View Full Version : Making The Bed
goldensmom
2-16-13, 9:52am
Do you make your bed everyday? I do, my mother did, I did as a child and as a single adult. My husband gets up at 5 and I at 5:30 during the week so I make the bed. On the weekends I get up at 5:30 and he sleeps in, rolls out of bed and later I make the bed. I wash and change the sheets every 5 or 6 days. This morning I got to thinking, there are 2 people who sleep in this bed every night but only one does any bed upkeep so I’m not doing it today but then I did. Question: do you make your bed everyday? If so, why? If not, how do you get yourself to not do it…just not important? Too much work? Other?
We make our bed every day. We have three dogs and two cats so we make our bed and then cover it with an extra duvet cover to catch the pet hair. I much prefer getting into a made bed at night vs an unmade bed, which probably comes from making my bed every day as a child/teenager. IIRC, I even made my bed most days when I was a college student living in a dorm room! :D
catherine
2-16-13, 10:02am
DH gets up later than I do. If I'm really busy, or on the road, the bed might not get made that day. But I do really prefer to make it, so I'll do it if I'm working from home that day. Typically I put in 4 hours early in the day in my home office, and then, around 11 am or so, I'll do a few minor household chores like making the bed and kitchen dishes and maybe a load of laundry. Main reason to make the bed--it just makes going to bed at night that much more pleasant!
Never because I want the sheets to air out.
As a kid I was trained to make the bed. As an adult living in a studio apartment where the bed was a futon I made it every day because I wanted to come home to a couch, not an unmade bed. Since moving in with SO 8 years ago we never make the bed. I find that I don't care since we only go in that room to use the bed. If I had to look at it all the time I was home I would have to make it.
I make ours and I have our kids make theirs. I find the bed being unmade to trigger the Broken Window Effect. Well, it's already messy, so who cares if I throw stuff on the floor? Mom cares. So, beds are made daily and the rooms stay tidier for it. That goes for our room too. We are not immune from the broken window effect.
Miss Cellane
2-16-13, 10:51am
Most days, I make the bed.
For one thing, it keeps the cat hair out.
For another, it just looks nicer. In a one-floor house, I pass by my bedroom multiple times a day. Seeing a messy bed tends to make me messy in other ways. Seeing a neat, tidy bed makes me neater throughout the house. The one time I didn't make the bed every day was when I was living in a two-story house and the bedroom was upstairs. If I didn't make the bed, I didn't see it again until bedtime. In that house, an unmade bed didn't affect me as much.
And there's the "niggle effect." You know, every time you pass the unmade bed, you get a little niggling thought in the back of your mind, that you haven't made the bed and you ought to. Niggles take your attentions away from the important things you should be focusing on and distract you. Eliminating the niggles makes for a more pleasant day.
My bedroom is fairly near the kitchen. Most mornings, I put my bowl of oatmeal in the microwave. In the 2.5 minutes that it takes to cook, I can make the bed and pull up the shades and, if necessary, put away any clothes I left on the trunk at the foot of the bed the night before.
When your bed is made, you also have a place to work in your bedroom. Some place to sit and read, or fold laundry, or dump the contents of a dresser drawer to sort through them and declutter a few things. When the bed isn't made, you can try to do these things, but it's harder.
And if you are like me and have a cat who in a former life must have been a drill sergeant and who insists that he cannot recline comfortably on a wrinkled-up bed, you make the bed just to stop the meowing and pacing that occur with an unmade bed.
But the most important reason I make the bed is that I sleep better at night in a bed with tucked-in sheets. I've tried sleeping just under a duvet, and found that doesn't work for me. A foot will poke out, and if it's winter, that means that I'll get cold and when I get cold, I wake up. If the sheets and blankets are tangled, I get tangled in them when I move during sleep, and then I wake up. So making the bed helps to ensure that I get a good night's sleep--everything stays covered and warm, I don't get tangled up in the bedclothes. If I don't make my bed in the morning, I've been known to make it just before I get in it at night, because I know I'll sleep better.
catherine
2-16-13, 11:48am
But the most important reason I make the bed is that I sleep better at night in a bed with tucked-in sheets. I've tried sleeping just under a duvet, and found that doesn't work for me. A foot will poke out, and if it's winter, that means that I'll get cold and when I get cold, I wake up. If the sheets and blankets are tangled, I get tangled in them when I move during sleep, and then I wake up. So making the bed helps to ensure that I get a good night's sleep--everything stays covered and warm, I don't get tangled up in the bedclothes. If I don't make my bed in the morning, I've been known to make it just before I get in it at night, because I know I'll sleep better.
