A bedroom renovation can involve a lot of visible decisions. Paint colour. Flooring. Lighting. Furniture. Trim. Fixtures. Maybe even a new layout. But one of the most important parts of the finished room is often left until the end: the bed itself.
That does not just mean the mattress or the frame. It means the sheets, pillows, blankets, towels, and soft products that homeowners actually touch every day.
In this episode of Hire It Done, Adam Helfman spoke with Scott Tannen, Founder & CEO of Boll & Branch, about why homeowners should think differently about bedding. The conversation covered thread count myths, organic cotton, healthier materials, retail experience, and the final steps that make a bedroom feel finished.
One of the biggest takeaways was simple: thread count is not the magic number many people think it is.
Why Thread Count Can Be Misleading
For years, shoppers have been trained to believe that a higher thread count means better sheets. A 600 thread count sounds good. A 1,000 thread count sounds even better. The number feels simple, clear, and easy to compare.
But Scott explained that thread count is really just a measure of fabric density. It tells you how many threads are packed into a square inch. That can be useful information, but it does not tell the whole story.
If the threads themselves are low quality, a higher count does not fix the feel. It can still be rough, heavy, or uncomfortable. It may not improve with use. It may not last the way a homeowner expects.
That is why homeowners should be careful about buying sheets based only on the largest number on the package.
Start With How You Want The Bed To Feel
Scott said the better first question is not, “What is the thread count?” It is, “How do you want the bed to feel?”
Some people want a cool, crisp feel. Others want something soft, smooth, and almost silky. Those are different experiences, and they can point homeowners toward different weaves and materials.
For example, a percale weave can give that cooler, crisper feel. A sateen weave can feel softer and smoother. Neither one is automatically right or wrong. The better choice depends on how the homeowner actually wants to sleep.
That is a much more useful starting point than chasing a number.
Bedding Is Part Of Home Improvement
Adam made an important point during the conversation. A bedroom is a home improvement project.
Homeowners spend time, money, and energy improving the space. They may remodel the bathroom attached to it, repaint the walls, update the lighting, add new furniture, or redo the flooring. But many people stop thinking about the project once construction is done.
That is a mistake.
The room may look finished, but the way it feels still matters. Bedding is part of that final experience. It affects comfort, sleep, temperature, style, and the way a homeowner feels when they walk into the room.
A bedroom remodel should not stop at paint. It should finish with the same attention to comfort that went into the construction.
Decision Fatigue Can Hurt The Final Result
Renovation decisions add up quickly. By the time the major work is finished, many homeowners are tired of choosing. They have already made decisions about colours, materials, layouts, fixtures, hardware, and budget.
Scott called out something that happens often: decision fatigue.
When homeowners are exhausted by the process, they may rush the final details. They pick whatever is convenient. They grab bedding from a big box store. They choose based on a number or a colour. They treat the soft pieces as an afterthought.
But those final choices affect daily life. You do not touch the paint all night. You do touch the sheets.
Healthier Home Choices Include What You Sleep On
The episode also touched on the health side of bedding. Homeowners are paying more attention to indoor air quality, VOCs, off-gassing, and the materials inside their homes.
That conversation usually focuses on paint, flooring, insulation, furniture, and cleaning products. But Scott explained that bedding can belong in the same discussion.
Synthetic fibers, chemical finishes, and wrinkle-resistant treatments can matter. Scott specifically pointed out that wrinkle-resistant finishes can involve formaldehyde.
That does not mean every homeowner needs to panic about every product in the linen closet. It does mean shoppers should ask better questions. What is it made from? How is it finished? What materials are touching your skin every night?
Why Touch And Feel Still Matter
Boll & Branch started as an online company, but Scott explained that opening retail stores changed the business. Many people had heard about the brand, but they wanted to feel the product before buying.
That makes sense. Bedding is a physical product. A photo cannot tell you how a sheet feels after it has been washed. A package cannot show whether a towel will stay soft or get crunchy. A number on a label cannot replace real touch.
Scott said Boll & Branch stores take products out of the package, wash them repeatedly, and let customers understand what the bedding will actually feel like over time.
For homeowners, that is the lesson: do not buy blind when the feel of the product is the whole point.
The Store Experience Goes Beyond Shopping
One surprising part of the conversation was the level of service Boll & Branch offers through its stores.
Scott described a “room service” style experience where the team can bring products to a customer’s home, help set up the bed, steam or iron the sheets, and show the homeowner how to make the room look finished.
That may sound unusual, but it speaks to a larger point. Many homeowners know what they like when they see it, but they do not always know how to put the pieces together.
A good home product experience should help people make confident decisions, not just push them toward a sale.
What Homeowners Should Do Before Buying Bedding
Before buying sheets, towels, or bedding for a renovated bedroom, homeowners should slow down and ask a few practical questions.
How do I want the bed to feel? Do I prefer cool and crisp or soft and smooth? What materials are being used? Can I touch and feel the product before buying? Will this hold up after washing? Does this fit the way I actually live in the room?
Those questions are more helpful than simply choosing the highest thread count.
The final layer of a bedroom should support the way the room is used every day.
Final Takeaway
Thread count is not useless, but it is not enough.
The better approach is to think about quality, material, weave, feel, and how the bedding fits into the home as a whole. For homeowners who are renovating, refreshing, or simply upgrading a bedroom, that mindset can make the finished space more comfortable and more complete.
As Scott put it in the episode, homeowners should finish strong.
That means treating the final layer of the room with the same care as the renovation itself.