Everybody has a different morning routine. For most of us, it includes getting out of bed and ready for the day, sipping our coffee, and, finally, making the bed. There are many reasons for making our beds in the morning: It helps get that chore out of the way, makes the home look nice and clean, and is also a great way to start the day with a positive and proactive attitude. It makes us feel good about ourselves. But is it really the way to go?
Experts argue that making the bed first thing in the morning may not be as beneficial as you may think. They claim that you should not make, but "unmake" the bed! Just strip down that duvet and let the mattress and linens breathe. There are numerous reasons why you should start adopting this simpler way, and ditch the covers:
Health benefits
Every night the human body transpires, meaning it loses fluids. These fluids leave our body through the skin and get absorbed by our clothing, our linens, and our mattress. Clearly, an excess of liquid in any place of the house is undesirable. A nasty side effect of leaving this moisture inside the bed is the fact that there are likely to be plenty of allergy-triggering dust mites living in between your sheets. These little critters feast on human skin cells and need a certain level of humidity to survive. Don't worry! There is no need to be alarmed, as long as we air our linens and mattress properly. That, however, can only happen if we pull back the duvet for a long enough time, leaving the bed completely unmade. Experts suggest this airing period be of at least an hour or two after getting up. But don't most of us have busy workdays and lack the two hours it would take to let our beds breathe in the morning?! The most natural solution is stripping the duvets off of our beds and leaving just the bottom sheets.
Better sleep
It has been shown time and time again that a bed that had the chance to "breathe" is not only healthier but also helps us fall asleep faster. All the funny smells from throughout the night have disappeared by the time you put your duvet back on top of the mattress. No dust mites crawling around your pillows, causing you asthma-like breathing problems and light sleep. And all just by lifting your duvet off your bed in the morning. Doesn't that sound compelling?!
Time and money saver
This method is ten times quicker and easier than actually making the bed with its top sheet, a heavy duvet, and/or a bedspread. You could leave off the duvet and bedspread altogether, exposing your bottom sheets. Doing this will save you time and money, as you will need to do less to make your bed look beautiful and need to invest less on bedspreads.
Little helpers
If you have kids, odds are you have to make more than just one bed in the morning. It may interest you that various studies have shown that encouraging kids to clean and tidy up after themselves, including tasks like making their own bed in the morning, is very beneficial. Your children will learn the importance of organizational skills and cleanliness, and, at the same time, take responsibility. They can give mommy or daddy a hand with easy household tasks. But we all know that making the bed in the morning is not the easiest of all chores. Unless, of course, "making the bed" consists of merely uncovering the bottom sheets! This is something even two-year-olds can easily do in no time, and it will surely build their self-esteem. At the same time, they will be helping their parents make the room look tidy and themselves to a night of healthy sleep.
Smooth surface
An uncovered mattress will look much sleeker and cleaner than one with a duvet on it. That is actually true of any surface in the home. Think of cluttered countertops that suddenly look so much cleaner once the clutter is removed. The human eye sees uneven and asymmetric surfaces as an obstacle, mainly because navigating an uneven floor requires more focus. Unevenness resembles clutter. Add your kiddos’ feet (or your favorite pet) jumping on the bed, and you quickly have crinkles on the duvet, making it look untidy. The mattress itself, on the other hand, is not as prone to unevenness. That's why an unmade bed will look much smoother and tidier. Obviously, we aren't suggesting anybody strip the bottom sheet off the mattress – the bottom sheet is what will decorate that surface. If you will, it’s your blank canvass to make a statement in the room with the kind of bottom sheets you like.
The verdict
The best way to make your bed is not to make it at all. The benefits outweigh any possible drawbacks (we couldn't find any) by far. And, of course, we urge you to try it not only in the kids' bedrooms but in your own as well. After all, who deserves better sleep than you?!
5 Big Reasons why you should unmake your bed:
- Health- You fight moisture and dust mites by airing your sheets and mattress daily.
- Sleep - A fresh dry surface free of dust-mites will help you and your family sleep through the night.
- Aesthetics - Smooth surfaces look much tidier than uneven ones.
- Time & money - It's a quicker way of "making" the bed, and can save money on unnecessary bedspreads.
- Forging independence - This method is so easy, that even the little ones can make their beds without much effort.
" T h e U n m a d e B e d "
If you are still not convinced that an unmade bed will be up to your aesthetic standards, you should take a look at the gorgeous examples of unmade beds on our Instagram feed.
We invite you to share a photo or a video of your own beautiful unmade bed.
Each month we will feature your unmade beds and one lucky bed will be titled as "The Unmade Bed of the Month", winning their owner an item of their choice.
To qualify don't forget to tag us on your photo as well as use our special hashtag #swedishlinensunmade. Also make sure your bed is properly unmade (!) by pulling the duvet and blankets to the edge of the bed. Hear this? This is the sound of your bed breathing!
A huge welcome to our Unmade-bed movement!
Written by Wiebke Lotte Albers
