Proper Bed-Making 101, How To Make Square Corners, Step By Step

Home » How To Make Hospital Corners » Proper Bed-Making 101, How To Make Square Corners, Step By Step

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We at Remodelista are on a mission to resurrect the lost art of the well-made bed. Lesson one: square corners (sometimes known as hospital corners when the fold is diagonal).

My grandfather, a WWII vet, taught me all I know about bed-making, including proper square corners. My favorite part of helping him was testing his regulation-tight tuck by bouncing a quarter off the bed. Now, though I prefer a slightly more relaxed tuck, I’m no less fastidious.

Here is my grandfather’s technique for making square corners.

1. Position the sheet.

make sure you have enough sheet at the top for a generous fold down. 17
Above: Make sure you have enough sheet at the top for a generous fold-down.

Before you tuck anything in, it’s important to know how much sheet you will be tucking in. You definitely don’t want to perform this whole tuck exercise only to find that you’ve left too little or too much sheet at the head of the bed. So first:

  • Center the top sheet over your bed.
  • Fold down the top sheet to desired width.

Note: Since most sheet sets now come with a fitted bottom sheet, this tutorial only deals with the top sheet. However, if your bottom sheet is not fitted, simply apply our square-corner directions to all four corners of the bottom sheet.

2. Tuck in the end at the foot of the bed so that it is tight and smooth.

the top sheet is securely tucked in at the foot of the bed. 18
Above: The top sheet is securely tucked in at the foot of the bed.
  • Lift one corner of the mattress.
  • Starting at the bottom center of the mattress, use the palm of your free hand to sweep the corner of the sheet under the mattress, creating a tight and smooth fold.
  • Repeat on the next side.

3. Grab the bottom edge of the sheet and fold it up.

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