I'm the opposite: I DON'T like tucked in sheets. I remember sleeping in a friend's bed one time. She was REALLY particular when it came to cleanliness (she took it upon herself to wax the vinyl floors in her dorm room at college for instance). Her bed was SO tightly made I almost got cramps in my toes. I felt like a mummy!
I like the sheets out because during the night sometimes a get hot and sticking a leg out briefly normalizes my body heat.
SteveinMN
2-16-13, 11:55am
Here it is yet another instance of the person caring more getting the job (see "Scorekeeping" thread). DW likes a made bed. I don't care since it's not a room I spend much time in nor do I pass its open door all the time. She makes the bed. Most days. :)
I don't make the bed and I hate tucked in sheets. I have a top sheet and a quilt. Sometimes I'll pull them flat across the bed and sometimes I don't. It doesn't matter one way or the other. I shut the door to keep the cat out.
Tussiemussies
2-16-13, 1:46pm
I don't like tucked in sheets either, so I make the bed without the sheets tucked in...it does make the whole room feel neater to me and I like the feeling of getting in it at night...:)
I love making our bed. Since I work at home, it's one of the things I do to take a break. We launder our bedding every Sunday. I mostly do the laundry, DH carries the laundry basket for me as my back cannot handle it right now, and he makes our bed Sunday evening. It's a sweet rhythm that's evolved over the years.
I make my bed everyday the moment I get up (and...sigh...still do hospital corners and make it tight enough to bounce a quarter off it. you can take girl out of the military but...:-)!). When I was married who ever got up last made the bed - or we made it together if we woke at the same time which was usually the case. We also washed bedding together and made up the bed together if we were both in town, otherwise if one of us was gone the other did it.
I make my bed. We have a small home and seeing a unmade bed is a downer to me. I don't have the option to "hide" the bed during the day, so it gets made.
Simpler at Fifty
2-16-13, 3:01pm
DH makes the bed every day because he is the last one out. I have always made my bed, he did not. He does it now and never complains. I think it makes the room look neater.
goldensmom
2-16-13, 6:37pm
Informing responses. Other that habit, I like to get into a neat, tightly made bed a night so it matters to me. My husband, who never made a bed after he got out of boot camp, doesn’t care and as he is 6’5” tall his feet hang over the end of the bed so a tight bed is just a annoyance to him. Sometimes I wish I could go with a unmade bed and even though I try, I probably never will. In the end, it’s like which to do you prefer crunchy or creamy peanut butter, it’s just a preference. By the way, I prefer crunchy and my husband prefers creamy.
Mom always insisted on a made bed when I was a kid. When dh and I married, there were several habits I instantly abandoned - bedmaking being one of them. Through the first 25 years of marriage bedmaking was haphazard. Then it became a new years resolution that stuck and I do make my bed every single day for the last five years. When dh and I are both home we share installing the sheets after they have been washed. Yummy - nothing better than tucking yourself into a freshly laundered bed.
We just use a duvet with cover, so no extra sheets to tuck in or fuss with. Making the bed consists of pulling the duvet cover into position, and refluffing the pillows. I leave well before everyone else is up, so DH or our helper usually does it on weekdays. I'll do it on the weekends after letting things air out for a couple of hours.
I really like the feel of freshly washed sheets, but it is a hassle to put our duvet back in the cover so I don't wash it as often as I should.
lhamo
Trapping all that body heat and sweat into the bedding when you make it is absolutely LOVED by all the dust mites and other microscopic bugs that live in your bed. We don't make the bed but straighten it out and keep the top half folded down for it to air out and keep the bug population down.
I was forced to as a child. Most days as an adult I have NOT made my bed. For years, pretty much the only time my bed gets made is when I change the sheets. Other than making the room look neat, I see utterly no point to it, for me (no pets, etc.).
