Making the bed

How to make a bed you want to get back into.

Six pieces, five steps, no hospital corners. This is the order we layer a Highfield bed — and the small things that make it look slept-in on purpose.

Highfield Journal

Warm White percale bedding on a low walnut bed against a raw concrete wall, a glass wall open to gravel and an olive tree — Percale Bed Bundle in Warm White.

A well-made bed isn't a tight one. It's a bed where each layer does one job — the fitted sheet holds, the flat sheet sits between you and the duvet, the cover keeps everything washable — and where everything sits in the same weave and colour, so nothing fights.

You'll need a sheet set (or a fitted and flat sheet on their own), a duvet cover and its shams, pillowcases and your pillows. A bed bundle has all six fabric pieces in one weave and colour.

Fitting a warm white fitted sheet over a mattress corner

Step 1: Start with the fitted sheet

Pull the elasticated corners over the two top corners of the mattress first, then the foot. Smooth from the centre outward so the seams sit square on the edges.

Tip — check your mattress depth against the pocket size before you buy.

Find your pocket depth

Smoothing a warm white flat sheet across a bed

Step 2: Lay the flat sheet, wrong side up

Centre the flat sheet with the hem at the head of the bed, wrong side facing up — when you fold it back over the duvet, the right side shows. Tuck the foot; leave the sides loose.

Tip — a flat sheet means the duvet cover needs washing less often.

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Smoothing a warm white duvet cover over a made bed

Step 3: Dress the duvet

Turn the cover inside out, reach in to the two far corners, grab the duvet’s corners through it and shake the cover down over the duvet. Then lay it flat over the flat sheet.

Tip — do the buttons last, once it’s on the bed and the corners are square.

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Settling a pillow in a warm white pillowcase

Step 4: Pillowcases, then shams

Sleeping pillows go in pillowcases at the back; shams sit in front. Push the corners of each pillow fully into the case so the hem lies flat.

Tip — two sleeping pillows per person, one sham each, is plenty.

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Fastening the buttons of a warm white duvet cover

Step 5: Fold back and leave it

Fold the top of the flat sheet back over the duvet by a hand’s width. Pull the duvet up to meet the pillows and stop. A few creases are the point — percale and linen look best slept-in.

Tip — resist the iron; a warm dry and an immediate spread does the job.

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One weave, one colour, every layer — and the bed looks finished even when it isn't.

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