Sharing a bed with your partner can be sweet and cozy. But if you’re not compatible bedmates, it’s more frustrating than anything else. Your sleep suffers and resentment toward your partner can build.
A simple change to the way we make our beds — inspired by a common Scandinavian practice — could be the key to a better night’s sleep. Many folks in countries like Sweden, Denmark and Norway and in other parts of Europe use a two-duvet system. So instead of sharing one big duvet, each partner has their own separate, smaller comforter.
“This is also known as ‘The Scandinavian method’ as it is standard procedure in the Scandinavian countries,” Li Åslund, a Swedish clinical psychologist and sleep expert at Sleep Cycle, told HuffPost. “In fact, it is much harder to find duvet covers for double-size duvets in this part of the world.”
“A large majority of households has never even reflected on the fact that people in other countries might find this practice surprising or even weird,” she added.
The Scandinavian method got some buzz recently when photographer and content creator Cecilia Blomdahl, who is originally from Sweden but lives on the Arctic island of Svalbard, posted about it on her TikTok. The video has since amassed more than 1.1 million views and almost 700 comments.
“Yes, we have two duvets here and I could never live with one,” Blomdahl says in the video as she makes her bed.