No need to make the bed…
Do you make the bed?
I don’t. And I’ll tell you why. But first, I gotta show you the scene of my daily “crime”. Our house has a wonderful master bedroom space. And truth be told, we’ve been working so hard on other parts of our home, that this space will likely be the absolute LAST spot to get any real attention.
But it has changed a bit since we first moved in, so I wanted to at least give it half a moment of glory. This is an image from the real estate listing before we bought the house…
The hardwoods were refinished throughout the house to clean up the old scratches and to make the floors darker (NOTE: for all you clean-freaks and fearers of the sight of dust in your home…DO NOT go dark on your floors. Trust me on this. You’ll have to medicate yourself if you do because staining dark will make it so that you can see EVERY SINGLE SPECK OF DUST.
Seriously, every last particle of it. Me, I don’t mind. I’m not a clean freak…I hardly even shower. So for me, dust ain’t no big thang. Make your own call, just passing along the 411). *This post contains affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure policy HERE. I worked on this post in collaboration with PerfectLinens.com who provided product to test in exchange for this post. All opinions, cheesy puns, and the like are 100% my own.*
After floors, came paint on the walls (Ben Moore “Heaven on Earth”) and trim. Then some lighting. Here’s the space as it is today…
Totally not everyone’s taste. Not even completely my own, necessarily. But it suits us better than it originally did, at least.
Shop This Room:
What’s funny is these shots are SO staged. The bed looks all neat and tidy and stuffy there, no?!
Prim and proper and perfectly coiffed.
In reality, it N.E.V.E.R. looks like this. Why?
Because I’m a non-bed-maker. I’ll admit it. I don’t make the bed.
When I was a kid, I had to make the bed EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And I think I just burnt out on the whole thing. It’s just too much work for me. Those three minutes it takes me to make a bed could be better spent elsewhere.
Plus, we have really nice sheets…it would be offensive to cover these beauties up. There are many things that I refuse to spend a lot of money on in my home. Like bath accessories, for one.
I’ve never met a pricey towel bar or tp holder that I liked. I don’t spend a lot on window treatments, or tile…or even furniture. But I will happily plunk down a little cash for a set of good sheets. Why?
I love sleep.
If you’re a parent, and have, or have had little children in your life, then I’m guessing we may have this love of sleep in common. As a young parent, few things become as valuable as a good night’s rest. And part of getting those beloved zzz’s is a comfy bed.
Sheets are paramount. These particular sheets are from PerfectLinens.com. And they are great sheets. Made in Portugal, these Egyptian cotton, sateen woven “second skin” sheets have lovely embroidery, and are exceptionally comfy.
PerfectLinens.com is a relatively new company. They ONLY sell sheets. That’s their jam. And their approach is kind of cool…they sell their products based upon feel. Pretty good idea, considering the most important thing about sheets is how they feel.
At any rate, with sheets this awesome, I don’t feel bad at all about leaving my bed unmade. PLUS, did you know that it has been shown that dust mites cannot survive and proliferate in unmade beds? No joke. Check out this article from BBC News.
So there you go. No need to make the bed…just get some nice sheets, and lie in it.
Simple. Easy. Unmade beds, and two good sheets, blowing in the wind…
Agnes White says
>just met you….love your attitude & lifestyle!
>one question: what’s those things living on your bedrm lampshades ???? YIKES !!!
>Best of Christmas Wishes to you & your Family…A. White
Heather says
Ha! Those are fabric flowers, Agnes 😉 Although they could probably be dust bunnies just as easily around here 🙂 Nice to meet you! Glad to have you here!! Happy holidays!
Maree says
🙂
Maree says
Not just dust mites – bacteria and moulds also thrive in the moist humid conditions of a bed that is made soon after the sleeper vacates it. The average person sweats around a pint of water per night, and duvets in particular are very efficient at preventing heat loss, so the bed stays damp and warm for a long time – a perfect breeding ground for all sorts of nasties, which are then only inches from the face of the sleeper during the night. Pulling the duvet back over the end of the bed allows both to air thoroughly.
