You’re an adult now. I’m truly sorry about that.
With that designation comes some great perks. For example, you could eat a whole can of whipped cream for dinner. But, with those perks come responsibilities. Making your bed falls into that nasty category.
Think of making your bed like your first opportunity to say: “Good morning, World. I’ve got this day under control. Starting right now…”
Here are 5 tips for making your bed better, and faster:
1) USE SAFETY PINS TO KEEP SHEETS IN PLACE
According to The Art of Manliness, one great way to keep linens from flip-flopping onto the floor during the night is to first use safety pins to secure any sheets or blankets that are going to be tucked under the mattress.
The Manliness folks rightly point out that the safety pins “…will ensure that your bed stays nice and tight through the week. Of course, your wife might object to using this technique on her 700 count Egyptian cotton sheets. Use with discretion.”
With your sheets held in place at the bottom, morning bed making should take seconds, as you flip up the blankets, straighten them, and throw the pillows on top.
2) LEARN TO CREATE HOSPITAL CORNERS
They sound hard. But, like the safety pins, they WILL keep your sheets and blankets tight and in place for longer.
While I’ve never been a fan of using a flat sheet in place of a fitted, learning the principle of the hospital corner can keep your bottom sheet tightly and crisply tucked in.
These step-by-step pictures should help you master this seemingly daunting skill.
You can then use the safety-pin trick to keep your beautiful work in place. The hospital corner can also be used on blankets that go on top of your bed.
3) MAKE THE BED WHILE YOU ARE STILL IN BED
The folks at The Art of Manliness suggest you skip the step of actually getting out of the bed before you make it.
Simply sit in the center of the bed, and pull the sheets and blankets up around you. Hop out, and do a final straighten. Voila!
This doesn’t work well if you have a large bed, but it could be a great way to introduce kids to making their own bed.
4) GET THE RIGHT BEDDING
This might seem like a no-brainer, but using ill-fitting sheets means wasting those precious morning moments re-arranging drooping or tiny, linens.
You may want to check out a neat product called Smart Bedding, which claims to save you 30 days of time over your life. How? The flat sheet is attached to the duvet cover with snaps. This means you just have to straighten your duvet-cover, and off you go! Their kitschy video is worth the watch.
Additionally, a note to those who love frou-frou items on the bed: Please limit decorative items (pillows, small bears, garden gnomes, your Benedict Cumberbatch doll, etc.,) to no more than three items. You are wasting years of your life re-arranging these. They collect dust. You likely argue with a bedmate about their placement. Please stop this madness. I promise you will feel much happier about making the bed if you don’t have to aesthetically place items on it. Bossy rant over.
5) DITCH THE FLAT SHEET
DISCLAIMER: This only works if you have a duvet cover that is washed as frequently as your sheets. I do not propose you live like a college freshman and skip good and basic domestic hygiene.
I have been without a fitted sheet on my bed for over a year. My husband and I agreed it was completely unnecessary for us: we would tug on opposite sides all night, and it would end up a crumpled mess at the bottom of the bed every morning. Our flat-sheet-free sleep has been better ever since.
The feeling of sliding into a neatly made bed at the end of an exhausting day is completely rewarding.
And, after your grown-up “can-of-whipped-cream dinner,” you’re really going to need to lie down.
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