SAN DIEGO—Designed as a solution for couples battling different temperature preferences while sleeping, interior designer Renae Farley, asid, cid, has launched a product to help couples sleep better together.
Keep the Peace Bedding is a dual-sided, customizable comforter which uses a zipper concept to create split units that allow each individual to choose the desired warmth and material for his or her side of the bed, according to Farley, whose design practice is based here. The zipper makes it possible to fold back or completely remove one side of the comforter without consequence to the preferences of the person sleeping on the other side.
“The intended result is an end to bedroom disagreements about warmth and a better night’s sleep for both people, which, in turn, promotes increased health benefits,” said Farley.
Assembled in the U.S. and manufactured with minimizing environmental impact in mind, Keep the Peace comforters are made without dyes and are available in down, synthetic down, bamboo matelassé and cotton matelassé. “The product is made with high-quality, eco-minded practices and attention to detail,” said Farley. “[My husband and I] have used ours, which is down and cotton, for more than seven years and have washed it as many as 25 times. It still looks great.”
Farley created Keep the Peace Bedding seven years ago after discovering that she and her husband had extremely different sleep temperature preferences. She would sleep under a down comforter and he preferred a light blanket, resulting in many restless nights.
“When we got married, I put the down comforter on the bed, and he kept throwing it over on my side so I would roast,” she said. “Four months into our new marriage with poor sleep for both of us, my husband said, ‘Why don’t you just cut it in half?’ As an interior designer for the past 30 years, I have done a lot of custom bedding for my clients, so I decided to take on this challenge and cut our comforter in half.”
She added, “I kept my down that I liked to sleep under and bought a lightweight cotton blanket for my husband’s side. I attached them with a heavy-duty white plastic zipper and, sure enough, we were both?happy. We have used ours for seven years now, and we joke that it saved our marriage. I want to help other couples achieve that same level of harmony.”
Since creating Keep the Peace Bedding, Farley and her husband slept comfortably—until they traveled. “Then, the whole nightmare was re-lived when we would check into our hotel and find a big fluffy down comforter on the bed wrapped top and bottom in two sheets,” she said. “We always had to figure out how we could both sleep comfortably with what was offered to us. We travel quite a bit, so it became an issue to the point that I was tempted to carry my own bedding with us as some people do with their personal pillows.”
After interviewing a number of couples and conducting focus groups, Farley realized that many other couples have the same concerns while traveling. With more and more hotels offering custom luxury experiences, the lodging industry would benefit from having guests sleep in a customizable comforter, noted Farley.
“Some hotels are offering pillow menus for different firmness, shapes and various sleep habits, so I think my bedding product fits right in with that philosophy,” she added. “Keep the Peace is tailor-made for hotels looking to offer their guests bespoke, above-and-beyond options for getting a great night’s sleep. As an added bonus, Keep the Peace is sleek, simple and white, blending perfectly with hotel decor and easy to add to with decorative pillows, coverlets and more.”
In addition to helping couples coexist, the comforters are also suited for easing temperature-related sleep discomforts commonly associated with life-stage, aging and health issues such as allergies, pregnancy, menopause and cancer. Farley herself is a breast cancer survivor and wanted Keep the Peace to help men and women battling illnesses to get the restorative, health-boosting sleep they need to rest and heal.