Ya’ll ready to be awesome? Well, obviously.  That’s why you’re reading this!  A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step but what step should you take?  While there are a TON of answers to that question, nine times out of ten, I think the answer should be “make your bed”.

Making The Bed=Real World Magic

Okay, okay, that may sound like an exaggeration but it’s really not! Straightening out your pillows and tucking in your sheets can have a pretty powerful effect on your mind.  But don’t ask me, talk to the military. There’s a reason why it’s one of the first things cadets learn!

“If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. And by the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that the little things in life matter.“

-Admiral William H. McRaven

The whole speech is pretty amazing. Definitely worth a looksie.

Like he said, making the bed first thing essentially trains your brain to be awesome for the rest of the day.  Your mind thinks “Wow, look at this beautiful bed I just made. I’ll bet I can do other cool stuff, too”. After having a mental high-five so early in your day, other tasks don’t seem like such a challenge and it all snowballs from there.  

Making the bed also serves as an anchor for the rest of your day if anything doesn’t quite go the way you want.  Boss being a grump? “Well at least I can crawl into my nice, pretty, cozy bed when I get home.” House is a mess?  “My bed is gorgeous so that’s one less thing to worry about.” See? And the effects only compound from there. Like in the example above, this habit helps you to start collecting achievements so that when things don’t go the way you want, you have a big ol’ list of stuff to be proud of in your back pocket.

Triggers For The Win

Getting a new habit to stick can be hard work.  Thankfully, there are ways around this! The easiest way I have found to create a lasting new habit is to pair the desired activity with something that I already do consistently.  By pairing a new habit with an established one, you’ll have better results in much less time. Pretty smart, eh?

For me, I wake up, turn off my alarm, and make the bed first thing every morning.  The habit of turning off my alarm has become a bit of a “trigger” to make my bed. Linking something that happens every day for me (turning off my alarm) with a new habit (making the bed) made it really, really easy to make the new habit stick.

Are there still days where I don’t make the bed first thing?  Yes, but those are pretty rare. And if they do happen, I just make my bed when I realize I haven’t done it.  Habits get to a point where you just don’t feel right without doing it. Hooray for consistency!

How To Make The Bed

So how exactly do you make the bed?  Great question! I’m going to show three versions if you want to get really into it but the basics is just line everything up and smooth it out.

Version One: Easy Peasy

First we have version one, which is one of my top secrets for keeping a tidy house.  If you want to do it my super duper easy way, line up a pretty, over-sized comforter and straighten your pillows.  Thirty seconds to a cute bed. This is my go-to for days when I’m not in the mood, when company is coming over and I want to pretend I wasn’t sleeping in moments before, and for when I just want to get it over and done with asap.

Seriously, why don’t I do this more often?  Oh yeah, cause I’m addicted to pillows. When I make the bed this way, I toss extra pillows into the ottoman at the foot of my bed.  

Version Two: The “Clean” Look

For version two, put your fitted sheet on the bed, making sure to tuck the elastic under the mattress.  We don’t want your fitted sheet sneaking up on you while you’re sleeping! Next, lay your flat sheet on the bed with the pretty side face-down and the top edge centered and lined up with the mattress.  Now lay your quilt/blanket on top of your fitted sheet with the pretty side face-up. Tuck everything in (see link for how to make super legit hospital corners!) and put the pillows at the top edge of the bed. Tada! Your bed is now made.

Version Three: Magazine Cover

For the last version, follow version two but stop before you tuck everything in.  Grab the sheet and blanket together from the top edge of the bed and pull it down a third of the way.  Straighten it out and tuck everything in. The hospital corners are optional with this method but you do you.  

Now fold the comforter in half (with the top edge touching the bottom edge) and put the comforter on the bed.  You’ll want the bottom edge to be where it would normally be if you put the comforter on your bed with the top edge touching the headboard.  Take the top half of the blanket and fold it in half again. The top edge of the comforter should be touching the blanket now. Clear as mud?  If you have a throw blanket, you could fold that lengthwise and place it in between the top part of the comforter and the bottom part.

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And last but not least, put on the pillows!  Here I have euro shams in the back, the pillows I actually sleep with in the middle, and some cute bonus pillows in the front.  Version three is my favorite for when I want my bedroom to feel like an exclusive resort. Just looking at this makes me feel relaxed.  I’m weird, I know.

And there you have it! Now, these are my go-to’s but there are so many options! The most important thing is that you find what works for you.

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Now that you’ve seen my bed, I just want to mention that my bed hasn’t always been so fancy-smancy.  When I was first starting the habit, I started small and that’s a-okay! The goal is for you to get the habit in place; you can get elaborate with it down the road (should you so choose!)

I don’t know about all y’all but I have good days, not-so-good days, and days in between.  I always want to do my best but sometimes my best is a lot less than what I can do on a good day.  That’s why I like to have “levels” to my habits and goals. It prevents me from being disheartened if I’m feeling off and from being unfulfilled if I’m feeling well.  Here are my general levels to making my bed:

*And yes, even now I have days where I “can’t even”.  Days where getting out of bed is a really big achievement, let alone fluffing the pillows.  That’s ok! Just do the best you can and you’ll still reap benefits.

All About The Yarn

Now that that’s over, let talk about how to add a little bit of knitting into the mix!  Personally, I love the look of a unique toss pillow.

This is a great, all-around good pattern for anyone with a bit of a minimalist vibe. It’s also really great if you have bedding with a lot going on visually but you still want some texture. I really like that this stitch has a woven look to it.

Calling all animal lovers! Color work projects like this are so rewarding and fun as it is but just look at those paws! This would be an adorable pillow to go on an otherwise simple bed. Let’s be honest, this pillow would be adorable on any bed because it’s well, adorable!

Talk about funky! The super cool thing about toss pillows is that they’re easy to switch out so you can go really wild with it. I’d love to try making a basic stockinette cover for a pillow but in a super crazy yarn.

Co-Habits For Extra Awesomeness

Once you feel comfortable with making the bed, there are a handful of “co habits” that will make sticking to your new habit easier and, bonus, they’re all really helpful and great!

For me, the big co habits that I developed after making the bed were doing the laundry daily so I can change out the sheets weekly (yay for fresh sheets!) and mindfulness.  It sounds weird but I’ve also been doing a better job at staying off of my bed before bedtime (because it’s way too pretty to mess up) and I’ve had an easier time getting into bed at night (because it’s just so inviting).  

My sleep hygiene has been much better overall.  A lot of people start getting better sleep, waking up earlier, subconsciously keeping the rest of their house neater, and just being all around happier.  Those are some pretty cool side effects, don’t ya think?

Reward Ideas

I’m a huge believer in positive reinforcement so let’s talk about ways to treat yo self!  When I started making my bed consistently, I went ahead and treated myself to prettier bedding. I simply love seeing my bed all made up now that I like my bedding.  When picking a reward, pick something that appeals to you! What works for me might not work for you.

Some things that I have my eye on are better bedding like a mattress topper or an anxiety blanket (in a matching color, of course), and a linen spray or a new scent for my oil diffuser.  I’m not crazy about lavender but I do like jasmine and vanilla. Oh and yarn for my toss pillow. Can’t forget the yarn!

Your Turn!

How do you make your bed?  Do you have any tips or tricks?  Let us know in the comment section down below!