OT thoughts on making a bed?

I was making my bed this afternoon so I could replace the bedroom lightbulb (haha made your brain hurt), and I realized my bedsheet setup may be amenable to OT. I spent a year in Norway as an exchange student in high school, and they make their beds differently. Most people have just one twin or full-size all-year-long down comforter, and it's the same size as the bed surface – it doesn't go over the edges. It just has a duvet cover on it. No sheets – just the bottom cover you lie on and the duvet comforter. So in the morning you just lift up the comforter and it takes 10 seconds instead of a few minutes to make the typical American bed with sheets and comforters and tucking in and all that. So for example, I have a full-size bed, and then I have a twin-sized down comforter on top. Very handy. Because duvets can be a pain to put on depending on the style, this isn't really a great bed set-up for someone with poor upper extremity strength, but it could useful for someone who only has lower extremity problems.

Also in Norway, most traditional couples have two matresses within one frame, and two comforters as well – that way each person has their own comforter and there is no fighting for the covers. I think that's a neat idea. So those of you with sheet-hogging spouses, replace your king-size comforter with two smaller ones! This could be especially handy if the one of the spouses has special needs and it's not easy to share covers.

I dunno. I haven't seen these suggestions elsewhere so maybe they are stupid. It just popped into my head as possibilities. The occupational therapist student brain of mine is working overtime. La la la.

About to head out for the night!! Maybe late tonight I'll feel like reading for Management, or writing my Aging in Place post, or working on my 10-week Well Elderly Program, or organizing my newly printed OT papers. Or. Maybe I'll feel like sleep. We shall see.

Jan 12, 2008 | Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none