apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This is going to sound a little nuts, but because one side of my bed is flanked by a big bookshelf/room divider, I make the bed while I'm still in it and slide out and straighten as necessary once I'm out.

How can you not make your bed in the morning??

Easy... toss the duvet, walk away. Badabing, badboom! ;)

Ohhh what a sore subject at my house BUT it is a thing of the past. I told both my husband and my 10 year old that if they didn't make the bed it would be BAD feng shui all day long! The kid bought it and the grown up admits that it is much better to deal with it before you leave the house.

badaboom... *sigh* my typing sucks :(

"even if you share a bed, make your side: we bet your S.O. will soon follow suit."

That's funny. Only make your half of the bed. LOL

Kathryn, as I trip over myself as I scramble out the door each morning, making the bed is among the last things I think about. No, getting up earlier is not an option.

I actually much prefer an unmade bed, and I've never liked the way hotel sheets feel.

For the sake of making the room look better I've tried to get myself into the habit of making the bed, but it'll get unmade by the time I go to sleep at night because I'm constantly pulling up the blanket to wrap around myself when I'm cold. Maybe I should invest in another blanket.

I used to never ever make my bed, unless I was cleaning the bedroom on a weekend or something. Ever since I got a duvet cover and started stacking my pillows, I make my bed EVERY morning. It's just kind of a habit now. When I wake up, I always stack the pillows (2 on one side, 2 on another, and 1 on top in the middle), get out of bed, and give the duvet a quick shake, tuck, and smooth. It makes the rest of the morning so easy!

ChiAdam, I do that, too - make the bed while I'm still in it!

I make my bed every day because, as much as I love my cat, I don't want her fur all over my sheets and pillows.

ChiAdam-I had a bed like that in college. It practically made itself while I was getting out.

I can't make my bed because, one day I got beautiful bedroom linens. Three fabrics, complete bed linens, draperies, pillows etc. On the first night, I piled the comforter and pillows onto a love seat. The kittens moved in, and never left. That was three years ago. It works for me.

About making only half the bed - my parents did this for quite some time before they separated. I thought it was hilarious. My dad would make his side and my mom wouldn't.

I make mine every day - mostly because I live in a studio and it really helps to make the space feel more open and clean.

This is Flylady's new habit for April.

I love the bed linens in that photograph! Anyone know what it is? AT?

I hope I am not the only AT-er who waxes poetic about lifestyle and decor while laying in an unmade bed with laundry strewn across my floor, a sink of unmade dishes, and typing with sticky-fingers after eating a mango.

unmade = unwashed. I really am a mess!

I feel like the place is diry if the bed is unmade...mine is like Christina Badina's though, just toss the duvet and straighten the pillows, no need to be fancy pants.

*dirTy

Nice to see another FlyLady lover out there Joan A.!

I like to air out my bed, so I always leave the duvet and sheets folded over halfway. You could call it a half-made bed.

marisajane - LOL, my escape is these blogs, looking at tidy, neat things! meanwhile, i have sticky (apple) fingers, dirty dishes, tracked kitty litter that needs to be swept and lots and lots of laundry to do! ha

I make the bed while I'm in it, it's really comforting to full the sheets up and fold them over, slide out and fluff the comforter and the pillows. Easy and quick, and you stay warm and cozy the whole time!

silly me. I thought the suggestion to make one's half of the bed assumed the sig other was still asleep on the other half --and when they got up they would make their half.

When the bed is just a matter of pulling up the sheet and duvet, I can't imagine it taking more than 60 seconds. Unless you have to add another 30 to remove the cat first. :-)

why is it so easy for everyone to make their bed? Is it just me, or does anyone else find making a bed very tricky. Tangled bed sheets and comforter, pillows tossed from one side of the room to another. Having to pick up the mattress to tuck the sheets under... What the hell am I doing wrong?

I have no choice, otherwise my cats will climb in while im at work and clean off the pine needles they've been rolling in that morning. Plus it takes only 60 sec

I also cant stand a bed without a top sheet!

