The Best Fitted Sheets Seamlessly Work With Any Set You Already Own

Reading up on Domino’s shopping guides is like having your own personal product concierge. We do the tedious part—deep-dive research, hands-on testing, and tapping experts for advice—so all you have to do is hit “add to cart.” That’s why we call them Simply the Best.

There’s something oh so satisfying about climbing into bed with a fresh bottom sheet. A brand-new base to your bedding is a must when life happens and you need to change out the old white sheet that has become discolored over the years or if you want to give linen a try but aren’t quite ready to commit to a full set. Some people don’t even use top sheets at all (controversial, we know), so it’s always nice when retailers allow each piece to be purchased individually. 

With a number of DTC brands and so many different options, picking a fitted sheet can start to feel like a herculean task. So we put a bunch to the test—understanding what makes a perfect one (that mixture of softness, breathability, and alignment with sleep style)—and found the best fitted sheets in various fabrics, styles, and budgets for all kinds of sleepers. 

Our Favorites

• Best floral: Hill House Home Botanical Fitted Sheet
• Best flannel: The Company Store Legends Luxury™ Velvet Flannel Fitted Sheet
• Best organic: Boll & Branch Signature Hemmed Fitted Sheet
• Best already broken-in: Coyuchi Organic Crinkled Percale™ Fitted Sheet
• Best colored linen: Cultiver Linen Fitted Sheet
• Best crisp and cool: Parachute Home Percale Fitted Sheet
• Best striped linen: Piglet in Bed Linen Fitted Sheet

Best Floral: Hill House Home Botanical Fitted Sheet

Material: Cotton | Weave: Sateen | Sizes: Twin, full, queen, king, California king | Color options: Just blue for this pattern, but there are other floral patterns

Why we chose it: With watercolor botanicals, this option is one part classic and one part whimsical. 

Nell Diamond’s Nap Dress is so popular that people sometimes forget Hill House Home actually launched in 2016 with bedding, not clothing. But after testing, we were sold on these sheets, which offer a seamless blend of quality material and great design. While it may not be the brand’s signature product, don’t sleep on the bedding…or, actually, do. The brushed cotton in a sateen finish gives these floral sheets a silky feel and they’ve also got a bit of a sheen. HHH worked with artist Leïla Dubus on the watercolor botanicals inspired by vintage floral illustrations. And they look even better IRL—vibrant in color with a variety of hues. Flowers rendered in blue and white are classic enough to work year-round, but this design is playful rather than stuffy. If you’re into the matchy-matchy look, there is also a coordinating bathrobe. 

Best Flannel: The Company Store Legends Luxury™ Velvet Flannel Fitted Sheet

Material: Cotton flannel | Weave: N/A | Sizes: Twin, twin XL, full, queen, California king | Color options: 10, mostly light

Why we chose it: A cozy flannel option for chilly nights. 

Initially, we were worried these sheets would be a bit too sumptuous. As much as we love getting cozy, we never want sheets that lack breathability or feel excessively thick. Our testing revealed the Company Store’s Velvet Flannel is soft and warm but not too heavy. A match for colder months, they’re the perfect seasonal sheets—though people who get cold while they sleep or reluctantly wear socks to bed might find year-round use. The flannel is high quality, which impacts how it feels and how it performs—it’s less likely to pill and will withstand repeated wear, which is definitely important for a fitted sheet. While testing this collection out for several nights, our only complaint was that we lack a winter cabin to use them to full effect. 

Best Organic: Boll & Branch Signature Hemmed Fitted Sheet

Material: Cotton | Weave: Sateen | Sizes: Twin, twin XL, full, queen, king, California king | Color options: 7

Why we chose it: An environmentally friendly, ethically made option that’s supersoft and can stand up to lots of wear. 

