Bed Making-The Ultimate Guide You Will Love!

June 11, 2023
32 Comments
Posted in: bedrooms, interior design

Dear Laurel,

Please, oh please, do a blog post about bed making. What’s the best way? What linens and bedclothes do I really need? How do I get a duvet cover on and stay in one place? Do I need a duvet? What about bedspreads and bed skirts?

Thank you so much,

Maka Yurbed

***

Dear Maka,

Forgive me, but I think you might have me confused with someone else. For me, bed making is like taking medicine. It isn’t very pleasant while doing it, but it makes one feel better afterward. It’s not really my thing. Although, I do love a beautifully appointed bed.

Now, I’ve written about this before. One is a very old and brief post from 2014 with one self-explanatory shot of my version of bed making.

A much better post is still pretty old and goes into greater depth about bedrooms and how to make a bed. As I recall, many of you understood my difficulty making my bed. However, a few of you seemed perplexed, bordering on indignant.

I imagine that’s because, for you, making your bed resembles how I feel about wearing lipstick.

Lipstick, for me, is a given, not an option. Bed making? Well, let’s just say it’s been a lifelong struggle unless someone’s watching. haha

However, I know others also struggle.

So how do I make my bed?

I’ve created the easiest system possible. (short of having a full-time housekeeper) :]

But, for many years, when Peaches, my darling paper-eating kitty was alive, I had a duvet cover, but after he passed near the end of 2014, I took the cover off and, from then on, I sleep with the sheet between me and the duvet and folded over it so the duvet stays relatively clean. Then, when I wake up, I fold the duvet with the sheet completely over it.

That is how I make my bed.

I like the lightness of the duvet without the cover. I wash it two or three times a year.

Of course, there are far more elaborate ways to make a bed. However, for me, the minimalist approach works best.

Don’t you like extra pillows, Laurel?

Yes, I do, but I can’t do it all.

It’s as simple as that. However, I enjoy other people’s pillows and pillows I see in beautiful photos.

Still, it occurred to me a few weeks ago that I was about to move into a studio apartment that, according to the owner, “lives larger than it is.” He’s right about that. One reason, I believe, is because of the Murphy bed. A month before I moved in, I was given instructions on how to work it.

In the meantime, I figured I better get used to making my bed daily.

The Murphy bed unmade is like me going out without lipstick. It never happens.

Still, there is a bit of a learning curve, as I am about to explain.

Every day I get up, use the bathroom and have a drink. But, before I’m allowed to eat anything, I must make the bloody bed.

And, not to complain, but morning for me usually feels like someone bonked me over the head.

So, this is what my unmade bed looked like this morning.

Because of the Murphy bed sitch, bed making in the morning means unmaking it. Well, unmaking it even more than it already is after a night of duking it out with my sheets.

I tried putting the bed away with the sheets, duvet, and pillows, but it didn’t close all the way. So, I realized I could keep the sheets on, but everything else has to go, elsewhere.

The first couple of days, I put everything in one of the storage compartments underneath the sofa cushions.

That’s brilliant; storage under the cushions. However, not-so-great for putting my duvet and pillows in there, removing cushions, putting them back… Then, I realized I could just stuff everything into the smaller of the two closets.

Pretty clever, huh?

Yes, I also brought my own sheets and towels, too.

However,

Before putting the duvet/pillows away, I must maneuver past the unyielding, ridiculously-sharp bed corner and then slither along, like a duvet-carrying snake, along the teensy pathway between the bed and sofa.

The realization is clear; maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but one day before my six months are up, I will bang the hell out of my shin(s) or crush a toe. I’ve already had one or two close calls.

Can’t you move the sofa closer to the door?

Yes, a few inches, but then it’s the opposite problem. Besides, I’m sure that’s bad Feng Shui, and I have enough problems as it is.

Once everything is secure in the closet, I have to make my way back to the bed to finish my bed making.

After smoothing out the sheets, the fun part is next.

Yes, I have to lift the Murphy bed and, while doing so, push the legs back into their tucked-in position. While many Murphys come with remote controls and an electronic mechanism, this one is fully womanual.

First, I get into my best bent knee clean and jerk position, and carefully begin lifting the bed. When the bed is up to my shoulders, I reach around to the right side and fold the leg in. And then, I have to hold the bed and make my way to the left side to fold that leg in. And yes, I held the 20 lb bed with one hand while taking the photo.

This is bed making on steroids!

No, silly, I’m not juicing unless cherry juice counts. ;]

However, I’ve been doing bed pushups nearly every night before I go to sleep. This is necessary to fend off the sheets attacking me in my sleep. With glee, I have to shove those bad boys into a wooden box every morning. Little did I know my nightly habit was training for the twice-daily bed-making ritual.

But, I’m not quite finished making this beast.

The next stop is taking the Melchior D’hondecoeter Chinese repro away from its nighttime perch in front of the TV and hanging it carefully on the two bed handles.

From last summer when I shared my coffee table styling “talents.” haha
(It’s a fun post if you missed it.)

Above is from my Bronxville, NY apartment, taken ten years ago!

I’m getting faster hanging the art. It’s a little tricky because the wire in the back is too tight, and there’s a vertical center support in the back. The painting is large but weighs nothing.

Gosh, I’m still not quite finished with the bed making.

The Chinese Chippendale stools I got last December are in their sleeping position.

There, my bed is beautifully made and I can go make breakfast.

And, above, is my little home away from home. Sorry, I didn’t style it because morning is not my best time.

How long does all of that bed making take, Laurel?

I haven’t timed it, but I would say about three minutes from start to finish (when I’m not also taking pics.)

Of course, I have to do everything in reverse before bed.

I reckon after 180 days of this, the bed making habit will be well ingrained, and my old routine that takes maybe 30 seconds will be automatic. Or, maybe I’ll take everything to the closet and dump it there during the day. lol

So, aside from Matouk’s tutorial (in this post),

Martha Stewart always has great ideas about bed making.

As for the best places to buy bed linens?

I’m assuming you don’t have a Frette budget. (Gorgeous, please check it out)

I don’t have the budget for that either, but many of them are on sale here.

My sheets are from Bed Bath & Beyond. I got them in the summer of July 2020. They’re very comfy, but they do wrinkle easily.

However, I have other sheets I got from Target in 2012 that are still going strong.

They were by Isaac Mizrahi.

Please don’t ask me about thread counts and all of that crapola. I haven’t the foggiest.

As you can see from the earlier photo, sheets almost always give me a hard time. Okay, fine. It is me giving my sheets a hard time, but I assure you, it’s not my intention.

After all, the messier they are, the more work it is to make the bed. And, as I’ve made it abundantly clear, bed making ain’t my thing.

I hope you enjoyed my light-hearted bed making blog post.

To finish off, I’ve created a big widget full of some of my favorite linens at various sources. Many of them are currently on sale. And, all the bed linens from Serena & Lily are on sale, but only through June 13th.

There’s no code this time, and they aren’t advertising the discount, but I checked out a few things, and they were off by 25%. So, now is a great time to get some of their beautiful linens if that’s in your budget.

Please enjoy the widget from a number of my favorite brands.