The making of a bed...

..that seems like a silly thing - "making" a bed.

Not the actual act - but what we call it. You can "make " a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, or "make" a table and chairs (and, I guess, a bed)..

..but I think it would be better to say "dressing the bed" which is, actually, what we do.

If we hang towels on the towel bar, we don't say "making the towel bar"..

Hmm..thoughts to ponder..............or not.

Anyway, while I was "dressing" the bed, I thought of how that has evolved over just the past few years.

Remember bedspreads? Not comforters, or quilts or coverlets, but bedspreads. They were smoothed out and the pillows actually had a little flip-over thingy that made them look as it they were part of the upholstered piece of furniture known as the bed.


If you were really fussy, you'd slide your hand underneath the fold and make it smoooooth..

There were really steps in "making" the bed:

1. Bottom sheet tight. If you were lucky, you had contoured sheets - if not, flat and "hospital corners" were the thing of the day.


2. Top sheet. Design down so that when you flipped it over (instep 4) you'd see the pattern. It also provides a prettier bed that allows both sides of printed sheets to appear when the bed is turned back for entry. Then, when you slipped between the covers, your were sandwiched in between patterns. Oh joy.

Again, hospital corners. Tight. Toe-suffocating-tight. Get-mad-and-pull-the-bed-apart-tight.

3. Blankets, with the satin edging pulled up to about 8 inches from the top of the top sheet.

4. Fold top sheet over on to the blanket. Smooth all and tighten. Again. Hospital corners.

5. Now the bedspread....remember, not a comforter that can be whipped up and over the bedding - no - this was a bedspread that was larger - much larger - than the bed itself. Once the footing was sufficiently covered, the excess (and there was a lot) was folded down on itself . You now have about 2 feet of fold-over.

6. Place the pillows, with the open end of the pillowcase to the outside of the bed, on the bed with their edges crossing over the spread by about 6 inches.

7. Flip bedspread over the pillows, smooth and make sure the material is under the pillows, making an upholstered-looking top.

8. Place 3 square throw pillows, on their points (triangle) and you're done!

Can you say...Oh. My. Heck.

I was ecstatic when comforters came into being. Imagine - tossing the comforter up, tossing your pillows on, and walking away.

New words came into my vocabulary - comforters, duvets, pillow shams, dust ruffles.

Many, many (many) throw pillows tossed haphazardly on to the sleeping pillows.

But, even now, I do toss, smooth. Pillow-pile . Daily.

Sometimes I see a lump in the middle , only to discover Braxton, asleep and not wanting to move.

Ah yes, life and "bed dressing" is has come a long way...

So, do you "dress" your bed??

-me