Vintage Linens

Recently I scored some vintage linens at very reasonable prices--some of them just $1 each! They need to be washed and bleached, but that's no big deal.

I love using vintage linens in my powder room. They look great if they're ironed all crispy-flat, and they look great if they're air-dried all wrinkly and shabby-chic-y.

I think they're easier on the environment than the one-use paper ones. (Honestly? I'm not 100 percent sure.)

But I'm sticking with them, regardless. I prefer all-white linens over colored ones or those with colored threads, because I can bleach the dickens out of the all-white ones. They come out clean and glowing. And because they're made with linen--or a cotton/linen blend--they last like crazy. I have linens that date from the 1950s, and they still look terrific.

These linens are in their pre-washed, pre-bleached phase, just the way I bought them.

Junk shops, resale shops, and yard sales are good places to scout for vintage linens. Sometimes, like these, they need some TLC to bring them bleach away the years and bring them back to their beauty.

But they're worth it. I just adore the way old linens look and feel when they're brought back to life.

Apparently, so does Mu Shu.