“We built our supply chain from the ground up and became the first-ever Fair Trade-certified bedding brand,” says Missy Tannen, Boll & Branch’s founder and head of design. “That, coupled with our GOTS Organic certification, ensures that every farmer and factory partner earns fair wages, has ample time away from work, and is safe from the toxins used in conventional textiles.” We love Boll & Branch’s commitment to ethical production and were equally impressed by the resulting product: With long-staple cotton, these sheets are smoother and more breathable than shorter-staple alternatives. They just feel good (silky soft!) without being slippery. While not a budget pick, the sheets are in line with prices from brands that use less admirable production methods. 

Best Already Broken-In: Coyuchi Organic Crinkled Percale™ Fitted Sheet

Material: Cotton | Weave: Percale | Sizes: Twin, twin XL, full, queen, king, California King | Color options: 10, including neutrals, a stunning rich blue, and two subtle stripes

Why we chose it: A no-fuss, lightly rumpled look for those who hate ironing but still want a bit of crispness to their bedding. 

Percale is a crisp weave often used in sheets you’ll find in hotels, where it’s ironed to perfection each time after a wash. Ironing sheets isn’t exactly at the top of our to-do list. This option from Coyuchi is ideal for the iron-averse and those who don’t want to spend more time fussing to make their bed. The company managed to make percale sheets by spinning and weaving the cotton so that it has that perfectly imperfect crinkled finish. It looks good, feels good, and works well for those of us who don’t do neat hospital corners. Organic cotton also uses 90 percent less water than conventionally grown cotton, and Coyuchi is committed to sustainable and ethical production. 

Best Colored Linen: Cultiver Linen Fitted Sheet

Material: Linen | Weave: N/A | Sizes: Queen, king, California king | Color options: 18

Why we chose it: High-quality linen in an array of beautiful colors. 

While many love linen, there are skeptics, too, like those who are especially finicky about texture and don’t want to sleep on anything remotely scratchy. But Cultiver passed the test with flying colors: Its linen is textured without being rough, has a nice weight, and is overall very soft. Speaking of color, sometimes options can be limited with linen—some retailers sell only pale earth tones—but that’s not the case here. 

There are three different pinks (blush, dusk, and fawn), the neutrals you’d expect, and some richly colored greens and blues like olive and bluestone. The biggest dilemma is going to be choosing one. But since it’s possible to buy sets and separates, the indecisive among us can mix and match. 

Best Striped Linen: Piglet in Bed Linen Fitted Sheet

Material: Linen | Weave: N/A | Sizes: Twin, full, queen, king, California king | Color options: 3 stripes and 12 solid colors

Why we chose it: Stonewashed and sweetly striped, this linen option will work well with a variety of styles. 

Linen is an incredibly durable fabric and only gets better with age. So it’s a good thing this subtle oatmeal stripe is so versatile. It will work well with a variety of decor styles and color schemes. Piglet in Bed will also send free fabric swatches for those choosing between the three striped options. These sheets are stonewashed, which, according to LinenBeauty, involves “washing the fabric in large machines with pumice or volcanic stones that bash and tumble the fabric’s fibers. As the weave loosens, the fabric becomes more supple and soft, giving it that gorgeous drape and informal finish that we all love so much.” That’s probably why we didn’t find the sheets rough or scratchy at all. 

How We Chose These Products

We started with brands Domino editors use on their own beds and also sought out well-reviewed industry favorites. We tested for feel, quality, color (which can sometimes be less compelling IRL), breathability, and durability. Bedding that looks good and feels good matters, but so do the things you can’t always see, like material-sourcing details and organic certifications. 

Our Shopping Checklist

Material and Weave

“Think of it like clothing—your favorite flannel shirt is going to feel different than the crisp button-down you wear to work,” says Tannen. “The same goes for sheets, with different materials and weaves offering their own unique experiences.” With cotton, a percale weave is ideal for hot sleepers because it’s breathable and moisture wicking. A sateen weave is great for cold sleepers because it’s more likely to retain heat. Sateen also has that silky feel as opposed to the crispness of percale. For colder climates, winter months, or those who are never warm enough, look for a cotton flannel. Linen is great for hot nights and warm sleepers. Some people use linen year-round and like the particular weight and drape of a linen sheet no matter the season. 

