You don’t have to be a perfectionist to have a tidy bed. A well-made bed in the morning will make it more inviting to curl up into at the end of the day. Your bed will say nice and clean and be an inviting haven for sleep.

Steps

Start at the bottom with a bed ruffle. Also called a dust ruffle or valence will keep dust from collecting under the bed and offer a decorative accent. You place a dust ruffle over your box spring and it drapes down to the floor over your bed frame. You don’t need to launder this as often as your sheets but it should be washed occasionally to remove dust and debris.

Put on a mattress pad. A pad helps protect your mattress and extends the life of your bed. Make sure elastic is pulled taut and even to each corner. Pull it tight and then smooth the wrinkles and creases from the center out. Tuck edges under.

Put on the fitted bottom sheet. Make sure the corner elastics are pulled tight. Smooth wrinkles and excess from center to edges. Tuck edges under.

Add the top sheet. Place the wider top edge at the top of the mattress, good side down. The rest will hang over the bottom of the mattress. Smooth the rest of the sheet down and make it even on each side. Tuck the bottom of the sheet in first and make hospital corners on both sides. Do not tuck in sides yet.

Lay the blanket on top of the top sheet. Place the top edge of the blanket facing up at the point where you like to turn down the top sheet; usually about 8 inches from the top edge. Smooth the blanket from the center to the sides. Tuck in the bottom edge and make hospital corners. Now fold down the top sheet over the blanket and smooth it out. The good side of the sheet is showing now. Tuck in the sides of blanket and sheet.

Decorate with a warm comforter. Spread the comforter evenly over the bed. Run your hands from the center to smooth out any wrinkles.

If You Do Not Have Pillow Shams

Fold your comforter down to the level that your blanket and top sheet are folded. Add your pillows. Fluff and straighten your bed pillows. Add them to the top edge of the bed. Limit this to one per person. Fold the comforter up and over the pillows. Smooth evenly but do not flatten pillows.

If You Have Pillow Shams

Put shams on your pillows and then fluff and place on your bed. Place them evenly at the top edge of the bed. You can take the shams off when you get ready for bed. This will prevent you from having to launder them as frequently.

Add extra pillows, decorative pillows and/or throw blanket.

There you have it, a perfectly made bed.