This post was created from a real life moment. We were getting our room ready to shoot an update last week and I asked Andi, our Visual Media Producer, to give me a hand putting the duvet cover on. To which she said, “Tell me I don’t have to crawl inside. I ALWAYS crawl inside of mine.” We both started laughing hysterically because the image was too relatable. But no, no crawling inside for my method. I’ve also seen a few tutorials on how to put a duvet cover on and they all involved rolling it and I just never…grasped that. So no rolling here, either.
And the best part, it actually takes under 2 minutes, but we gave you an extra minute in the title in case you’re doing this by yourself–which you can totally do.
We made a short play-by-play (uncut!) video to show you in real time just how easy it is, but in case you want the play by play in text–read on.
- Lay the Duvet cover INSIDE OUT flat on your bed. (I like to have the opening at the top)
- Lay the Duvet insert flat directly on top of the cover.
- Tie each of the corners.
- From the open end, reach your arm inside and grasp the furthest inside corner (s).
- With a flick of the wrist, pull the far corners through the opening and lift up so the rest of the duvet falls straight.
- Ta-da! Your duvet is now together and right side out!
If you need more of a visual, I hope you’ll watch the short video above! It’s so easy that Andi made us take OFF the duvet so she could record a video of it on the spot. Haha.
And since you’re no longer frustrated by duvets (right?!) as a bonus, we rounded up a bunch of our favorite covers and inserts below! We currently #6 (king size–gray!) and the number 1 insert. But I’m seriously crushing on ALL of these.
Duvet Covers
1. Painterly Stripe Duvet Cover: $129
2. Cedar Duvet Cover: $260
3. Classic Duvet Cover: $107
4. Olive Duvet Set: $325
5. Linen Duvet Cover: $224
6. Lightweight Linen Duvet Cover Set: $93
7. Duvet Cover Set Linen Blend Yarn Dye Stripe: $69
8. MagicLinen Duvet Cover: $194
9. Georgine Embroidered Floral Duvet Cover: $169
10. Coyuchi Rippled Stripe Organic Duvet Cover: $298
11. Terra Cotta Duvet: $477
12. Rugged Striped Duvet Cover Set: $33
13. Linen Wide Stripe Warm White Duvet Cover: $224
14. Woodward Duvet & Shams: $279
15. Organic Flannel Solid Duvet Cover: $99
16. Honeycomb Cotton Duvet Cover & Shams: $149
17. ECOCOTT 3 Pieces Duvet Cover Set: $52
18. MagicLinen Duvet Cover: $194
19. Woven Sunday Market Duvet Cover: $248
20. Bedsure 100% Washed Cotton Duvet Cover: $45
Duvet Inserts
1. Warm Down Comforter: $149
2. All Season Down Alternative Comforter: $32
3. HydroCool™ Down-Alternative Duvet Insert: $164
4. Goose Down Comforter Duvet Insert: $114
5. Big and Bold All Season Down Alternative Comforter: $52
Hope this helped a few people that were still crawling inside of their duvet covers.
57 COMMENTS
Nancy Williams
4 weeks ago
OMG Julie, I never knew my duvet and cover had loops/ties at the corners until I watched this video!! LOL!
My duvet and cover have never looked so good and I did it by myself!
Thank you Julia and Chris!
Nancy
Megan
1 month ago
The link isn’t working to the #1 down insert you listed. The link takes me to the target website but then says error message. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Felicity
9 months ago
Wait, they make duvet covers with zippers instead of buttons??? Where has this technology been all my life?
Chris Loves Julia
8 months ago
Haha, yes!
Angela
9 months ago
Wait. Are there ties in my duvet covers??!!
Julia
9 months ago
AUTHORThere COULD be!!!!
Mary
9 months ago
Is there somewhere you are listing all the paints colors? :-)
Chris Loves Julia
8 months ago
You caught us! As these rooms come together, we’ll have source notes for each. For now, this bedroom is Sherwin Williams Alabaster. The trim is SSW Accessible Beige. Hope this helps, Mary!
Dani
9 months ago
This works great! But I’ve recently discovered an even easier way – rolling!
Super fun and easy, it’s like magic, under 2 minutes on your own
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFOhjljieqs&feature=share
Joye
9 months ago
Do all of the duvet covers shown have zipper closures? Love that so much better than buttons!!
Chris Loves Julia
8 months ago
All of our Fieldcrest Home duvet covers have zippers!
Susanna
9 months ago
I have actually avoided buying a duvet because I’ve heard that messing with the cover was too complicated. This post may actually change my life… thank you for this hack!
Beth
9 months ago
Ties on the duvet and cover are absolutely not a thing in Australia (we call it a doona here too, not a duvet!)
I have a LOT of linen (it’s a bit of an addiction) and of all my covers, only 2 have the ties and they are from West Elm, so probably Americanised. My doona doesn’t have the ties though so I pinned safety pins to the doona and tied the ties around the safety pins and that works pretty well – not one stabbing incident :)
Also the zip along the bottom is a novelty! Buttons or press studs are the norm here.
Sheaven
9 months ago
What kind of Duvet and duvet cover is that you guys have and where is it from? I’ve been looking for a zipper cover and only found one from Casper so far
Chris Loves Julia
8 months ago
Fieldcrest from Target!
