I just got the real estate staging compliment of a lifetime–ok, well there have definitely been better ones but, oh my gosh, this is pretty high up there!
One of our clients who is ex-military said she had never seen a bed made as well as we had made hers for her Photo Styling appointment. Seriously, I literally felt like doing a crazy Dwight Shrute karate kick of accomplishment but restrained myself because, you know, I'm professional and all…
But here's the thing–all of the bedding she had in her house was the wrong size for her beds! What? True facts right there, people. And her pillows were a floppy mess.
As an aside, I think we have a crisis in this country of keeping our pillows far too long–HomeGoods sells them for under $30. We really should be treating ourselves better.
Ok..back to the blog…
So I wanted to share with you some of the cool hacks that we have come up with over the years to make any bed perfectly when staging a house to sell, no matter what nonsensical bedding debacles we encounter.
How to Make Any Bed Perfectly
LAYERING
Layering is one of the best ways to give a bed dimension. Sometimes a simple fold-down of the comforter or quilt is perfect. Other times we roll down to reveal a pretty bed sheet or layer a comforter over a quilt….
photo: Ashlee Hall
photo: Jennifer Churches
photo: me
..but sometimes we need to get more creative because we don't have those available to us in the right size, color and pattern. So let me tell ya, people have goldmines sitting in their houses that we have exploited for the greater good to create the look of a layered bed:
- the wrong sized sheet
- a shower curtian
- pillow cases
- an extra duvet cover
- table cloth
- curtain panel
PROPPED PILLOWS
We loooove propped up, happy pillows in our projects but, wow! It is sometimes so flipping hard to get some of those dang lumpy, destroyed things to sit up. But here's a trick that we have used that works brilliantly–add folded towels on the backside of the pillow to add structure and fullness. It works crazy well!
photo: Ashlee Hall
BEDSKIRTS
I'ma 'bout to give you a bedskirt public service announcement here. First, if you have a bed that has wood or upholstered side rails then you don't need a bedskirt. Let some air under that pretty bed (Unless you are hiding a multitude of sins under there. Then, by all means, add a bedskirt!). What you actually need on those beds is a boxspring cover and I shared my favorite one here.
If you have a bed with metal side rails or it is just sitting on one of those metal do-dads that attaches to just a headboard then you need a bedskirt. I shared two of my favorite bedskirts here.
But, in our Photo Styling, sometimes we are in a pinch so in place of a boxspring cover or bedskirt you can use:
- king size bedding which will go to the floor and almost on every other sized bed
- a fitted sheet is essentially what a boxspring cove is so…you guessed it…use a fitted sheet
- flat sheets place strategically to look like a bedskirt
- pillow cases placed strategically to look like a bedskirt
I hope you just loved these tips on how to make any bed perfectly! So the next time you want to sell your house with gorgeous online listing photos or just impress the in-laws, your friends–you can dazzle them all with your newfound magic bed-making tricks. And please, if you have other ideas–share the wealth in the comments below, ma' friend!
If you want more great styling guides and tools, download my FREE e-book “Sell Your House In 72 Hours” here and you will have an opportunity to grab my Staging Jumpstart Kit with all kinds of goodies to style the other spaces in your house like a total staging champ!
xo,
Lori
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