How To Make A Bed in Two Minutes!

In the military, a neatly-made bed is a reflection of a soldier’s discipline and attention to even the smallest details – they have beds which are made so crisply, one can bounce a quarter on them. Now I’ve never been in the military, but I do understand the value of a well made bed….a well made bed can make or break the cleanliness of an entire bedroom.

It’s true, a messy bed makes a room look messy and even if you have spent an hour power-cleaning everything else in your bedroom – an unkempt bed makes it all moot.

But making a bed is a hassle, right? and who really cares if my bed is made or not?

Well, consider this, a recent study found that a neatly made bed – can actually make you happier – you can lead a happier life if you make your bed….soooooo, how about dem apples? Don’t believe me?  Check these links out:

Psychology Today Article

The Happiness Project 

So if I can teach you how to quickly (read: not 5 star hotel perfection) make your bed, you’ll actually lead a happier life.

Now, I’ve found a million videos on how to make a bed and while some are correct, they’re all pretty technical and time-consuming. Your bed doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to look good.  What I wanted to show you is how to make your bed look delightful in two minutes, or 120 seconds, so that you can actually stick to your commitment each day.

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Let’s get started!

Step 1

Your first job is to clear everything off your bed – strip it down to just to the fitted sheet – this is a good opportunity to claim those stray socks which seem to pop up from time to time.  Place your pillows on a chair or tabletop surface.

Step 2

Next, make your way around your mattress and ensure the fitted sheet is nicely tucked in, pulling the sheet taught as you go. You can also even out your bedskirt at this point.

Step 3

Following this, take your flat sheet (aka – the top sheet) and evenly spread it, on top of your bed – be sure you cover the entire mattress and that all four corners are evenly hanging over the bed.  Now, if you have a pattern on your flat sheet,  be sure to place it pattern side down (so it will look ‘inside-out’).  That way,when you fold it over – the pattern will be there for everyone to see.  This kind of blew my mind when I first learned about it.

Step 4

This next part comes down to personal preference – to tuck, or not to tuck.  Personally, I love a nice, crisp hospital corner on my side – it’s like sleeping in a burrito. But Chad – Chad hates tucked in sheets with a passion – when we’re at hotels, he has a 5 minute kick fit to untuck the sheets – so, to be safe, let me explain how to do both ways.

• Hospital corners: Your end mattress corners are a perfect 90 degree angle.  So, head over to one edge of the corner and take the overhang from the fitted sheet one hand and lift your mattress slightly with the other.  Neatly tuck the overhang under the mattress.  Now, move to the perpendicular edge and repeat, neatly tucking the overhang under the first section of overhang.  Make the corner neat, like wrapping a present.  For a visual, just watch the video to see how it’s done.  There are more formal ways to do it, but this is a quick and easy ‘every day’ routine and I am not overly concerned about perfection here.
• Untucked corners: Just leave it the flat sheet hanging out, and ensure it’s not hanging too far over the edge of the mattress or else it’ll look sloppy.  Ideally your comforter should cover it.

Step 5

The next step is the same whether you use a duvet, like I am – or a blanket, a comforter or bed spread – just take your top cover and again, evenly cover your       entire mattress. Then, take your flat sheet and top cover, together, and fold them back as far as makes you happy – I usually make my folds about a foot and a half wide – but you do your own thang…Take a moment to wipe away as many wrinkles as possible – you can also give a few tugs on the side to really make a nice smooth surface..This is the most important part, optically, of a well-made bed.

Step 6

Finally, your pillows – which you pretty much just fluff up and place nicely at the top of your bed – we use 4 pillows on our bed so we just stack’em up just like this – if you use decorative pillows you can fancy-up your bed with those –

That’s pretty much it as far as a quick morning bed making routine is concerned, but we do get other bedding related questions from you guys, so, let me address some of those.

How often should I wash my bedding?

Flat sheets, top sheets and pillowcases should be washed every 1-2 weeks – I know that sometimes life gets in the way, so if you need to push it I guess you could do a month at the absolute bare minimum. But if you’ve ever noticed a smell in your room, it’s because your sheets need a wash.

Comforters, duvets, bed spreads and other blankets should be washed every 3 months or so;  however, if you don’t, for whatever reason use a top sheet – or anythinng else between you and say, your duvet – then you will have to wash it more often.

Should I use a mattress protector?

Ideally yes – you should – seeing as how mattresses cost a small fortune, it’s a good idea to protect with something more than a simple fitted sheet – and considering we’re oily, sweaty messes when we sleep, I’ve always opted for a mattress protector..see previous point.

For more tips on how to take care of your mattress and bed check out our article The Do’s and Don’ts of Mattress Care!

Why is putting a duvet cover on so darn frustrating?

I totally hear you on this one – the only advice outside of ‘have patience’ that I can give you is to lie your duvet and duvet cover on the bed and fish one hand through to the top corner of the duvet cover, make a ‘puppet’ with your hand, and grab the top corner of your duvet.  Quickly shake the cover down over the duvet and then fill in the bottom half.  Move over to the other side and repeat.  This is demonstrated in the video clearly!  It helps if you have someone giving you a hand with this, it literally cuts the time in half.

Well, there you have it – and maybe it’s silly to think that something so mundane can make you happier – but I will say this, there’s just something so very nice about sliding into a crisply made bed each night…it just feels more welcoming and cozy.  I find I sleep much better when I sleep in a ‘made’ bed.

We also have 3 other posts and videos on this topic you may like: How to clean your pillow, how to fold a fitted sheet, and how to
clean your room, check them out!

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Do you make your bed every day?