1. Cool the bed down by splurging on Italian-made Camelot 100 percent–linen sheets from Schweitzer Linen ($250). They’re more absorbent and conduct heat better than cotton, so moisture is carried away faster, leaving you cooler. Don’t iron, for that rumpled, just-slept-in, vacation look.

2. Replace the blanket with a vibrant Lisa Corti block-print cotton bedcover from John Derian (from $235), and pile on lots of pillows in tropical hues from Pier 1 Imports (from $10). Spritz it all with gardenia linen spray from E. Harcourts ($10.75).

3. Hang sheer cotton curtains (Anthropologie; $48 to $78) over your blinds; they’ll waft romantically in the breeze from your 10,000-BTU Kenmore.

4. Put a kilim next to the bed (ABC Carpet & Home; about $100 for a three-by-five); its bright colors and exotic patterns will make the room feel exotically desert-chic.

5. Fill the room with flowers. Buy in bulk from Chelsea Wholesale Flower Market (75 Ninth Ave., at 15th St.; 212-620-7500). With gardenias giving off a heady scent, and a few handfuls of white-rose and jasmine petals strewn across those linen sheets, you might create an atmosphere that’s more hot than cold.

Related:

• Archive: “Features”
• Table of Contents: Jul 4, 2005 issue of New York | Subscribe!