Today, on the momentous day of taking possession of a brand new futon mattress to replace our well-worn antique, I thought I’d let you in on the nature of our sleep experience. While our travels are shared on a frequent basis, an accounting of the many hours spent horizontally has been neglected, so this is my attempt to repair that. I recently ordered a new mattress from the same guy at Futon Favorite who made our previous one, Tom Flower. I have to mention Tom because he’s the only person in Arizona handmaking these futons, and what’s more, he let me have a peek into the process. Caroline and I don’t care a hoot about box springs or memory foam and would prefer that there’s not a hint of polyester or flame retardant anywhere near our sleeping heads. Do you want cotton batting, be it organic or otherwise, double wool lining or other special requests? Futon Favorites has you covered.

Somehow, our previous mattress lasted for 16 years, or maybe I should say that it existed as it should have been replaced a few years ago, but circumstances regarding where we’d be putting our heads to rest were in question, so we held out. With our backs paying the price for that delay, it finally was time to act. After having the incredible good fortune of watching Tom build one of these, I need to point out that he says I’m the very first person afforded that opportunity. Later, I was able to transport our new futon home and, with considerable difficulty, drag our old, much heavier mattress to the trash before setting up our beautiful new bed. Onward to how we dress this thing.

Caroline and I use two configurations, one for winter and one for summer. No matter which version is currently being utilized, our bed is the coziest bed we could ever imagine and has been so forever. Well, there is one phase that is less than optimal, and that’s the one we are in now, transitioning from winter to summer. The major highlight of our seasonal shift from the hot Arizona summer to even slightly chilly evenings is when we can bring out our goose-down comforter. It gets stuffed into a jacquard loom woven flax/linen duvet cover from Portugal while our futon is covered with a flax/linen sheet used instead of a cotton sheet. Our pillowcases are handsewn by Caroline of some beautiful cotton fabric we found while out traveling. Our current set of pillowcases was made of two different fabrics, both with an ocean motif. The two sides of the pillowcase are on the left, and on the right is our blue linen duvet, and the comforter is next to it

During the winter, the heater is never needed, even when the place dips below about 55 degrees (about 13c), because we have gloves and sweaters to deal with the cold. We have a space heater in the bathroom for warming it while we’re in the shower, should you be wondering.

Here in the transition zone, we only reluctantly give up the comforter while considering using the air conditioning to chill the place so it is still comfortable in our cozy nest of a bed. Being rational about the amount of electricity we use, we eschew the idea and, with heavy hearts, place the comforter in a corner near the bed just in case we find ourselves too cold to sleep well. In our spring-and-summer configuration, the linen sheet we sleep on remains the same, but now the Tischdecke is brought out of the cabinet it’s been hibernating in. “Tischdecke” is German for tablecloth, and that’s exactly what this linen blanket feels like for the first weeks. The heft of the comforter is sorely missed, but as our place starts warming with the approach of summer, it becomes impossible to sleep under it. Our summer blanket is made by the same company that makes our sheets.

Considering that nearly a third of our life is spent in bed, we have certainly cultivated a cocoon worthy of worship that serves us in heavenly ways, which have us longing for it while out traveling. When it’s time to go to bed, it’s done so knowing that within minutes, we’ll be well asleep, snuggling into the world of dreams. There might even be times that we feel we have an awkward relationship with our bed as after the love of each other, we’d both likely admit to being in love with this bed, except for the week or two getting used to the Tischdecke.

For future reference:

Bed Threads French flax linen blanket – $200

Bed Threads French flax linen flat sheet – $110

Parachute flax linen duvet cover – $270

L.L. Bean baffle-box stitch goose down comforter, queen/warm – $400

Futon Favorite handmade mattress, queen – $640