"Even if you share a bed, make your side: we bet your S.O. will soon follow suit. "

Making 1/2 of the bed is just petty...
...that's like cleaning half of the bathroom, washing 1/2 of the towels or making dinner for yourself and leaving your SO to fend for himself.

Making the bed truly is a ritual for me. I always lake a last glance before leaving for the day. Makes me feel good. Plus it's the first thing I see when I turn on the bedroom light when returning home. I like to think the state of my house is a reflection of the state of my life, so an ordered bed helps me delude myself into thinking I have my sh*t together.

What's the average age of the AT readership? A site about design and decor and living well, and yet people need a road map to making the bed?

Wiping your own ass--10 steps to mastery.

i've been very good about this BECAUSE...well, i bought Calvin Klein sheets on a crazy sale (like, $50 for duvet cover, sheets, pillowcases...gotta love macy's!)

so, i want to SEE my pretty duvet. and it is lovely, thank you :)

however, i do find an unmade bed more inviting. heh.

People who don't make their bed are probably the ones that only change the sheets until there's a stain on them.

Ewww!

Grew up with a Navy man, so I can make a bed in 2 minutes flat! Martha Stewart also mentions that making the bed in the morning helps your bedroom from getting to dishelved and cluttered.

QUESTION: Here's a question for all of you king bed owners. I just upgraded to a king and I cannot find a duvet or duvet cover (or bedspread or coverlet) that actually covers the entire mattress including the sides. My mattress is 15" deep and this seems to be something linen companies are overlooking. Any tips?

So hard to make my bed in the AM during the week! I'm ALWAYS in a rush so I just leave it as is! On the weekends, though, I always make my bed and every now and then I press my duvet for a crisp look. Maybe these tips will help me get in the habit of making up my bed every day!

Gigi818, On the big bed with the big drop, try The Company Store--I think they have a super size duvet cover/comforter, etc.

"2. You don't need to air out your bed if you use a quick spritz of a nice linen spray"

Oh joy, let's push another product. Seriously, is "linen spray" something that anybody should ever be encouraged to purchase? Do I really need to clutter my living space with bottles of it? Do I really need to drive to the store (or have the store send gas-fueled package delivery service)?

Stop the madness! You don't need to buy a brand new category of product just to have a nice, fresh bed.

And spraying crap onto your bed to make it smell nice is like covering BO with perfume. Cheap college trick. Not at all in the category of good housekeeping.

Funny how the accompanying photo illustrates exactly the opposite of the actual tips (skip the extra pillows, use a duvet instead of sheets and blanket...).

I gave up fresh, neat looking beds the day I adopted a big german shepard dog. No matter how neat I make it, I come home to find the top throw blanket crumpled into a ball in the middle of the bed.

Love making my bed.
Makes the room nice to be in.

This might be TMI, but am I the only person who finds the smell of my bed comforting? I try to wash the sheets once a week (because a freshly made bed with clean sheets is unbelievable to get into)...but I don't mind the inbetween period because my bed starts to smell, well, like me. It's not stinky (like BO), but rather a small smell -- like clean skin.

Linen spray. Really. Kinda like fairy dust?

Making the bed first thing in the a.m. is like cramming your sweaty work-out clothes in the hamper, and then wearing them again the next day. And the next. And the next.

The average person gives off one pint of perspiration during the night. Two people sharing a bed leaves one quart on the bedding. And I'm not average, I'm menopausal. Night sweats, despite a cold room, fan, and 100% cotton percale. My BF sweats about a gallon, lol. We don't even sleep in the same bed most of the time.

I wash the sheets 2x per week. The pillowcases 4x. I wear a clean night shirt every night. I do not make my bed in the morning. I let it air out, and straighten it up in the evening.

I'm not a clean freak. Actually, I'm a total slob. TOTAL.

But I do not allow my sheets to ferment.

I too fold my duvet half way down the bed, I don't see how the matress and pillows would get a chance to air otherwise.

People sweat A LOT during the night, so it's not advisable to make the bed immediately. Go have coffee first and then make the bed. Dustmites love moisture...

