Our sleeping pillows are behind the decorative shammed pillows, when making the bed.

How can anyone learn without asking questions? It's not like they teach us this stuff in school. Generally, the pillows with the shams are decorative. I like to put my sleeping pillows behind the pillows that are in decorative shams, but you could also use your shams without a pillow insert and just lay them across your sleeping pillows like little individual quilts when you make your bed. If you do the latter, then you don't have extra pillows to wrangle.

Here's a link to the way one woman makes up a bed. It's a little more elaborate than I'm willing to do, but you may enjoy reading it.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Perfect Bed

Thank you! I love that idea funtoBhere! I didn't want so many pillows. I feel much better about this solution. Also, I appreciate what you said. But, if they would have taught any of this in school I probably would have rolled my eyes and wondered how my hair looked if if "that" boy noticed me. (:

I actually learned a lot from reading how to make the perfect bed. I go a lot more basic than that but that could be age. I love the way all of those pillows look, but boy what a pain at nite when I'm exhausted and have to take them all off!

After reading The Perfect Bed I opened her link to the bedskirt. I wondered how she managed to get it so fluffy and deep enough to tuck underneath the bed. She uses fabric - 10 yards long, 60" wide and tucks it and places it beneath the top mattress and then tucks it beneath the bed. She didn't even bother to sew the folds in place or hem it. It looks very nice except it would seem to me that every time she changed sheets she'd have to rearrange the bed skirt.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bed Skirt

She probably changes the sheets and vacuums on the same day because you're right, Maire Cate, both of those activities would require rearranging the bed skirt.

Macy's is a great place for bedding. They show all the beds made up. Same when you go to the store. You can get lots of ideas from just looking at how they display each vignette.

When I think of bed pillows I remember Ed Begley Jr on his tv show saying they were a govt make-work project....pillows on, pillows off, pillows on, pillows off.

I buy cheapo pillows at walmart to stuff into my shams and put the actual sleeping pillows behind them when I make the bed to keep the dust off.

Sorry that you don't feel you can ask these questions of your GFs...my GFs and I went through kindergarten, puberty, marriage, and menopause together....there's nothing that's off the table....

She is also a top of the cabinet cleaner, I'm sure.

There are many different ways to make a bed but in general, the shams and coverlet and removed/pulled back at night and the sheets and blanket are what are slept under.

I am confused by that how-to bed making link. It looks as if she has the top of the top sheet at the bottom of the bed-because it may be wrinkled?-and not tucked in under the end of the mattress. Then, once her blanket is on, it looks as though there is no top sheet unless it is pulled up to be tucked in smoothly under the top of the mattress. Odd. I do iron my pillow cases and the edge of the top sheet in the guest rooms because it is always turned down over the blanket and blanket cover (and pillow cases are washed and/or changed before guests come). I do not use decorative shams since I prefer a simpler look, but don't be embarrassed that you aren't sure about those. I thought your regular pillows actually were put in those every morning! Obviously, I have never lived in a house where shams were used! :) I think when they first became popular (70s?), that is what people did, but I certainly could be wrong.

I always wonder about these blogs. Who really does that everyday? Unless you are one of those who doesn't work, has a maid/housekeeper who comes in more than once a week,I can't imagine doing this myself every day. No way that bedskirt stays nice day to day.Just tucking in the sheets and blanket on the sides would require rearranging it. I want a bed that is easy to make and looks inviting. Has to be easy. I have other things to do...like cleaning the floors behind muddy dogs, vacuuming up dog hair, dusting, etc. ;)

Oh, and I loved Ed Begley's show!

BTW, just to be clear, I am not at all critical of someone who stays home, has a daily housekeeper, etc. I personally would love to stay home and plan to retire after the next school year ends. I still won't have a bed like that though! ;)

Cyn427, I think most activities are about priorities, don't you? I don't stay at home or have a housekeeper, but I love the layered look of bedding like you see in a Ralph Lauren advertisement. It only takes me three minutes to make my bed in the morning with all of its pillows and I get to enjoy it every time I walk through the room. On the other hand, I can't imagine having to feed and clean up after a dog, but I'll bet you can't imagine life without your pets. Isn't it nice that we can each spend time on the things that make us happy?

