The Best Linen Sheets, From $139 to $445 a Queen Set: Quince, Brooklinen, Parachute and Cultiver Compared
The best linen sheets for most people are a European flax set from Quince, at about $139 to $170 for a queen, because linen softens with every wash and the cheapest good set gets you there for less than half the price of the luxury brands.
Noguchi Lamp Alternatives: The Akari Glow for Less, From a $5 Paper Shade to a $79.95 Floor Lamp
The best Noguchi lamp alternative for most bedrooms is a simple rice paper lamp that hides the bulb and spreads a soft, even glow, which is the thing people love about an Akari in the first place.
The Best Lamp for Reading in Bed: Wall-Mounted Reading Lights That Let Your Partner Sleep
The best lamp for reading in bed is a wall-mounted light with a head you can aim, so the light lands on your page and not on the face of the person asleep beside you.
The Best Dimmable LED Bulbs for a Warm, Candlelit Evening: Dim-to-Warm, CRI and No Flicker
The best dimmable LED bulb for a cozy home is a dim-to-warm bulb, which gets warmer in colour as you turn it down, the way an old incandescent did.
How to Arrange Throw Pillows on a Bed: Five Linen Pillows, Three Rows, Ninety Seconds
Nine pillows for six months, then five. Two sleeping, two euros, one lumbar, lightest at the back, and a bed I make in ninety seconds and don't think about.
Cozy Bedroom Ideas That Held Up: Light From the Sides, Linen, a Rug, and Less
Sconces first, then oatmeal linen, then a jute rug, then one painting. The order matters, and the light comes before the bed.
Guest Room Ideas for a Room You'll Use the Other 50 Weeks: Ours Is a Reading Retreat
Our daughter's old room became the reading retreat: a chair, a swing-arm sconce, a pendant on a dimmer, a daybed. It sleeps a guest eight nights a year and me every evening.
Kitchen Pendant Lighting: Height, Spacing, Bulbs and What Ours Cost
Three linen pendants over a six-foot island, 34 inches up, 2700K on a dimmer. The measurements, the mistakes and the cost.
Spa Like Bathroom Ideas That Are Mostly Lighting (and Cost $340)
Sconces at eye level, 2700K, a dimmer and matte surfaces. The spa is the light, not the tub, and it cost $340 in a 7 by 9 bathroom.
Reading Nook Ideas That Are Mostly Subtraction: A Seat, a Sconce, and Nothing Else
I had a list of six things to add to the nook. The sconce went up, I sat down with a book, and the nook was done. Here's why less is the whole idea.
Living Room Lighting Ideas: Four Layers, Four Heights, and the Year the Sofa Started to Glow
Two sconces at the fireplace, a lamp at every seat, one low light, all 2700K on dimmers, the ceiling off after dark. It took a year of adjusting and the sofa now glows at 20 percent.
Breakfast Nook Lighting: One Pendant, 32 Inches Up, and Sunday Got Slower
For years the nook borrowed light from the kitchen. One small ceramic pendant on its own dimmer made it the room we eat in, and Sunday mornings got an hour longer.
Vanity Light Height and Bathroom Vanity Lighting: The Numbers That Fixed My Face in the Mirror
Two years of a ceiling globe and I thought the problem was my face. Sconces at 64 inches either side of the mirror, a dimmer, and I could see my jaw.
Home Office Lighting Ideas: Two Sources at 3000K, the Window to the Side, and No Glare on the Screen
One desk lamp in a dark corner gave me headaches by four. A sconce at shoulder height across the desk and a lamp on the page, both 3000K, fixed it for $205.
Entryway Lighting Ideas for a Small Entry: One Sconce, One Timer, and It Feels Like Home
The flush mount was adequate. The sconce above the console, lit before I get home, is a welcome. Here's the height, the timer, and ten entry ideas by entry type.