Linen records use honestly. It softens at the fold, remembers where the hand gathers it, and becomes less formal each time it is washed.
The wrinkles are not a defect to defeat before the table can be used. They are the surface showing that the room has a life beyond the photograph.
Choose the weight and texture you enjoy touching, then let the cloth become itself.
The most useful linen is rarely the one kept for guests. It is the napkin washed every week, the cloth pulled across the table without measuring, the cover softened by the same afternoon chair.
Care for it, but do not preserve it from living. A material becomes part of a home when it is allowed to record meals, weather, hands, and time.
