If you asked me before I spent a day shadowing the Director of Housekeeping (Linda Ajdari) at New York City's The Marlton Hotel
how to make a bed, I would have told you a rather sad tale about
fluffed pillows and fitted sheets which would have made Ajdari cringe.
Now, I know better. Lucky for you, I'm sharing my new-found wisdom so
you can use it, too.
1. Forget the fitted bottom sheet.
The
reason hotel beds make you feel like the rice and beans in a
tightly-wrapped Chipotle burrito is because instead of using a fitted
sheet around the mattress, they use two identical top sheets. First, lay
both down flat on the mattress, then you tuck the sheets into the sides
and the end of the bed, leaving the corners hanging out.
Then,
comes the "hospital corner fold." To do this, lift the edge of the
sheet to form a 45-degree angle with your mattress, then pull and tuck
the hanging fabric under the mattress.
2. Use your duvet cover corners.
Next
is the comforter, which actually takes the prize as the most-hated
chore — thanks to the tricky duvet. To conquer this cover solo, use both
hands to grab the top corners of the comforter from the outside, then
reach through and pull the fluffy comforter up with you until it's
engulfed in the duvet. Harder than it looks.
3. Relax wrinkles with misted water.
No,
you don't need an iron or steamer to smooth out crinkled sheets. The
secret is a spray bottle full of plain old tap water. First, spritz the
liquid evenly across your duvet cover on your almost-made bed (the
corners should still be sticking out). Then shake the top layer until
you can see the creases start to settle.
4. Karate chop your comforter.
To
make sure the amount of comforter you fold inwards (allowing space up
top for the pillows to sit) is even on both sides, use your arms as a
guide. When you karate chop about two feet into the fabric, you can fold
both ends down from one side of the bed.
5. Flatten pillows so they stand tall.
Put
your hands in the middle, then slowly push both them out in opposite
directions repeatedly to make your pillow about half as thick as before
you started. Then, grab the top two corners of your pillowcase and stand
the pillow up next to the headboard. Next, stack your other pillows
against this base pillow (as opposed to simply leaning all your pillows
against the headboard, which many of us do at home). If you've
successfully made a "happy" pillow it should stand tall and proud on its own.
And that's it! After tossing on an accent throw, the bed is complete and
ready for guests to curl up inside — or for you to take a nap on at
home. See original here.