I do not lay on my shams with pillows in them but I do actually use the Euro pillows behind them. I bought some big cheap Euro pillows at Garden Ridge then made my own covers for them out of a fuzzy leopard print fabric. I like to lay in bed and read so I put the big Euro pillow behing my bed pillow to help prop it up.

Fun, I agree 100%!

I find it hard to get as excited as Heidi about making the bed. In about a million years, I would not put unused layers on the bed, then cover them up, unless perhaps Martha Stewart invited herself over.

I straighten the sleeping pillows(5) and the top of the sheet, blanket, and seasonal layer(1 of each), and put 3 decorative pillows back on. The 2 from my side sleep on the trunk, and 1 from DH's side sleeps...guess where??

Nancy

My sleeping pillows are behind the shams, and the shams are filled with inexpensive pillows.

I love shams and pretty pillows on a bed. Like Fun - a pretty bed makes me happy. I want our bedroom to feel indulgent, pretty, a place we go in, settle down and say "ahhhhhhhhhh".

I am, however, too lazy to take pillows in and out of shams twice a day. I have pillows that stay in my shams and sleeping pillows. We have an armoire in the room and whatever pillows that are not in use go in the armoire. Or in a large basket in the adjacent master closet. Our sleeping pillows are not on the bed when it's made up.

tina

Do those of you who have that look turn down the sheets and blankets like that? The way my dust ruffle is, I have to have my coverlet pulled all the way to the headboard.

You definitely need to purchase 'extra' pillows that will stay inside of the shams. You won't need anything expensive since you won't be sleeping on them. It just makes things much easier. ;o)

This is OT, but on the Perfect Bed link (thank you, Fun!) I saw this pic in the "about me" section.

It's that cabinet . ..every time I see them on CL, I shudder, but I love the way she made it look. Wow. I never saw the potential in that style.

And yeah . . .if you want shams, definitely get some cheap pillows to put in them. I like shams for reading in bed, though maybe someday I'll get an actual reading pillow.

Oops, and even more OT, look at this awesome trick. Same thing bothers me about curtains.

Here is a link that might be useful: curtains

This post was edited by anele on Tue, Mar 26, 13 at 22:44

i am the odd duck who puts the 'shammed' pillows at the back and put the sleep pillows in front of them- a total of 4 sleep pillows, so i usually have 2 different colored pillowcases on them-and they're down pillows, so fluff up with a shake... (of course i buy color coordinating pillowcases! lol)
our shams have the same print as the comforter and it is just too much pattern for me if i have them in front of the sleep pillows and it also looks alittle weird if they front of the sleep pillows since we use 2 fluffy down pillows each... they're too far from the headboard, imo... (i have king shams, not euro shams, so am unable to 'hide' as much behind them...)
then if i want make the bed look 'pretty', i'll occasionally throw a couple of decorative pillows in front of the sleep pillows. i do not worry about dust getting on the pillows in the least, but habitually, i do shake to refluff my pillow after climbing into bed- so any dust that may have gathered would then be dispersed again into the air!!
i do like having the shammed pillows on the bed because it is comfortable to sit up in bed against them...

You all will probably appreciate this: My husband and I were just back home at his mother's house. She had two Euro pillows, two decorative shams, and two obvious sleeping pillows on the guest bed. I took all the fancy pillows off the bed and placed them on the little bench beside the bed. The sleeping pillows were not much for propping yourself up to read before sleeping, so my husband grabs back one of the decorative pillows. I nearly gasped and yanked it back from him and said, "I don't want your mother to think you were raised by wolves!"

Apparently, I have a little husband/child confusion. But my MIL sure got a chuckle out of it the next morning at breakfast. And she was relieved that my husband didn't actually get to put his head on her fancy shams. (and then she told us there were extra pillows and blankets in the closet)