Nearr Bedding

Joure · Netherlands

Shariff & Maureen

“We dreamed of connecting my Dutch and Egyptian roots—so we built an atelier in Egypt.”

Néarr comes from Shariff's own roots. Half Egyptian and half Dutch, he and his wife Maureen had wanted for years to build something together with Egypt, and out of a shared love of good textiles that became Néarr: bed linen in genuine 100 percent Egyptian cotton, cut and sewn by hand in a small atelier in Egypt that he and Maureen run themselves, with no wholesaler in between. Most of the people who make it are women, in a workshop the couple helped build up. Maureen mostly keeps the showroom, on the Midstraat in Joure where they live, though the two do everything together. Shariff's other life, and his real passion, is out on the land: he works as a shepherd in the Drents-Friese Wold.

I have three questions for you, and something in return.

Three questions.

Selected pieces

Néarr Duvet Cover Sahara

Nearr Bedding Interior · Joure, Netherlands

Their own atelier in Egypt

Néarr makes bed linen in genuine 100 percent Egyptian cotton, cut and sewn by hand in a small atelier in Egypt that Shariff and Maureen run themselves, staffed mostly by women. He is half Egyptian and a shepherd by trade; together they keep a showroom in Joure, where they live.

Néarr began with Shariff's own roots. Half Egyptian and half Dutch, he had wanted for years to build something together with Egypt, and out of a shared love of good textiles that became bed linen. It is easy to find sheets sold as Egyptian cotton. Néarr's are the real thing, one hundred percent, in a 400 thread count weave, and they are cut and sewn by hand in an atelier the couple run themselves, with no wholesaler in between.

The atelier, and who sews there

Most of the people who make the linen are women, in a workshop the couple helped build up. Shariff and Maureen are in Egypt often to see family, and they call in at the atelier every time they are there. Anyone unsure about the cloth can order a piece of it first, fifteen centimetres by ten, for €2.95.

A shepherd's other life

The label is not the whole of Shariff's days. His real passion is out on the land, where he works as a shepherd in the Drents-Friese Wold. Maureen mostly keeps the showroom, on the Midstraat in Joure that everyone here calls the Mid, though the two do everything together. Alongside the linen they also make oak beds to measure, shown in the same room.

Oak from a Frisian workshop

The beds come from R.T. Interieur, a workshop in the Frisian village of Oudehorne, and each one is built to the buyer's measurements. The finish is an oil that soaks into the grain instead of sitting on top of it.