You wouldn’t be blamed if you visited the 2,400-square-foot Hästens store at 82nd Street and Madison Avenue and felt compelled to sleep around inside. There are just so many fabulous sleep sets to try! With over 200 stores and shops-within-a-shop  in 34 countries, Hästens has been helping people sleep for years. “Good sleep,” you might say, is the company’s mantra, and every Hästens bed is handcrafted, meticulously assembled using all-natural materials including horsehair, cotton, flax, and Swedish pine. It is Sweden’s oldest, most revered manufacturer of beds and mattresses, and is currently celebrating 160 years of fine craftsmanship and superior design. (Hästens has been the exclusive supplier of beds and mattresses to His Majesty, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden since 1952.) 

Entering a Hästens store is not like entering any other sleep salon. The shop is divided into four main sections: In the first, you are introduced to the product; in the second, you learn about Hästens and why it is the sovereign of sleep; in zone three, you are actually invited to take a snoozy nap with your personal pillow...in dim light with soothing music; and in zone four you can actually customize your personal bedding. (Although the Hästens blue-and-white oversize gingham is the company’s signature mattress covering, you can change that, as well.) Hästens beds do not come cheap, as the saying goes; the entry price point is about $6,000, and the most dear, the top-of-the-line Vividus model, is just under $100,000. Sweet dreams. -- Ruth J. Katz