I hate the things you put on your bed for daytime (in finnish that would be called a dayblanket, something horrid like this example http://www.ikea.com/fi/fi/catalog/products/30143677). They mostly have no point. I only use them when there's people coming over to my place or when I used to have a studio, where I used my bed as a couch...
(seems to me that those kind of things aren't popular, since I can't find the category on the US Ikea website... so this rambling was unnecessary I guess...)

I do try to even out the bedsheets/blankets so that the bed looks nice(r).

And since we are talking about beds and sheets and stuff:

At our furnished San Francisco place we have a quilt with a quilt cover, and beneath that is an extra sheet. I find that very strange!
Is that how people sleep in the US? With both a light sheet on top and then the quilt with a cover on top of the sheet? We have been using just the quilt, and removed the extra sheet, it get's all tangled up anyway, if you try to sleep with it :)

I don't make my bed until about noon- I like it to air out. But I feel like it must be made everyday or else the place looks messy and dirty. And linen spray? Please, just another cover up- if it's smelly WASH THE SHEETS!

I changed to a light linen sheet with a comforter in a cover when I married. My husband and I have different temp. needs, and I often (even in MI) don't really need the comforter, just the sheet in the middle of the night. But a lack of blankets, extra pillows etc has really simplified the bed making process so it only takes me about 2 minutes to throw everything back together.

When I lived alone, I made the bed every morning before leaving for work. It was easy - I had a twin bed that was easily accessible on all sides, and I don't move much in the night so there wasn't much to do. Also, the comforter hung way down the sides, so I didn't need to tuck the sheet in every morning.

Now that I'm married, it is much more difficult. My husband refuses to sleep with the sheet tucked in at the bottom, and would prefer there to be no sheet at all (he's 6'2" and claims that his feet stick out the bottom or something). He also moves around like crazy at night - sometimes I wake up and have no sheets or blanket at all, and he's entirely wrapped up in the king-sized comforter (in our queen-sized bed, as an attempt to fix this problem).

So making the bed in the morning is a lot more work now. Also, it is a low platform bed which makes it seem much more difficult (more bending over - I know I'm young, but it makes me feel old). He sees no value in making the bed, so this is going to be a me only thing. But we're looking to put the house on the market soon, and it seems like this would be a good habit to have. Also, we just bought a new mattress (being delivered today), and it seems good to start a new habit like this for a new mattress.

Any suggestions on getting an unwilling spouse/partner on board? We can't ditch the sheet because we don't have a duvet cover (and let's just consider it "not an option" to get one right now, because we're already spending way too much money getting our house ready). We have minimal pillows and other stuff, and I'll work on clearing the area around the bed this weekend so it can be walked around. But what to do about the other person who sleeps in the bed?

BTW, we've only been married for 6 months, and didn't live together beforehand, so I'm sure some people who have more experience with this will have some pearls of wisdom for me. Thanks!

Hey, kls987, my H is 6'5" and is fine with the sheet tucked in!

I don't make my bed in the morning, except on weekends, because H is usually still sleeping when I leave the house. But I often make it in the evening, before I get into it. It is much nicer to get into a made bed than into a mess of sheets and blankets!!

I used to make my bed every morning. But in my new place, there's just no room for a king bed except right up against the wall. Since my guy and I need our sleeping space, we are NOT giving up the king, but making the bed is really hard. I sort of pull up the covers in the morning, but it's not exactly made. The bedroom's still a wreck, though - maybe I'll be better when the surrounding space is completed.

I love the neatness and crispness of a made bed but I never make the bed, and here is why...

Making the bed locks in moisture from sweat, making a moist little haven for bed bugs and mites. Leaving your bed messy lets it dry out.

I love those linens! Different shades of white and cream... I've been looking for a new direction since I recycled my duvet cover into a new slipcover for the living room chair. (Go ahead and laugh, but it looks amazing!) I had paid someting like $150 for it in a moment of financial insanity, and I was just tired of looking at it 3 years later but couldn't throw it out in all conscience. Now I can buy new bed linens with a clear conscience... and thanks to this pic I now have a color scheme.

