Here’s How to Make the Scandinavian Sleep Comforter Hack Actually Look Good

I knew the first night we spent together that we were going to have problems. It was February in Boston, freezing cold in his apartment, and he was hogging the only queen-sized, thin blue blanket on his bed. Neither of us slept a wink — me, because I was shivering (and he would not stop tossing and turning), and him, because he just never sleeps.

Fast forward four years later, and we’re still having problems in the bedroom — sleep problems. Not only does my boyfriend, Curtis, slip into bed a few hours after I do, but he is a notoriously terrible sleeper. His parents love to joke with me that they would flip a coin with each other to see who would have to sleep with Curtis in their hotel room on vacation when he was little. He moves around in bed all night, and there have been a handful of times when he accidentally hit my face with a flailing hand in the middle of the night.

With Curtis moving around throughout the night — and him getting into bed later than me — it was all too easy for me to wake up when I felt a tug at our shared flat sheet or the chill caused by a blanket being hogged. For Curtis, sleep came better when he was cocooned in bed under a tight, tucked-in sheet and a mountain of blankets, and all I really needed, honestly, was a blanket to myself. Six months ago, we discovered the Scandinavian sleep method, and our lives (and sleep goals) changed forever.

If you aren’t already familiar, the Scandinavian sleep method is a genius hack where a couple sleeps with two comforters on one bed rather than one. Each person has their own blanket and can hog their own comforter as much as they please. While the traditional way to do this is to only use a fitted sheet and then two comforters, my partner and I actually have a fitted sheet, two flat twin sheets (I like cool cotton, and he likes his jersey cotton), and then our own comforters. 

The best part about having our own comforters is that we get to choose which we prefer. Because I have allergies, I decided to go with Brooklinen’s Twin Down Alternative All-Season Comforter, while Curtis opted for the Natural Down Twin All-Season Comforter. Switching out our thin queen blanket for two fluffy, twin comforters has saved our sleep relationship, but unfortunately, it isn’t always aesthetically pleasing to have two blankets on a bed.  

According to Geneviève Rosen-Biller, a decor expert and founder of Bed Threads in Sydney, Australia, there are multiple ways that you can make the Scandinavian sleep method look more presentable in your bedroom. “Matching duvet covers are essential to styling a bed with two duvets, and choosing a solid color will ensure they blend together more easily than a pattern,” explains Rosen-Biller. “You can either fold them in half or thirds lengthways and lay them side by side on the bed, or another option is to spread them out next to each other on the bed, slightly overlapping down the center. A throw layered across the bottom of the bed and some extra pillows will help to streamline the look.”

On the other hand, Courtney Sempliner, an interior designer based in Port Washington, New York, says you can easily go with a solid or a patterned duvet — just make sure you “marry the two sides of the bed with a coordinated look of decorative pillows, a long bolster pillow, and an end-of-the-bed throw.” She also suggests using two duvets (you want to have two twin or full-size comforters, as anything bigger might get tangled or bunched up) and then covering them with a single coverlet at the foot of the bed for a more uniformed look. 

Although my partner and I sleep with two twin flat sheets underneath our twin comforters, the true Scandinavian sleep method advises you to forego the flat sheets and just stick with a fitted sheet and comforters. “You would just wash the duvet cover as frequently as you do the fitted sheet and pillowcases,” explains Sempliner. “All over Europe, the top flat sheet is obsolete, leaving a pared-back and functional sleep space.”  

There are many ways you can marry two duvets together to create a cozy, streamlined look. Because we love the feel of our Brooklinen comforters, we’ve foregone any duvet covers and instead sleep with them bare. I’ve definitely taken the coverlet tip to heart though, adding a colorful floral quilt to distract from that seam that runs up the middle of our bed due to having separate comforters. Certainly, the matching pillows help distract a bit there, too. Perhaps we could add beautifully patterned duvet covers to the two comforters, but considering I’ve been getting eight-plus hours of sleep the last six months, I’m hesitant to change anything up. Truth be told, I’d opt for a full night’s sleep over a pretty-looking bed any day, but now I can have both.