ambient light can distract from our sleep. How you ever laid awake in bed, starting at your alarm clock? It is the light, your body is probably telling you to turn it off, make the light go away. Light is a subconscious signal for our bodies to be awake – its why people have trouble sleeping when moving to northern Alaska, it can be daylight for days out there (or in my case moving to a big city). Light has a large impact on our circadian rhythm, which for those of you don’t know basically controls our sleep patterns.

If you add a set of blackout curtains to your room, I can almost guarantee you will sleep better. Pitch black sleeping quarters will give you the best night’s rest possible. There are a lot of people who want to know how to sleep better, well this is this easiest and best trick – put up some black out curtains and you will start sleeping better immediately.

Sounds good, but what are thermal curtains?

Well thermal curtains are just as they sound, they help insulate your windows. The biggest source of heat loss in your home is most likely your windows, unless for some reason you keep your front door open all the time during the winter. If you own your home, you can save tons of money on your heating bill by putting in double pane insulated windows. They will keep the heat in and cold out.

I have single pane windows, which is almost the same as keeping my window open for heating purposes, I don’t own the place I am renter so replacing them is not an option. This is where thermal curtains can keep me warm, in the same way a thick blanket can keep you warm at night, thermal curtains can insulate your room – keeping the heat in.

I end up blasting the heat or staying cold all night, now with these thermal blackout curtains I hope to sleep better, stay warmer and save money on our PG&E bill.

Like your current curtains/drapes too much to replace?

I am sure there are a quite a few people who have already picked out customer curtains or drapes for their bedroom and don’t want to switch to potentially ugly blackout curtains, well that is where making your own temporary blackout curtains can save you. All you need to do is get several hooks (four should do it depending on how wide your window is) and get some blackout curtains with grommets. The hooks can hide just behind your regular curtains or drapes making them almost impossible to see. You can hang the blackout curtains up at night and take them down during the day.

Posted in Bedroom | Tagged , | Leave a comment

do you need a waterproof mattress pad?

Posted on August 1, 2010 by

There is common misconception that mattress pads are a luxury bedding item. There are often passed over when shopping for a new mattress or sheets. They are actually a pretty critical part of your bed set. They serve quite a few functions, including protecting the mattress and increased comfort. The reason I purchased one was to keep my sheets on my bed. I used to wake up all the time with the corner of my sheets pulled down and my face on the mattress surface, it used to drive me crazy until I got a mattress pad that actually keeps the sheets on my bed.

If you are in the market for a mattress pad, you will quickly see that there are lots of different options out there. The have memory foam mattress pads to provide increased support while you sleep. There are also pillow top mattress pads, these are actually pretty amazing, you really do feel like you are sleeping on a cloud. Pillow top mattress pads are my absolute favorite. Electric heated mattress pads work exactly like an electric blanket, but go under your sheets, I find these to be pretty unnecessary and a waste if you have a good down comforter.

mattress padsThe material also is important when you are looking at mattress pads. If you are getting a mattress pad that is made of down, it will reflect all your body heat back and if you combine this with a down comforter you could stay warm in the north pole. Seriously nothing is better than waking up in the morning all warm and snuggly from your down bedding. You will also find certain mattress toppers are hypoallergenic as well as certain materials will be water resistant or water proof which brings us to our next topic and the whole point of this post.

Waterproof Mattress Pads

Waterproof mattress pads can be purchased at nearly every bedding store and outlet. Waterproof mattress pads work by embedding a layer of impermeable material within the layers of the mattress pad. Good waterproof mattress pads will also add comfort to your bedding as well as protecting your mattress from accidents. I do want to warn you that ther are water resistant and water proof pads. The latter is the only one that will actually fully protect your mattress.

If believe there is a chance of bed wetting there is no reason you shouldn’t invest the money in a waterproof mattress protector. The investment can save you hundreds of dollars over the lifetime of a mattress and also protect you from health concerns. The is a potential from any moisture in the mattress turning into mold and creating bacteria and other nasty things that can effect the health of those sleeping on the mattress.

If you are looking for the best deals on a mattress topper or pad be sure to check out our store!

Posted in Bedding | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

how big is a twin bed? (and where to find twin bedding)

Posted on July 28, 2010 by

It is funny that I never bothered to ask how big is twin size bedding. I never really actually payed any attention to bed sizes until I went to IKEA to purchase a complete bed set complete with frame and sheets only to realize that there was a huge difference from twin bedding to full size bed sets. Obviously I had to make a return trip to IKEA. Also I would like to know who names these sizes. Did you know a twin bed is also commonly referred to as a ‘single’ because it generally only fits once person, which makes more sense than calling a twin.