As to the survey, I make the bed almost every day because it's relatively quick and tips the balance of overall neatness in the apartment toward something I'm happy to come home to.

You need to have access to all sides of the bed. My son's bed is against the wall and I dread changing his sheets, it's such a pain. He keeps everything tucked in on the side and bottom so it is easy to make. (And don't ask me why, but he's been making his bed every morning since he was 5 years old. My daughter is another matter entirely!)

We live is a super dry climate--so "airing out" the bed really isn't necessary.

In winter, we have sheets and a duvet. In summer, sheets, a light blanket and a quilt.

I just pull it all up and then fold the sheet back off the pillows.

About sleeping with somone 6' (and up) who thrashes when they sleep: keep life simple and just flick the bedding flat on the bed--then put on the biggest quilt you can find. Good luck.

i love the way people on AT take a suggestion like Linen Spray as a slap in the face. As if ONE small bottle of spray will make your like 100 times more complicated than it already is. And then all the preaching bogging everyone down with new products and overloading the world with more consumables. At it's very core, the very concept of design is about consuming more. You BUY your mid century modern stuff, replace your furniture, soap, underwear when they become unfashionable. Even if you take steps in reusing or recycling, the fact is that that item is still taking space in the world... So I suggest people stop throwing fits about small suggestions like linen spray so gravely and seriously, SERIOUSLY find something else in the world to complain about.

RE: airing out your bed -- I read that it's a good idea to pull your bedding down immediately after waking up, go take your shower, have breakfast, etc., and then come back and make it before leaving the house. Allows everything to air out adequately.

Of course, for me it's just a theory. I only make my bed when I put clean sheets on it (weekly). Maybe someday...

"At it's very core, the very concept of design is about consuming more."

No, it's not. It's about changing the environment and our interactions with it so as to make life better (and more efficient). A shovel is good design, it made farming more efficient. The tractor makes it more efficient still. Design isn't about waste, it's about efficiency and elegance and beauty.

It's certainly not about stupid bottles of linen spray.

Thanks Palmetto,
That was exactly my point - sometime the hypocrasy of the AT readership blows my mind...

This does seem a bit JV, topic-wise, but I guess the basics have to be revisited?

I can't go to bed in a bed that was left unmade all day; I'm really really picky about wrinkled sheets and like everything smooth. Still, making the bed takes me *maybe* 45 seconds. We have a top sheet and coverlet and a duvet. Sleeping pillow and reading pillow on each side. I get up and shower and then while I'm waiting for the mirror to unfog (no bathroom fan) I go in, fold the duvet down, pull the sheet and coverlet up, toss the reading pillows on top of the sleeping ones, and it's done. Then I have a nice smooth bed where I can lay out my clothes, etc.

I NEVER made my bed while living at home. But ever since I've lived on my own, it's like an automatic ritual. I have no idea how I came to start, but it just seems natural to make your bed each morning. Yes... weekends too.

I, too, would love to know where the linens in the photo came from if anyone knows...

Marisajane said it first, but more poetically. I want to know about these super sweaty folks who wake up in a soggy bed.

My dad always said, "messy bed, messy head" and as silly as it sounds, I've found it to be true. The extra 30 seconds I spend making the bed in the morning makes all the difference.

I don't use linen spray -- I find a few drops of scented oil (I like wild orange) on a dryer sheet does the trick.

Making my bed is like brushing my teeth... it has to be done before I leave the house. Even when I stay in hotels and other people's homes, I make the bed. I can't stand getting into a chaotic, messy bed at the end of the day. I don't understand how people can do it.

I never used to make bed until I passed out of the college. But it gradually came to me and its now a routine to make bed.

Why do people have to hate something like linen spray so much? I got mine at Marshalls and it does not take up any room. I keep it with all my cleaning supplies. It's a very subtle vanilla smell and i spray it on everything. All my friends ask how my place smells so good. Its way better than Febreeze, geez!

My husband gets up before I do and makes his side with me still asleep. He even puts the decorative pillow on his side!