*Image above via Marika Meyer, featuring my cherished Matouk Auberge towels (on sale!).
Happy Fourth! Hope you are enjoying some time outside with your loved ones!
I am in the market for new towels for our home and I had to mention that Bloomingdale’s is currently running an incredible promotion on Matouk towels. I already have a few sets of their Cairo style with the azure blue piping and they are my absolute favorites — I legitimately can’t wait for them to come out of the wash, as they are the softest, plushest bath towels. Currently, they are on sale for $68 for a bath towel, with an extra 20% off once in cart — meaning each is around $50. I am debating between more of those or adding this classic chain style to the mix. Then, of course, there are my beloved Matouk Auberge monogram towels, which I both own myself and have given as housewarming gifts to several friends and family members. For some reason, they are marked down even lower at Neiman’s to only $33 per bath towel (!) Kind of hard to turn down! (Side note: if you are a planner, this is a good promotion to buy ahead of time for a family member’s Christmas gift!)
At the same time, I have been eyeing a few other brands to mix things up:
+I’m drawn to Hill House’s personalization options. Their Marella style is very similar to Matouk’s Cairo, and I love the tailored, crisp vibe. I also like the idea of mixing them in with their striped towels in the children’s bath.
+These waffle weave towels from Serena & Lily would make me feel like I was living at the spa. Just add a teak shower stool and I’m set. Parachute (currently running a 15% off promotion) has a similar style, FYI — has anyone tried this brand? I feel like I keep coming across it.
+More minimalist, but I have been so impressed with Boll & Branch’s sheets, I am intrigued by their simple white towels. They look ultra-plush.
+Not for the bathroom, but I also had to share that I came across a four-pack of cabana striped towels in a great blue color for $50 that I think I will order for our new home, as I anticipate a lot of time spent splashing in the inflatable pool and running through the sprinkler after we move. I also find these towels handy in general for children — we use them to cover chairs while the children are eating, have “indoor picnics,” do water-based sensory play, etc. I also thought these more expensive printed beach towels were amazing! So fun.
+While we’re on the subject of bath towels, one of our most useful purchases in our small Manhattan apartments was a free-standing towel rack. Our bathrooms have been small without much extra space for spare towel storage, so it has been clutch! (Also a handy drying rack in a pinch…) I love this marble style I just discovered, but this one is classic, and this ladder style is chic and reasonably-priced. Along these lines: I shared some fun bathroom accessories in this post if you’re looking to make a change!
For bedding, I have had all-white linens — or white linens with a tiny bit of embroidery/piping along the edge — for awhile now. I find an all-white bed ultra-inviting and given the drama of our bed’s design, it made sense to me keep the linens a little quieter. We currently use Boll & Branch bedding, and I personally think it’s the best bedding we’ve ever had. I’ve used Matouk, Hill House, and Restoration Hardware in the past. B&B launders much better than Matouk (for some reason a total pain to iron — an observation corroborated by several Magpies!), is cooler to the touch than RH, and softer than Hill House. I will for sure be sticking with their sheeting whatever we do. However. I am kind of intrigued by the idea of buying a boldly patterned duvet cover and decorative shams whenever we upgrade to our King-sized bed (which I hope will be a four post or canopy style!) A few fun patterned duvet covers to contemplate:
D. PORTHAULT IS #GOALZ BUT OUT OF BUDGET
YVES DELORME BAGATELLE (MR. MAGPIE WOULD PROBABLY VETO) OR ABRI
MUCH LESS BOLD, BUT LOVE THIS SIMPLE BOTANICAL STYLE
These would go over my beloved Feathered Friends down comforter — the cadillac of down comforters, let me tell you.
I would also be remiss not to mention Yves Delorme and Frette as worth consideration if you don’t like Boll &Branch’s sheet styles — I do wish they had slightly more interesting designs on offer. In fact, the limited and basic styles are the only demerit I can think of for the brand! Yves Delorme and Frette are used in lots of high-end hotels, including at the beloved Carlyle in NYC. I’ve mentioned this in the past, but during my last stay at the Carlyle, I was so in love with the bath towels there (Yves Delorme’s Etoile) that I immediately ordered a set for myself. They are VERY soft (rival Matouk) but I found that they did not hold their color well in the wash, even after I’d followed the instructions of using a gentler detergent and laundering separately, which was itself kind of a pain to be honest. Maybe ordering in solid white is the way to go?
I also want to mention that several Magpies have raved about Comphy’s reasonable sheets! Worth looking into if you want a basic white set / for guest room / etc. It’s funny — several Magpies mentioned discovering these while renting AirBnB’s, and I noted a lot of comments on their site run along the same lines: “I first discovered these in a rental and have never gone back!”
P.S. A propos: a trick for falling asleep.
P.P.S. Chic bedside tables.
P.P.P.S. 11 things I couldn’t live without.
Thanks for the heads up, I am overdue on some new towels! Do you have any suggestions for how to keep white towels both soft and white? I don’t know if it’s my skincare products, just age, or something else, but even bleach cannot get my five-year-old Pottery Barn towels pure white anymore. Vinegar used to help with softness, but that too has stopped being as effective.
Hi Bridget! Great question. I have several older sets of towels that have befallen a similar fate. I have been able to keep my more recently-purchased sets of Matouks whiter and softer longer by more or less only laundering them together and avoiding over-drying. A Magpie reader wrote at some point that it’s really tough on different fabrics to be all jammed in together (performance fabrics with cottons, etc) and I truly think this has helped prolong the life/attractiveness of lots of my linens/clothes.
xx