So just how big is a twin size bed?
The short answer is not very. There are actually quite very tiny, and not much in the way of comfort. The US standard size twin bed is 39″ x  75″. To put this in perspective the average arm span is 68″ so you have barely any room to sprawl out. Also lying flat on their back the average person will only have about 9 inches of mattress on either side of them, barely any room to move and definitely limited room to roll over, not a very good choice if you toss and turn during the night, you are liable to fall off the bed. I would definitely recommend upgrading to at least a full size bed, and don’t recommend using a twin into your adult hood.

What is a twin XL bed?
You mave have heard the term twin XL being tossed around. Twin XL is one of the crazy nonstandard mattress sizes you will only find here in the US. The others being Three quarter, Super single and Full XL, good luck finding bed frames and bedding for those sizes. Twin XL is the most common non standard bed size in the US due to its use in dorms. Twin XL means twin extra large or twin extra long. Twin XL mattress are taller by about 5″ measuring 39″ x 80″ to help accommodate the height of an adult and still work within the space confines of a dorm. Twin XL bedding is probably the only non standard size sheet you will be able to find with out going online. Target I believe sells twin XL sheets along with other twin bedding in their dorm collection.

Is twin bedding okay for my teenager?
Twin mattresses are currently losing popularity to full size bedding as the choice for teenagers. Both size beds are acceptable for teenagers or anyone around 5’6″, any taller you and want to think about upgrading to queen or twin XL. Due to the natural movements and turning, full size beds are recommended for teenagers unless space is an issue.

Where can I find twin bedding sets?
You can find twin bed sheets and bedding sets almost anywhere, though I prefer to purchase twin bed sets online as that is usually where the best deals are. You don’t get the actually feel the sheets like you can when you are in a store like Target, but you can usually be pretty sure of the comfort and softness by paying attention to the thread count. See my post on thread count to help you decide which is right for you. Since full size bed sheets are gaining popularity over twin beds you can often find good deals in stores like Ross, which twin bed sheets are probably the most common size at Ross because of the declining popularity, this also mean that you can usually find clearance deals on Amazon or Overstock. You can usually find a twin bed set (with out a twin comforter) online for about $25. However, due to the size you will have a hard time finding something that is not Hello Kitty or Thomas the Train themed.

Posted in Bedding | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

what you should know about kids bedding

Posted on July 23, 2010 by

This may sound strange but I actually remember my favorite set of sheets from when I was younger. It was a full bed set, with matching pillows, mattress cover, sheet and blanket. There was all blue with dinosaur print covering everything. I simply loved those sheets, in fact I think it is the only time I remember not only consistently making my bed, but actually wanting to make my bed. My bed just looked so freaking cool when it was made with all those dinosaurs, now even as an adult I am still finicky about making the bed.

What I also remember, and the real reason I am writing this (although reminiscing about my sweet dinosaur sheets was fun) is I never remember having the super nice down comforter that I have now. I just remember a pretty skimpy blanket that came with the bed set and that was all I had for warmth at night. You should know that I grew up in Michigan and living here in California I have much warmer sheets than I ever had as a youth in Michigan. Which brings me to my first topic of this article of things you should know about kids bedding.

Children generally don’t need as much warmth.
Children have a higher metabolic rate due to their increased rate of growth. What this means is that a younger me would have roasted in my current down comforter. I would have just burnt up. I would definitely suggest you start with something lighter weight (hand me downs work great for this) and use that as a starting point for how heavy of a blanket they need at night. Obviously climate of where you live plays a huge part of this so I am implore you to use your judgment as a parent, but this technique can save you some money on your kids bedding.

Stay away from wrinkle resistant bedding, 100% cotton is your friend
Why would you not want to save precious time and loads of laundry by purchasing wrinkle resistant bedding? Because often times (and by often I mean all the time) permanent press sheets are of polyester blends. This is bad on two fronts, first polyester is often a chemically produced synthetic fabric composed of chemicals such as purified terephthalic acid. Which I have linked in case you can’t infer from the name that it is anything but natural. Second, to keep polyester cotton blends so wrinkle free there are often treated with everyone’s favorite carcinogen formaldehyde. If you need to be told why having your child sleep in plastic sheets treated with a corpse preservative than perhaps you shouldn’t be purchasing some fine toy train sheets for the young ones. Definitely stick to cotton that is organic or at least natural.

Get some thing that is actually fun!
Some friends of mine recently purchased some sheets or their 9 year old son. My friends being the hip 30 something parents they are, constantly decorate and design their two bedroom apartment with such sheikness (I know I know, its not an actual word) it would rival something you would see on MTV Cribs. So amongst the broken transformer toys and lego castles, the have a red cotton sateen bed set that clearly should belong to a bachelor in upper Manhattan. Consequently that child hates his bed and never wants to be in it. You should definitely get something fun and themed, if the child is going to spend a third of their life in their bed, you need to do your part and get something so fun that he actually doesn’t mind going to bed, and who knows, maybe he will be like me and actually want to make his bed with out you even asking.

Posted in Bedding | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment