I don't like going to bed. Nor do I like getting out of it. It's a conundrum.
My office desk is exactly 7 feet away from my bedroom. Every time I leave my office to go downstairs or outside this is what I see. Comfortable bed, napping cat, linen bedding, fluffy duvet ...
It's not that much of a temptation in the summer, but in this gutter of a season we call late winter - it's as persuasive as a late night infomercial to an insomniac. I've only succumbed to the temptation once or twice and the main reason for that is not my military-like discipline. It's the fact that my bed is already made.
If it were all a jumble of sheets and pillowy down I might be more likely to swan dive into it. But it's made, so I continue on with my day instead of curling up to sleep. Pulling back the covers and getting into an already made bed in the middle of the day is pathetic. Whereas falling into one that's still an unmade mess is just practical. Smartly taking advantage of a situation, really - I mean when you think about it.
That's reason number 1 to make your bed in the morning. The other billion reasons all lead to happiness.
According to a study by Hunch.com only 27% of people make their bed. Which is too bad because
70% of people who make their beds consider themselves to be happy.
Happiness expert, Gretchen Rubin; The Power of Habit author Charles Duhigg; and US Navy Admiral William H. McRaven all believe in the POWER of making your bed.
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Gretchen Rubin says making your bed is also one of the most effective and easiest triggers of happiness.
Charles Duhigg describes making your bed every morning as a "keystone habit". A way to kick start a pattern of good behaviour for the rest of the your day, week, month, life.
But most impressive is US Navy Admiral William H. McRaven's commencement speech. Here's just a little bit of it ...
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Sarah Padron
I mostly make my bed everyday with an occasional I’m going to air out my bed days!! I love seeing my bed tidy and put together as it’s one thing that I can say job well done. It always sets the day off right and when I head to bed, it’s at least one accomplishment that I successfully achieved today. Even if I just stayed in pajamas and rested.
Kasia
Yes, I do make the bed and think I’m pretty happy. But making the bed really just means pulling the cover up, so it doesn’t seem like work.
Stephanie
I do make my bed every morning (except Mondays, because that's the day I change my sheets after I get home from work- and it's really hard to close the bedroom door and leave it unmade!). A few years ago I told my best friend about how it's a great way to start the day, and while she was skeptical, she started doing it too, and now she swears by it and makes her kids do it too.
In the winter, I try to get it made before my body heat escapes from the sheets because my brain thinks that it will stay cozier for me to get back into that night. Plus, that way there's less of a temptation to crawl back in.
Brenda
Yup - we make our bed every day - although never first thing as we like it to air out before we make it up again. And I "re-plant" the decorative pillows which my husband "harvested" the night before. (He doesn't understand throw pillows which I think might be true of many men - he doesn't get the bother when we're away all day and don't see them; I maintain they can make me feel good at a distance). Vive la différence!
Deb
On the extremely rare occasion that I don’t make my bed first thing in the morning, I am self-compelled to make it (completely, including shams and throw pillows) before unmaking it to sleep in it at night! Yes, that means I have, once or twice, made the bed at 10:00 pm, only to unmake it and climb in at 10:02! Strangely, my husband doesn’t question this absurd behavior! (He knows to not even go there!😂)
allys
Yes I do make my bed every day. I've trained my hubby to do so as well if he's last up. My daughter, though, refuses. She figures 'why bother?'
KIM JORDAN
I make my bed most every day...it's my little treat to myself to get into a bed that has been made until I do my own turn down service that evening. I also hang my sheets outside to dry after I've washed them. Then I fold them and put scented bars of soap between the folds when I put them in the linen closet. I keep 2 sets of sheets and rotate them each wash. My favorite night is clean sheets on the bed night! They smell heavenly after being in the linen closet and I swear I sleep better on the night of clean sheets. And I am Happy!
Alena
I have to admit that returning home from work and seeing the bed made is really nice but I usually don't make my bed. I tried many times but it was fell wayside before I could form a habit. It does not really bother me though. My dog (who doesn't sleep with me in winter because I keep my bedroom very cold) jumps into my bed right after she had her breakfast and took care of her morning ablutions. I also know that she sleeps in my bed during the day, so why bother? She likes the comforter scrunched up just so so that it creates a ridge in front of which she curls up. So I arrange it to her liking in the hope it will prevent her from fluffing the bed on her own (and potentially damaging my precious linen bedding from Sweden). (Her nails are nicely manicured with Dremel but still ....)
I also don't know about the correlation with higher income. Not that I am rich but I definitely live more comfortably than I did 20 years ago but it has zero effect on my bed making. I would also think that that the super rich people have staff to take care of such things?
Jack Ledger
Heard a myth about a single bed placed on top of another one, and attached with a ladder. Fortunately, I was able to debunk it.
Karen
You've just been waiting for a bed related post for that one haven't you, lol??!! ~ karen!
jeanne Draachreider
I make my bed every day. Sometimes more...because I have a dog that believes it's her bed and she prefers the nesting assemblage of blankets and sheets. We go back and forth...each tolerating the other's need for having the bed made by their own standards.
La
My dad was a neatnik to the nth degree, and he was always after me to clean my room. My mom took me aside one day and said the best and quickest way to make a room look neater was to make the bed. I get out of bed, turn around and make it. And my dad hasn’t nagged me for about 40 years about the state of my bedroom—not even as an imaginary voice in my head. That makes mr happy.
