Project Design: How To Make A Beautiful Bed

Welcome to Project Design, the series created by the talented

Mary Ann of Classic • Casual • Home and Cindy of Rough Luxe Lifestyle!

I’m so glad to join a wonderful group of bloggers to talk about

How To Make A Beautiful Bed!

My version of How To Make A Beautiful Bed is the Everywoman’s guide……

how to make an unfussy bed that not only feels wonderful,

but is also so attractive that you want to crawl back into it as soon as it’s made,

and can’t wait to slide under the sheets when you are dead tired at the end of the day.

Ahhhhh, heavenly comfy bed!

Over the years I have relaxed my bedding style and even how I make the bed…..

I would say it takes me no longer than one minute to straighten the fitted sheet, pull up the top sheet and coverlet, and straighten up the pillows to make it all look tidy and comfy.

Taking this one minute makes such a difference when I walk into my room at the end of the day!!

To combat allergies, I always buy bedding that can be thrown in the washing machine,

so no memory foam anything for us.

An upholstered headboard provides an extra layer of comfort if you like to read or watch tv in bed.

Upholstered headboards can be vacuumed with a HEPA filter occasionally

to pick up pollen and dust mites.

We have a pillow top mattress that is several years old. To give it a new lease on life, I added a mattress pad that has a thick layer on top. So yes – a pillow top on top of a pillow top!

It.Is.Heavenly.

I’ve been slowly buying them for my kids’ beds too when I see them on sale. So comfy!

Keep in mind that if you have a pillow top mattress pad you will need deeper fitted sheets, or you can use a flat sheet on the bottom with folded and tucked corners.

Speaking of sheets….

Don’t be fooled by high thread counts – they don’t always ensure sheets will super soft!

Often high thread count sheets are blends such as polyester and cotton.

For durability and softness, look for 100% cotton or linen.

100% cotton sheets will soften with every wash and if you can find Pima or Egyptian cotton in your price range, snatch them up! They are superior in strength and feel.

While you may imagine linen sheets would be stiff and super wrinkly all the time, like cotton, linen fibers soften considerably over the years and are incredibly durable. They are also very pricey but a worthwhile investment that you will likely have for many years.

{Garnet Hill}

If high quality sheets are not in your budget,
treat yourself to nice pillowcases where you lay your head to rest each night.

Our favorite sheets right now are NOT Egyptian cotton, pima cotton or linen – they are 300 thread count regular old 100% cotton – but they have such a lovely feel to them! I bought them at Homegoods to have as a second set, and we actually prefer them to our supposedly higher end, 800 thread count set. If you know what to look for, Homegoods is a great resource high quality bedding.

In addition to lovely sheets I like to layer our bed with a coverlet and a medium-density down comforter in a duvet. I bought our duvet at a Bloomindales bedding sale when we first got a king bed, probably 15 years ago, and it is a great example of how investing in fine linens is worth it.

This duvet has endured the baby and toddler years straight on through to my Dorito-eating teenagers who I occasionally find lounging on my bed watching tv. It’s been scrubbed and washed countless times and still looks new!

The down comforter stays on our bed all year long; in the summer I keep it folded at the bottom of the bed for when the AC kicks in, and in the fall and winter I pull it up and make a cozy warm cocoon for Game Of Thrones nights and deep winter slumbering.

If you have a duvet, this video on how to quickly put on a duvet cover.

I launder our bedding once a week or so with Mrs. Meyers Lavender detergent –

the scent is so subtle and clean!

It’s a splurge for me because as far as laundry detergent goes, it’s super expensive, so I only use it on our sheets and towels, and then I hide it from my teenagers (they do their own laundry and would think nothing of using up all my liquid gold!)

I don’t use bleach on bedding because it’s so hard on fine fibers. OxiClean is my go-to for pre-treating and soaking any stains, and I occasionally throw in a half cup of baking soda to keep my whites white and soft.

When I do my one-minute bed making in the mornings, putting even the littlest effort to making it look nice is so gratifying. Some days, this is the only part of my house that is remotely put together and I appreciate coming up to bed even more!