I like a messy, airing-out bed, but the idea of an extra covering to cut down on the cat hair is so good. I will rummage through my stuff and try to find a piece of fabric large enough to toss over everything. I guess that means I will have to air it for a while, then make it and cover with the hair-catching thing. Being a certified slacker, this is going to be a struggle until I get into the habit.
Yes, I do.
living in such a small space, it's imperative that we keep the house tidy. Making the bed, putting away the clean dishes, folding and putting the laundry away are the little things that make a big difference in how our house feels and preforms for us.
When I was single I was indifferent to making a bed, but the moment I got married--an unmade bed seems messy. But now there is a practical reason: cats will drag litter into the bed if it's not made. yuck.
awakenedsoul
2-16-13, 9:41pm
Yes, I make my bed every morning. I get up, let the dogs out, make coffee, and write in my journal. After that I have breakfast, feed the birds, the dogs, the chicken, and make the bed. I don't think I've ever not made my bed. Well, when I was living in hotels housekeeping would do it. It would really bother me to leave it unmade. Same with the dishes. I always do them after eating a meal. (Or at least before bed, if the dinner dishes are still in the sink.) I love the look of my duvet cover. I used to air out my bed each morning for a half hour before making it. I'd open the windows and air out the house, too. I need to get back into that.
Yes, I make the bed everyday....DH does an awful job of it! I also change all the sheets, duvet cover, and pillows weekly. I am a neat freak and I like to have a nice house with not a lot of clutter. The drawers are a different story!
HomemadeChange
2-17-13, 10:40am
The closest we get to bed making on a daily basis is pulling our duvet covered down comforter towards the headboard. Every night we take a few seconds to straighten the sheets before climbing in. At least once weekly we change the sheets-- this is the one chore I won't do by myself. It is just easier with two people!
Gardenarian
2-17-13, 1:01pm
Yes, I do.
living in such a small space, it's imperative that we keep the house tidy. Making the bed, putting away the clean dishes, folding and putting the laundry away are the little things that make a big difference in how our house feels and preforms for us.
I feel exactly the same way Zoebird. In a small space chaos can erupt quickly.
I have also read that making your bed is the habit most likely to make you happier. Why? Not sure, maybe the feeling of starting the day off on the right foot, a small task easily accomplished that makes a room smile.
I've always enjoyed making the bed; dd has picked up on this too. (though she uses a duvet and just folds it neatly at the foot, plumps her pillows and arranges her stuffed animals. There, doesn't that feel good? Yep.)
Trapping all that body heat and sweat into the bedding when you make it is absolutely LOVED by all the dust mites and other microscopic bugs that live in your bed. We don't make the bed but straighten it out and keep the top half folded down for it to air out and keep the bug population down.
Oh but when you have pets who love to run thru the wet dewy yard (where they poop and pee), roll in some dirt and mud, and then like to jump on your bed with their stinky, hairy, smelly little fur covered bodies...well dust mites are the last of your worries :-)! Bad enough that they sleep on top of the covers with you - I don't want them on my sheets!
I shut the door to keep the cat out.
Our cats prefer an open door policy. So much so that one of them figured out how to open them.
I make DH's and my bed, daily! I've weaned myself (somewhat) from making the kids beds, because they're all older now, yet I do still make my rounds and check (and make) most days. Old habits die hard...
I feel more organized, cleaner, fresher, and more happy, when beds are made. Unmade beds, make me feel drained and tired, like most things lacking cleanliness/organization.
Bedding, in our house, gets changed (weekly), too!
Miss Cellane
2-17-13, 6:28pm
I let the bed air out before I make it. When I get up, I throw all the covers back to the foot of the bed. Then I make tea, read for an hour and shower/get dressed. So the bed airs for about an hour and a half before it gets made. Also, I have a dust-mite proof mattress pad.
Not making the bed means cat litter ends up in bed with me.
Tussiemussies
2-17-13, 6:44pm
I let the bed air out before I make it. When I get up, I throw all the covers back to the foot of the bed. Then I make tea, read for an hour and shower/get dressed. So the bed airs for about an hour and a half before it gets made. Also, I have a dust-mite proof mattress pad.
Not making the bed means cat litter ends up in bed with me.