Karen
LOL! Isn't it the worst when the person nagging you is doing it from inside your head??? ~ karen!
Sandra D
My husband makes the bed everyday; if it was up to me, I wouldn't. I don't mind shutting the door...
PegB
Well, I haven’t made my bed for three days. But I’ve also been mostly in it for 3 days being sick and all. I used to make my bed and sleep in the nude. But now being old and living by myself, I don’t sleep in the nude. I never thought abought putting a plant in the room so I’d put my clothes away. Added bonus is plants vlean the air and add oxygen, which being old, I can use more of.
PegB
*about not abought. I don’t even know how intuit typing canmake that a word.
PegB
Well, I haven’t made my bed for three days. But I’ve also been mostly in it for 3 days being sick and all. I used to make my bed and sleep in the nude. But now being old and living by myself, I don’t sleep in the nude. I never thought about putting a plant in the room so I’d put my clothes away. Added bonus is plants clean the air and add oxygen, which being old, I can use more of.
Karen
Ha! ~ karen
Jacquie Gariano
I also make my bed first thing., well really 2nd. I go pee and brush my teeth then go back and make the bed (before the cats get on it) and get dressed. I have a heated mattress pad that I just love. Getting into a warm bed at noc in the winter is a pure delight. My mother always made her bed and my daughter makes hers. Habit, I guess. My cats sleep on the bed during the day a lot, so if I want a nap I have to find some other place....LOL I like the neat look it gives my bedroom. I have a med sized bedroom so the neater it looks the better.I just love your posts and look forward to them always. Thanks for giving us voice and good thoughts.
TucsonPatty
Well, Karen, I’ve read through all of the comments and you certainly have a lot of happy, bed making people that read your blog. I am a very happy blog reader of long-standing who never ever makes her bed except when I change the sheets. I do have to admit that it does look very nice at that point. However…I so love getting back into a bed that is ready for me to snuggle down into. All my many pillows are placed just so, here and there for my back and knees and arms, so that I have my little nest already made. I don’t want to disturb that perfect nest. In the winter I have to throw the bedding back up - slightly “made”, so when I turn the electric blanket on for just a few minutes before I jump into a slightly warmed bed (in my sweats) it warms the whole shebang. Then I turn it off because I read somewhere it isn’t good to sleep under the electricity. Maybe just an old wives tale?
Growing up was so long ago I can’t remember if I made my bed or not. I always had to share a bed with one or more sisters and they may have made it I just don’t remember. I’ll bet if I talked to the sisters that I had to share a bed with, they would say “Yeah, Patty, *you* never made the bed - I always had to.!” This is highly probable. LOL
I love these survey kind of posts, Karen. You are too funny!
Lauren
Yep, almost always. Unless (like today) my sheets were still in the dryer when I left for work, so I'm going to pull them out and make it when I get home. Doesn't make sense to make a bed with no sheets only to pull the duvet off and make it again when I get home!
But yes- I genuinely enjoy walking by my room and seeing the bed made- I think it's a teeny, usually subconscious happiness boost. It sortof just hints that "hey, everything is in order, no need to worry." I deal with a fair bit of anxiety, so every little bit helps!
And I also consider myself happy :-)
Nanette
Yes, I make the bed. It feels good to do it and see it all made up. Even when I’m not feeling well and sleeping most of the day I take the time to smooth the covers and fluff the pillows once or twice a day. I’m super happy.
Anne
I make my bed because:
#1. I hate fighting with twisted covers when I'm tired and ready to sleep.
#2. It's a fast way to make it look like I've accomplised something. It creates a big change with little effort. Even if the rest of the house gets messy, I can walk by that one room and feel nice and calm.
#3. It's so much more inviting.
When I was growing up nobody ever made the beds, myself included. I later discovered that life feels less chaotic if I have that one room I can walk by and just look at.
I do sleep with pj's on because in the case of an emergency, I don't want to be caught in the buff...that and I get cold too easily. I'm basically an optimist and an early riser, but not optimistic enough to fall asleep nude.
Anna Lee
I make the bed every day. I didn't use to do it - then I started traveling a lot for work and realized one of the big differences between staying in a hotel (even a super basic, super cheap one) and being at home was that every evening when I got back the bed was made. It felt like such a luxury and then I realized how easily I could have that luxury every single day just by spending a few minutes in the morning making the bed nicely. I love going upstairs and into our room and pulling back the covers every night. Such a small thing but really does make such a difference. Now when the bed is left unmade (thanks husband, who sometimes naps during the day and then fails to remake it) it feels like my whole life is a little out of balance.
Sandra D
When we stay at a hotel, we always put the Do Not Disturb sign up, so strangers aren't in the room. We make the bed, though.
Carrie
After I’ve been up a little while and the bed is aired out (co sleeping with a drooly baby) I make my bed around my 2 cats who don’t even open their eyes while I do it. I find a messy looking bed makes the whole room look messy even when it’s not, and crawling into a made bed with tightly tucked sheets is soooo much comfier. If I do occasionally leave before I make my bed I will make my bed before I get into it at night *in sleep shorts and a tshirt never nudie* because it just feels better (ok half made - I don’t put the shams etc on in that case). It’s all about the tucked smooth sheets! And I am not afraid to nap on top of that made bed, I just move the shams and get a blanket, as I spend the days in my “daytime pjs” anyway (flannel pj pants and tshirt) - ready to nap in an instant with my drooly baby and 2 cats ... so yes I’m a happy person!