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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

You Have Permission To NOT Make Your Bed Today

 

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You are going to love me today!! I am giving you all permission to NOT make your bed today!

Seriously, I am!! I even have a good reason for you to NOT make your bed.

I know this  is contrary to everything we were taught as children. At least if you lived in my house the bed had to be made before any fun for the day was going to happen.

Everything I have  ever read on how to keep a tidy home has told me that one of the things to do is…. “Make your bed everyday!”

unmade bed chart

Not only is it on the chart, but is almost always #1!
So how in the world can I give you permission to not make your bed? Keep reading…..

 
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Author Cheryl Mendelson said the following:

"Each day when you arise, air the bed. Open the windows, if possible; throw the bedcovers back over the foot of the bed. (If the bedding will otherwise drag on the floor, stand a chair at the foot of the bed to support it.) Let the bed stand this way, unmade, while you shower and eat breakfast. The bed should air for at least an hour if you are going to work, or even longer if you are staying home. This helps immensely toward keeping the bed feeling and smelling fresh until you next change the sheets."

Now here is the why you are getting permission to not make your bed!

"While you are sleeping, you breathe about two pounds of moisture, along with breath odors and flocks of microorganisms, into the air, your pillow and your bedding. You also perspire, perhaps a cup's worth, and exude skin oils and body smells. And you use up the room's oxygen and replace it with exhaled carbon dioxide. When there are two or more people in the bed or the room, these effects are multiplied. All this explains why, if you sleep with closed windows, the room has a characteristic stale morning smell (although you might not perceive it until you leave for a few minutes and then return.) Unless you leave the bedcovers pulled down and the windows open for an hour or two, the moisture you have left in the bed either does not evaporate or evaporates very slowly, which makes for an environment in pillows and mattress in which dust mites, molds, and other microbial life have more of an opportunity to multiply. Opening the windows lets in new air to dilute the pollutants (microbial and particulate), carry them off, and bring in fresh supplies of oxygen."

Who knew?
I don't know about you, but after reading that, I am a believer in NOT making my bed everyday! 

Unmade beds really don’t look that bad, trust me, I do it almost everyday. Let me show you my unmade bed right after getting up, and then look at the after, still not totally made up, and it is airing out nicely and I even gave it a spritz of linen spray….

(Remember both images below show an unmade bed, the one on the right is how it looks while airing out and the one on the left is how it looks when we get up. The one on the right is neat and tidy, but still allows air to get to the bedding.)

Ribbet collage UNMADE BED BEFORE AFTER



See it is not so bad!

My bed all made up for the rest of the day!!

I like what  Erma Bombeck said……..

Erma Bombeck

Here is one more little quote that I will leave you with…

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Now go un-make your bed and let it air out!!!

 
 

17 comments:

Nancy said...

Aww, too late. I already DIDN'T make my bed. :)

Schnitzel and the Trout said...

When we lived in Germany years ago, all the "hausfraus" hung the blankets and down comforters, the pillows out of the bed windows (no screens) each morning. I enjoyed doing it also. I really need to start doing this again. I want this book...even at my age!!

Karena said...

Kathysue, it does make perfect sense.
I may be able to do this several days a week!

xoxo
Karena
2013 Design Series

Yvonne @ StoneGable said...

Great advice!!!! We leave our bed unmade until after coffee. Now I have an even better reason.

Patty Day @Pattys Epiphanies said...

OK!
I'm with you 99%!
The 1% is opening the windows. I do the turn down bit, but I can not open the windows. The home ventilation system must sub for the "fresh" air.
BECAUSE
The fresh air here is filled with pollen etc. Too many allergies to the "wonderful" outside.

Julie Taylor and Danni Greenwalt said...

I'm always in such a rush in the morning that it would never get made..

Merlin said...

I've always "aired out" the bed in the morning...have my coffee and then MAKE THE BED. I honestly find it "pleasureable" to "change up" the bed (only takes a minute.) franki

Unknown said...

Now I have a good reason for not making the bed! My husband always found it annoying that the bed didn't get made until after lunch. His opinion is: "the last one out of bed has to make it when they get up." Of course, I'm always always the last one out of bed! When I tell him this he will won't bug me anymore about having a messy bed when he comes home for lunch.

Unknown said...

Now I have a good reason for not making the bed! My husband always found it annoying that the bed didn't get made until after lunch. His opinion is: "the last one out of bed has to make it when they get up." Of course, I'm always always the last one out of bed! When I tell him this he will won't bug me anymore about having a messy bed when he comes home for lunch.

Unknown said...

Yuck..who knew! Science and technology has really made life so worrisome! Imagine we have all lived all these years not knowing this but I will say that I could never leave my bed unmade all day only because I would not like a messy room and I do not like to crawl into an unmade bed at the end of the day. That's just me...

Kathysue said...

Diane,
I am with you! I could not leave it all messy, but as you can see in the AFTER pict. it is neat and tidy, still allowing the sheets to air out.I can totally appreciate you not liking it to look messy all day!

Sarah said...

Great advice! I've always let the bed air for a bit, then go back and make the bed. I like your version of a tidy look while airing. '-)

Confessions of a Plate Addict said...

Hi Kathysue! I like this post! :-) Mine often gets a good airing because one of my kitties decided to get a morning nap there. But when I lived in France, everyone knew that already! Part of the morning routine was to pull back the covers and open the windows! People even pulled off the blankets and hung them over the window ledge to air. And I mean winter and summer! I was in a small town, of course, and I am not sure if that is done in Paris, but it was expected where I lived. Sooo..it seems they were right! Thanks again! Hugs...Debbie

Unknown said...

It really is a fantastic idea and that you showed a very neat way to do it. Here's to a healthier bed!
xo Nancy

The enchanted home said...

Wow so interesting....but I cannot imagine walking into a room with an unmade bed, ditto dishes in my sink...yes I am OCD!! I love the way your room has come along, just gorgeous!

stephanie at Stephanie Kraus Designs said...

I like it!!! perfect reason not to make the bed:)

debra @ 5th and state said...

informative with lovely segues. but, now i am freaking out about hotels!