The Right Towels and Sheets

• Buy white towels, sheets and pillowcases. Stains can be bleached out. You avoid having to sort bed linens.
• If you have different sized beds in the household, choose a different color or pattern for each sized bed, e.g. the King bed has white sheets, the double beds are cream colored.
• Avoid buying very large, thick, soft, plush bath towels. Disadvantages: they take up more storage space, use more water to launder and heat energy to dry, cost more.
• Choose thinner cotton towels with a slightly rougher pile. These will dry faster and dry you more efficiently, exfoliate your skin, cost less to purchase and to wash and dry. 
• Keep 2 sets of linens per bed, 1 set in the linen closet or a bedroom drawer, another on the bed.
• If winters are cold, you'll want a set of cotton flannel sheets.
• Do not buy "cotton-rich" or "percale" sheet sets. 100% cotton sheets don't pill, give the best night's sleep, and will last.  I still use one of my great-grandmother's white, cotton flat sheets. 
• Keep same-size duvet covers and sheet sets together--fold them inside a matching pillowcase.
• Keep a few stained or worn-out towels in a bin in the basement to sop up water or if you need a large rag.
• Keep a worn-out towel, to dry the dog, near the back door.
• Store beach towels in a bin during winter.
• Keep a "good" set of sheets & towels for guests hidden in a drawer--away from those in your family who might smear them with mascara or feed them to the dust bunnies under their beds.