Heather says
Oh Maree, you have just made so many of us EVEN HAPPIER about this anti-bed-making club we’ve started! I nominate you for club president! Thanks for chiming in!!
Maree says
🙂
Lynn says
Your bedroom looks great and I say to each there own. LOL. .I’m a believer in making the bed. ..goodness gracious it’s a site when nobody in the house agrees. Thanks for sharing your bedroom make over.
LaVonia says
Good article. Thank you for the confirming the tip regarding dust mites. I have now decided to not make my bed every day and not feel guilty.
Heather says
Glad I could help 😉 I aim to make others as lazy as myself in that department…and hey, when there’s good scientific evidence behind it, all the better 🙂
MJ says
I love expensive (aka good) sheets. They fit the mattress better than ordinary made in america sheets. A name dept store before Xmas had a queen sheet set for $75 and no wonder it was unsold and on sale later for $35…As usual, the fitted sheet was too small to cover my mattress and the top sheet is so narrow I feel a draft when I get in the bed………gave it to a friend with a double bed!
There’s a chart inside my linen closet where i have the old sizes– when sheets were made in america and gave americans jobs– and the new sizes , made overseas and smaller–no doubt so the corporations could make more sheets from the same amount of fabric and pocket the profits……. giving new meaning to “short sheeting.” Yech, don’t get me started….LOL…..
Your top sheet looks big enough……I’ll check it out and see if I need to keep buying from LL Bean or not….they are mucho country, and yours look elegant…….thanks for sharing.. ……
Heather says
Ha! You’re making me laugh MJ 😉
Eileen says
MJ, This is so true and I wonder if you would share the dimensions from your chart on the OLD sizes. My husband has torn the bottom fitted sheets of two sets in the last two weeks with his claw like heels (Oh, yes. I did say that. I think he’s part bird!) The only 3 sets I have left don’t fit right despite being expensive and supposedly “high end”. *sigh*. The top sheets hang over the sides by about 5″ in addition. Unacceptable – so I need to find some that fit pronto.
I’m checking out the Perfect Linens site next!
Sagan says
“Plus, we have really nice sheets…it would be offensive to cover these beauties up.” LOL!
We have *decent* linens… but I can’t wait for the day when we can afford to get the really good ones 😀
Karen says
I love when you use the pictures from your house listing! They crack me up! It’s amazing what a different style can do for a house. If I could afford it, I’d pay you to do mine.
Anyway, I’m not a bed maker either…I just “straighten it” a little, and then my lazy dogs get in it. We are far too casual around here for made beds, but good sheets are a priority 🙂
Lisa Jorgensen says
I’m so glad I am not alone. I hate making my bed too–and I come from a family of bed-makers who all do it every single day without fail. Ugh. Love this!
Cari says
I am perfectly content to just shut the door and my unmade bed doesn’t exist. My daughter will usually make it in the evenings for me though. I totally agree on good bed sheets. I am pretty cheap errr FRUGAL but I will totally splurge on good sheets!
Rebecca says
This post is great. I never make my bed, it just feels so futile. And now I feel justified. Thanks!
Oh, and Egyptian cotton sheets are my favorite. So soft and comfortable.
Tisha Allen says
I’m a bed-straightener…I’ve never really been a bed maker, but I have two young kids at home and I pretty much just straighten every thing! That’s all I have time for! But it is nice to at least get the impression that the room is clean.
Speaking of which, can I unclick and un-read that BBC article, please??? Ewwww!
I think your master bedroom is lovely, tough!
Heather says
I hear you on the “straightening everything”…I think that’s my constant mode…just walking ten paces, picking something up, moving another three paces, doing the same…it’s never ending 😉
Patty says
I make my bed EVERY day. The only reason I make it is because my two pitbulls love to go up on the bed. I make it and put an old spread over it so the dogs can sleep on it. If I don’t, my bed smells like dog and trust me you don’t want to sleep in that. If I didn’t have the dogs, I wouldn’t make it either.
Heather says
You know what Patty, that is a GREAT reason to make a bed in the morning. I’m with you. I’d do the same!