Care and Maintenance

Different materials require different things when it comes to care and maintenance. The best way to care for sheets is to establish the right routine from the get-go. Often retailers have a tab on the product page with care and washing instructions and/or send that info in the package. It’s a great thing to tape up inside the cabinet where you store detergent for easy reference. Sheets should be washed about once a week. In order to prevent pilling, Consumer Reports offers a key, often overlooked suggestion: “Wash them separately from your towels, because the short fibers in towels can attach to the smooth surface of the sheets.”

Longevity

Linen is one of the most lasting materials for bedding on the market. Sara Combs is an artist and designer who started the Joshua Tree House with her husband. They now have 16 beds between their properties. Bedding material of choice? Linen. “The most important thing is comfort—we want to make sure that our guests are able to get a restful night of sleep. It’s the most simple foundation for an enjoyable trip. Next up after that are durability and price. We’d rather get higher-quality linens that last us a while rather than constantly replace and waste material. Even if the set costs a little more to start, it saves us [money] and is much more environmentally friendly over time. We’ve found natural materials like linen to age beautifully, and we generally avoid anything synthetic.” Sheets made from high-quality, long-staple cotton will pill less and last longer than shorter-strand alternatives. If it doesn’t specifically say long strand, it’s probably short strand, but you can double-check with the brand. High-quality cotton is also an incredibly durable material. 

Ask Domino

Q: What is the main purpose of a fitted sheet?

A fitted sheet covers your mattress, protecting it from stains and facilitating a cleaner sleep environment. You can’t easily wash a mattress, after all. Unsurprisingly, it’s also more comfortable to sleep on a fitted sheet than on a mattress or a mattress cover.

Q: Why do people not use top sheets?

Top sheets are a surprisingly controversial subject, with rabid defenders and equally fervent opponents. If you wash your duvet cover frequently, you may find the top sheet unnecessary; if you’re a movement-heavy sleeper, it might always end up tangled at the foot of your bed. Not using a top sheet also makes it much easier to make the bed. Parents sometimes forgo them on kids’ beds so that their children will have an easier time making their beds in the morning. 

Q: What does thread count mean?

Thread count indicates how many threads (vertical and horizontal) are used in a square inch of fabric. Consumers often misunderstand thread count as the sole arbiter of quality, with the higher thread count indicating higher quality bedding. On one hand, that makes sense. A higher thread count would require finer thread, which in turn would result in a smoother fabric that is more tightly woven and thus stronger. Ariel Kaye, founder and CEO of Parachute, has shared with us previously that thread count isn’t the most accurate indicator of the best-quality sheets and actually more akin to a marketing gimmick. “Consumers love quick, easy ways of quantifying value, so summing up the quality of sheets with a handy metric is really satisfying,” she says. “The problem is, a high thread count doesn’t necessarily equal high quality,” adds Whitney Thornburg, design director at Coyuchi. Less-than-scrupulous retailers have been known to artificially inflate the count. Instead, try to avoid multi-ply sheets—it doubles its thread count number but can take away from overall durability and softness. 

“Your sheets should feel both soft and breathable, and the way to achieve that is to prioritize thread quality, not thread count,” says Tannen. A superhigh thread count with a shockingly low price should invite skepticism. If that’s the case, look for other indicators of quality, like sourcing details, certifications, and brand reputation. 

Q: How many sheet sets should I have?

Two is the absolute minimum, but three is ideal. That way, there’s one on the bed, one in the hamper, and a fresh set in the closet. Some people also like to switch in a flannel set for colder months and then use cotton when warm weather arrives, in which case you might want to have two sets for cold weather and two sets for warmer weather. 

The Last Word

Since they’re the bottom layer, fitted sheets get a lot more wear than top sheets, so it’s wise to invest in quality brands, find a fabric that aligns with your sleeping style, and snag a color that feels just right.