Make A Bed

From carefully placing sheets and blankets to choosing the right duvets and pillows, get some easy pointers on how to beautifully make a bed.

Crisp, clean linens, a fluffy duvet and perfectly plump pillows: These are the makings of a divinely dressed bed and you can achieve one in minutes with a little know-how, some attention to detail and a touch of care. Here's how to beautifully make a bed.

Alex Newman, author of Hot Property: Easy Home Staging to Sell Your House for More Money in Any Market (John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd., 2007) recognizes the power of a beautifully made bed. She believes every room needs a focal point and in the bedroom, the focal point is the bed. "The more beautiful and lavish, the more people will be stopped in their tracks," Alex says.

Whether you want to impress prospective homebuyers, wow your visiting mother-in-law or challenge the domestic goddess in you, take some pointers from Alex and your bed-making efforts will result in true beauty. Before you begin, work with bedding that matches or complements the colours in your bedroom and consider whether or not want to show off your bed frame or conceal it with a bed skirt. Hide a metal bed frame with a bed skirt. "Tailored skirts are generally more in vogue, but that doesn't mean the gathered kind can't look good," says Alex. "If you have a sleek Roche Bobois-style bed, definitely no skirt."

With bedding that complements your bedroom's decor and a foundation that's skirted -- or decidedly not -- you're ready to make up a perfect bed.

How to make a bed: Bed sheets
Your bed sheets make up the base layer of your pretty bed. For maximum appeal, use clean, crisp sheets either fresh from the dryer or freshly pressed. "If you wash your sheets, the dry cleaners will iron them for less than $10," says Alex. She recommends opting for classic white sheets because it "always looks good" and avoiding dark or intensely hued sheets that tend to look dated.

Place a fitted sheet on your mattress, tucking each elasticized corner under each mattress corner. Tuck any loose edges under the mattress while smoothing wrinkles as you work. Next, place your flat sheet and blanket, pulling up the flat sheet far enough so there's enough length to fold over the blanket. If you're not using a blanket, Alex suggests folding back the edge of the top sheet anyway for a crisp look. Smooth out any wrinkles and visually check to ensure the overhang on each side is about equal in length.