There's that expression: You made your bed, now lie in it. And yesterday I did get a little caffeinated, what with Prada's toeless socks and all, and as a result, could hardly sleep. Instead I tossed and turned, wishing the discount Target poly-cotton sheets I'd gotten impulsively (for the color, chestnut, and the price, a tenner) were a little softer. Today  I'm in a chastened but cosier mood. A look-for-better-bedding mood.

Oversized graphics on pure cotton sheets are surely one of the best trends in new domestic design, though they're not entirely new. Finnish textile and clothing company Marimekko is the Grandmommy of this linen lineage. The company has been doing screen-printed and woven patterns since 1951, importing them to modernist domestic types since 1956. The patterns are designed by Finnish and Japanese textile artists. When I was younger, my sister and I both got Unikko linens at the Marimekko store. They were so gorgeous and mystifying (because while all the flowers matched, none matched exactly), I couldn't sleep. They're still a classic: brilliantly colored, optimistic, exuberant, iconic.

Unison Home's Robert Segal and Alicia Rosauer worked for Marimekko before leaving Finland to form this U.S. company. (He's the son of Crate and Barrel founders Gordon and Carole Segal; thanks to apartmenttherapy for recently pointing that out.) They've become favorites of the design blogosphere for good reason: Their minimal styling is less folk troupe on acid than Marimekko, a bit more mod-restrained, sophisticated, but still sweet. Their teal and white larch bed linens were one of last year's amazing offerings at CB2, where you can still get a kingsize duvet cover and shams at the "outlet."  Imagine falling asleep high in the branches of an, um, larch tree...

An entirely new generation of designers is making 320-count and up organic bedding at Amenity, based in Los Angeles and founded by Nicole Chiala and Kristina de Corpo. When I saw their mammoth botanical patterns I was sure there had to be some kind of Nordic graphic influence going on: Turns out that Kristina's grandmother was Norwegian and loved Scandinavian design. Must be something about all those saunas that makes you feel calm and see 6-foot-tall leaves in your dreams. The cotton they use is organically grown and processed, eco-friendly, non-toxically dyed, and gorgeous.

 

Nap time was never as lovely.

Jana Martin is The MOLI View's contributing editor for Fashion & Design.