why I still make the bed even though our mattress is on the floor

Today is National Make Your Bed day (did you even know there was such a thing?!).

Several months ago, Crane & Canopy offered to send us a new Belgian linen duvet and sham set and I, of course, said yes. If you’ve been around here for long, you know that I have a longstanding thing for linen. Linen sofa, linen pillows, linen curtains … and now linen bedding.

You guys. I love this bedding so much. It is so soft and lightweight, crisp and classic, and the wrinkly casualness is just right for our cozy house. I always go for white duvet covers and shams because they feel so hotel-ish and this new linen set is for sure my favorite we’ve ever had.

Months have passed since our new bedding came and I’ve been waiting for some updates to be made to our bedroom until I shared.

We sold our old metal bedframe (see it here) after we moved in almost a year ago and planned on replacing it with something more substantial, a little cozier and more masculine in style to fit in better with this house. I genuinely wanted to put our bedroom together first because master bedrooms always end up being the very last to get any attention in a house. I even put together a great design plan! We have plans to add architectural interest to the wall behind the bed (and potentially cover up the hexagon window that is oddly placed), we need nightstands and a reading chair/loveseat over by the window and we’re even considering putting a tv in the room (gasp!).

And yet, here we are all these months later with our mattresses on the ground, an ikea step stool for a nightstand and an otherwise empty room.

But here’s the thing: even though we don’t have our perfect furniture, I still make the bed.

I make the bed because it’s something I can do to make our bedroom feel put together.

I make the bed because it looks pretty.

I make the bed because if the bed is made, I feel a little more in control of my life (weird, I know. I feel the same way about having a clean car. When it’s out of control messy, it stresses me out.)

I make the bed because it feels so good to get into a nicely made bed at night.

My recipe for a well-made bed consists of a subtly pattered sheet set, a coverlet, duvet (with down comforter inside) folded at the foot of the bed, two sleeping pillows (on regular and one memory foam), decorative sham and a few accent pillows.

I’m such a fan of mixing patterns and textures and it makes my neutral tendencies so much more visually interesting.

For instance, we have a petite pattern on the sheets, a striped pillowcase for the memory foam old-lady pillow, a quilted velvet coverlet, linen duvet and shams and and embossed design on the throw pillows. The whole mix feels casual, classic and a little bit preppy.

Over the weekend, I painted a scribble art piece to hang over the makeshift nightstand … and I’m totally smitten with it. It adds a quirky graphic punch to keep the room from going too traditional.

So even though our room is far from where we hope it will end up, I’m so committed to making it work in the meantime. And sometimes all that means is taking a few minutes each day to make the bed.

SOURCES

sheet set | coverlet (similar) | duvet + shams | floral pillows | step stool (aka nightstand)

Hop on over to my fellow-bed-makers to see how they are pulling things together in their rooms on this national make your bed day: Kristi at I Should be Mopping the Floor, Anne at Flax & Twine, Camila at Effortless Style.