Stop Fighting for Blankets at Night. Try This Customizable Comforter

Create Your Perfect Comforter

Like

• You can customize each side by fill and warmth
• 100% cotton cover that's extremely comfortable
• Box stitching keeps the fill from clumping
• You can't feel the zipper in the middle

Don't like

• More expensive than the average comforter
• You have to buy each side separately
• Zipper to join sides can be stiff at the start
• It's white, so you likely need a duvet

One of the most common pain points that couples face is sleep temperature. If you share a bed and blanket with a partner, you probably understand this issue better than most. The truth is: Sometimes, the person you love most can be the thing standing in the way of good sleep. Whether they're rolling around or tugging blankets back and forth, there are times when getting quality sleep is a battle.

I experience this myself. My partner sleeps much hotter than I do. To cool down at night, he kicks the blanket off, which means I sleep like an ice cube, clutching the top sheet to get some warmth back. 

Enter the Create Your Perfect Comforter from Sleep Number -- the proposed answer to the long-fought temperature war. I'm no stranger to testing sleep products, spending the past few years devoting my time to learning everything about sleep. This comforter impressed me enough to be included in CNET's 2024 Editors' Choice list. 

Here's my experience using and testing the Create Your Perfect Comforter from Sleep Number.

What is the Create Your Perfect Comforter? 

I've written plenty of stories about how temperature can wreck your sleep at night. Unfortunately, it's often not the temperature on the thermostat that's messing with you; it's your partner. One answer to this can be entirely different blankets. Many people find that the blankets slip off the bed during the night. 

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Sleep Number has made a comforter designed to solve this specific problem. 

The concept of this product is simple: it's a comforter with two independent sides. Each person gets to choose their own weight and fill. The sides are joined in the middle by a zipper. This allows you to build a blanket that suits your temperature needs, which may differ from your partners. 

The blanket features a box-sewn construction. You have the choice between a down alternative or 700-fill-power down. I have allergies, so I chose the down alternative option. 

Create Your Perfect Comforter specifications:

• Available in half-queen and half-king sizes
• Three warmth options: Light, medium or extra
• Two fill options: Down or down alternative
• Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX® certification
• 1-year limited warranty 
• 100-night trial
• Free shipping

What is it like sleeping with the Sleep Number comforter?

I've tested plenty of sleep products during my career, all with pros and cons. No product is perfect, but I have to say the Sleep Number Create Your Perfect Comforter comes pretty close. 

Before we get into the meat of this Sleep Number review, I want to touch on the general sleeping experience of this product. I built a blanket that had one side of extra warmth and one side of light warmth. I favored the extra warmth side because I generally sleep cold. 

I've had an easier time falling asleep over the month of sleeping with this Sleep Number comforter, and my overall sleep quality has improved. I attribute this to the almost weighted blanket sensation that the extra-warmth side provides. It is not a weighted blanket. It has some weight, which helped me relax almost immediately when I got into bed. The Sleep Number customizable comforter is still really breathable. 

Create Your Perfect Comforter performance 

As with any product, good and bad parts must be evaluated. Let's get into how the Sleep Number Customizable comforter performed in the critical categories of comfort, temperature and setup. While you're reading, remember that I tested the down alternative version of this comforter. 

Comfort

The Create Your Perfect Comforter from Sleep Number is extremely comfortable thanks to its 100% cotton cover. The best way I can describe the feeling of it on the skin is neutral. It's not scratchy or textured in any way; it's smooth and widely appealing. 

The zipper is a little stiff, but it's not a bother while sleeping. 

Taylor Leamey/CNET

The comforter has classic box stitching that allows the fill to shift and move with you through the night. I didn't expect it to be as breathable as it is, mainly since I primarily used the extra weight side. While testing, I found myself folding some of the blanket and putting it under my head, bypassing my pillow entirely; it was that comfortable.

A top concern I had with this comforter's design was that there's a zipper right down the middle. That had the potential to be a huge problem. This concern didn't disappear while testing, but I will say having it there doesn't compromise the comfort of the blanket. When you roll over on the zipper, you can feel it's there, but the two flaps that cover the zipper disguise it well. Instead of feeling the hard line of the zipper, the flaps make it feel like a thicker strip of blanket. It's not nearly as disruptive to the sleeping experience as I anticipated, but it's worth considering as you can still tell it's there. 

