These Patterned Local Linens Make Organic Home Goods Fun
Plover sheet set (from $158)
Image: Courtesy AJ Meeker
As temperatures drop, daylight hours dwindle, and hibernation begins (even more in this year of stay-home directives), it’s nice to have a little color. Luckily, there’s Plover Organic.
Founded by sisters-in-law Marisa Kula Mercer and Sheila Mulvihill, the Pacific Northwest company (ploverorganic.com) has long aimed to be a colorful alternative to the world of austere organic home goods. These days, Plover Organic’s cloud-soft sheets, brightly patterned linens, and edible flower seed packets are effective antidotes to the doldrums of home confinement.
“We’re all stuck inside. We’re all doing homeschool,” Kula Mercer says. “But you lay out a beautiful tablecloth and some fresh flowers and suddenly [home] feels like a really special space.”
Handmade quilt ($325)
Image: Courtesy AJ Meeker
Formerly a New York–based journalist, she moved to Portland in 2007 after marrying Shins front man James Mercer. She and her new sister-in-law, Mulvihill, started Plover Organic two years later, after they both had babies and found it impossible to create
vibrant and toxin-free homes.
“All the organic bedding and home textiles were white and very plain. No print, no color,” Kula Mercer explains. “Those aren’t the kinds of homes that we have—we’re both married to artists, so there’s color everywhere. We decided we could make our own.”
Mulvihill’s experience in the clothing industry (she was a buyer for iconic ’90s brand dELiA*s) helped get the company off the ground. For their designs, she works from her Seattle home with Kula Mercer in Portland, pulling inspiration from vintage wallpaper and old textiles, updating the colors to make them more current.
The resulting charming patterns and vibrant hues make Plover Organic products—face masks, sheets, quilts, duvet covers, aprons, curtains, tablecloths—feel romantic, cheery, and extravagant all at once.
Foodie gift box ($99)
Image: Courtesy Leah Verwey
Most sheet sets are under $200, with curtains and table linens a fraction of that—all of it made from organic cotton, for its softness, breathability, durability, and machine washability.
“Everything we make is stuff where we found there was a hole in the market, whether it was price point or need,” says Kula Mercer. “We’re just trying to make life more beautiful—adding a little color and a little personality.”