I used to air out the bed after spraying it finely with some lavender essential oil in water. Forgot about that. Have to do it again, will have to get back to it. Thanks for the reminder! :)
For a while when I was single I slept on a little metal cot you get at ageneral store. I loved it and didn't mind making it. But otherwise, I hate doing it--the bigger the bed, the more the hate. DH doesn't hate it and makes our bed and does a really nice job.
We've had the same quilt for 15 years on our bed. I can't seem to get the DH to remember that the stripes go across the width of the bed not the length............so I make it. Its not a huge deal because it's just a mattress/boxspring on a metal frame with a loose sheet and the quilt. There's no footboard or headboard to work around. I don't tuck in anything because I'm a 'one-leg out' type of sleeper.
Whomever gets up last, makes the bed. I would hate getting into an unmade bed at night--too messy for me!
MissMandy
2-21-13, 11:57am
Do you make your bed everyday? I do, my mother did, I did as a child and as a single adult. My husband gets up at 5 and I at 5:30 during the week so I make the bed. On the weekends I get up at 5:30 and he sleeps in, rolls out of bed and later I make the bed. I wash and change the sheets every 5 or 6 days. This morning I got to thinking, there are 2 people who sleep in this bed every night but only one does any bed upkeep so I’m not doing it today but then I did. Question: do you make your bed everyday? If so, why? If not, how do you get yourself to not do it…just not important? Too much work? Other?
I only make the bed when I clean the sheets. I just don't see much point in it, yknow? It's not making the sheets and nicer, or cleaner. I see it as merely an aesthetic thing, and I don't care if it's done or not. Honestly, if you are the one who cares I don't think your husband should have to do it. I'm sure that's not what you wanted to hear, but that's my .02 :P
jennipurrr
2-21-13, 6:36pm
Nope. If company is coming over I make the bed in case they can see it, otherwise no bed making here.
My grandmother was very strict with my mom about making the bed so she never made hers. I kept on with the no making and my sister rebelled and makes hers everyday.
I loathe to have the tips of my toes under the blanket except in the depths of winter so making the bed always seemed purposeless to me. At hotels I am ripping the cover out so I can have some toe room. I would hate to have to bother with all that tucking and untucking every day.
I try to change the sheets every week (sometimes this happens :|() but I wash them every other week so that's the worst we go.
My bedroom is a *mostly* cat free zone per my allergist. Sometimes my kitties sneak in when I am sleeping, especially if DH has left early and left the bedroom door open but I shut the bedroom door every day when I leave for work. It has kitty claw marks on the bottom corner, sigh...they will never learn!
goldensmom
2-21-13, 8:06pm
My mom used to say to always make the bed because what if there was a fire, you wouldn't want the firemen to see your unmade bed. Well, we had a fire and I don't recall even one fireman commenting how nice it was that all the beds in the house were made (house didn't burn but they went through it to make sure all was well). Maybe after they got back to the fire station they talked amongst themselves about how nice it was that all the beds were made????
[QUOTE=Miss Cellane;129229]I let the bed air out before I make it. When I get up, I throw all the covers back to the foot of the bed. Then I make tea, read for an hour and shower/get dressed. So the bed airs for about an hour and a half before it gets made. Also, I have a dust-mite proof mattress pad.
QUOTE]
Perfectly reflects my daily practice. DH was always amused that I had the bed made before I left for work and when I retired including the matching 3 toss cushions that I love.
dado potato
3-9-13, 8:45pm
"Each day when I wake up"... salute to Burt Bacharach...
Pee. Weigh myself. Make the bed. Get coffee.
DW makes the bed everyday, I do the dishes. She strips the bed everyday, fluffs everything and then remakes it, hospitial corners, tight, you can bounce a quarter on it...way too many pillows for me. I am the first to bed, so I strip off all the pillows, pillow covers etc. We have about 5 comforters she rotates throughout the seasons. I would be happy with just one. About a dozen sets of sheets, well maybe not that many, but close.
I have shared this before, but growing up my mom made my brother and my beds everyday. When I left for college, out of 5 roommates, I was the only one who made their bed every day. My roommates had to make their own beds growing up.
My brother (who is now single), keeps his bed made also. Go figure.
When my wife is gone, most of the time I sleep on the couch - for two reasons - it is very comfortable and I don't have to make the bed! ;)
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2025 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.