Temperature

Each side of the comforter comes in its own packaging. While opening each side, I didn't see much difference in the two weights, which left me skeptical that this product would work. It wasn't until I zipped them together and got into bed that I saw how different they were. 

The extra weight side manages to provide warmth without smothering you. The down alternative fill makes it extremely breathable, so you don't get too hot at night. There is a clear difference between the two sides. The lightweight side is thinner and with less fill than the extra warmth side. The difference was apparent between the two when they were beside each other. 

Read more: No AC, No Worries. 10 Ways to Sleep Cool (Without an Air Conditioner)

I sleep cold, so the light warmth wasn't enough, but it was perfect for my partner who tends to overheat at night, kick the blankets off and pin them under his legs. It has been an everyday occurrence for years. Over the month of testing the Sleep Number customizable comforter, he hasn't kicked it off once.

Set up

In most cases, there isn't much setup with comforters. That's not true with the Sleep Number Create Your Perfect Comforter. The customization you get comes with a bit of legwork before you can sleep. 

The matching duvet has a pleasant wavy texture.

Taylor Leamey/CNET

There's a zipper in the middle that connects the two. Laying the blankets out and lining up the zipper was easy enough, but the issue came when I needed to zip it. The zipper was extremely stiff. It took multiple attempts to get the zipper to move at all. I had to summon all of my strength to connect them. It was frustrating. 

Each side of the comforter has flaps that fold over the zipper so you can't feel it while sleeping. Those got in the way while I was connecting them, which was frustrating because I had to backtrack to free the flaps from already difficult zippers. I imagine this could be a pain point when unzipping them to wash them unless the zippers loosen up over time. 

I paired the Create Your Perfect Comforter with a Sleep Number duvet set ($130), which included one rippled duvet and two matching shams. As with any duvet cover, it was a process to get the comforter inside. The uneven weight did make it a little awkward to move it around. That noted, the comforter has loops that connect easily to the duvet cover ties. 

Even with the ties, the comforter moves around a bit. I noticed that the comforter was often sagging at the top of the blanket, so you get a lot of duvet fabric that doesn't have any comforter. The ties keep the blanket in place, although the duvet could have used another one at the top and bottom to keep the blanket from sagging. 

Create Your Perfect Comforter cost

With customization comes price variation. The Create Your Perfect Comforter from Sleep Number is available in half-queen and half-king sizes with a down or down-alternative fill. It's available in three different warmth options -- light, medium and extra. Here's how the pricing breaks down.

Remember that when ordering, you have to buy each side individually. So if you want a queen comforter with one side that's light warmth and one side that's extra warmth, then you would end up with two half-queen comforters in your cart. One will not cover your bed. 

Right now, Sleep Number is running a Labor Day sale that will save you some money. 

Final verdict: Is Create Your Perfect Comforter worth it?

Taylor Leamey/CNET

This Sleep Number comforter is a game-changer for people who need personalized comfort at night. I mean it when I say the Sleep Number Customizable comforter changed how I sleep. 

I do think it's worth it if you're ready to spend the money. It isn't the most budget-friendly comforter, especially since you have to buy each side individually. Not to mention that the customizable comforter is white, which means that most people would opt to add a duvet to protect the product's longevity. That's just another thing to buy, although Sleep Number often runs sales that can help you save some money. 

Who should buy the Create Your Perfect Comforter from Sleep Number:

• Folks who struggle with the classic blanket struggle or wake up because their partner is giving off too much heat at night
• Sleepers looking for a lightweight comforter that's comfortable without being too heavy
• Someone ready to pay for the cost of customization

Who shouldn't buy it:

• Sleepers who don't have a different temperature than your partner. Sleep Number has other comforters that are far more affordable
• Someone who doesn't want to have to buy a duvet
• People who are sensitive to different textures on a blanket. There is a zipper in the middle
• Folks who have a full-size mattress