Kate
9 months ago
#12 was so cheap I thought it was a typo! I clicked the link and guess what – it’s gone on special so it’s down even further to $29!!! xx
Kiley Brodeur
9 months ago
Thanks Julia. I’m amazed by some of the negative comments here. My goodness. Anyways, is this the gray or the afternoon tea duvet? Thanks so much.
Chris Loves Julia
8 months ago
It’s gray :)
Jan Beaumont
9 months ago
None of my duvet covers have ties or zips.
Lucy leton
9 months ago
Love this. Now I need your tutorial on how to fold a fitted sheet. Impossible for me!!!!
Christina
9 months ago
Love this!!!! I’m always crawling inside of mine haha whoops! I would also be interested in how you make your bed – my bed making skills are fairly basic and yours looks like a hotel dream :-)
Suzanne
9 months ago
Would you ever stop, I do my king size bed in about 2 minutes, put your duvet half on bed, get your duvet cover inside out, put your arms inside duvet cover so that you’re reaching each corner, while still holding corners on your inside out duvet cover, grab 2 top corners of your duvet and pull cover down, simple
Liz
9 months ago
This is what I do, and how I was taught when I worked in high-end B&Bs where you change the linens daily and have to be quick about it! Never understood how any other method works.
Kim B
9 months ago
What the heck is this about duvet covers having ties?? And what do they tie TO on the duvet? I am so confused! (This looks so easy but I think my duvets and covers are missing some key elements!!)
Kim B.
9 months ago
I guess I could just sew the loops on my duvets, and the ties inside my covers …gotta get my sewing machine fixed!
Julia
9 months ago
AUTHORREALLY?! Okay, pretty much every duvet insert I’ve ever had has loops on the corners. They are flat to the insert so you could be missing them!
Kim B.
9 months ago
I am going to have to do some research on all my duvet covers!!
Liz
9 months ago
I’ve never had a duvet or cover with ties either! So logical, but not something I’ve ever seen!
Nicolette
9 months ago
I only figured out how to do this a few months ago and it is life changing, especially if you’re claustrophobic!
Side note: why do Americans wear shoes in the house or get on their beds with them??? I know CLJ has mentioned before that they don’t usually wear shoes in the house but whenever I see anyone sit on their bed with outside shoes on and I think about the fact that they could’ve walked through a public bathroom at work or at the store and put those germs on their bed or even just inside their house I die a little inside. Someone please explain this concept to me LOL
Julia
9 months ago
AUTHORI don’t know many people that do actually. Chris and I both grew up in a shoe free household and besides our house being a construction zone right now we take our shoes off when we go in anyone else’s house.
Nicolette Ardelean
9 months ago
Interesting. It might be a changing thing or even depend on where you live. Growing up whenever we went over “Americans” houses (we are first generation in the US) we always saw people wearing shoes in their house and it was such a distinction between growing up in an American vs European culture. I still notice it quite a bit in people’s instagram posts and youtube videos but I do know also that more health sources are telling people they shouldn’t now because of the germs and bacteria.
BZ
9 months ago
I too noticed the shoes on the bed and gasped haha.
JenC
9 months ago
I have plantar fasciitis and it gets worse if I go barefoot, so I always wear supportive shoes, even in the house. I don’t put them on the bed, but if you have a healthy immune system wearing them around the house should not be a problem.
Kait
9 months ago
Brilliant! I actually am washing my duvet now, so I will give this a try. Also, where is your cute top from?
Julia
9 months ago
AUTHORThank you so much! It’s from here.
Theresa Magliozzi
9 months ago
I remember when my Mom taught me this when I went away to college. Life changing :)
Jennifer Gumbel
9 months ago
My husband is from Germany where they use a “twin duvet per person” method (which is wonderful and life changing… also, no flat sheet). They do a ton of duvet cover changing, so they know what they’re doing. The inside-out method is how they do it in D-land and how we get it done in Gumbelhaus.
Tarynkay
9 months ago
Ours does not have ties inside, so we use binder clips. I tried safety pins but they did not stay pinned which was unpleasantly poky in the middle of one night.
Jennifer
9 months ago
My cover doesn’t have ties either. I’m going to try binder clips next laundry day. Thanks for the tip!
Kim B
9 months ago
“Unpleasantly poky in the middle of the night” !!! Hahahahaha excellent
Heather
9 months ago
This is LIFE. CHANGING! 10/10 always climbing in to my duvet cover to get it situated again hahaha.
Michelle
9 months ago
Ha! This is intuitively how my husband and I have always done it, I didn’t know there were other ways… what is the rolling method??? I feel so curious!
Kristen
9 months ago
This is pretty similar to how my husband and I do it, though we don’t start inside out. We lay out the way you do – right side out – then fish our arm through to the corners like you do toward the end, and pull them through and tie the top ends of our duvet, then the bottom ends. Once the ends are all tied to the right places, you can just shake it til everything falls in place hahaha.
Julia, are you the person I saw years ago recommend sizing up your duvet (if you can)? Looking at getting a new set for my guest bed, and wondering if I should do queen size duvet cover (it’s a queen bed) with a king size insert for extra fluff. Would love to hear your thoughts!
Julia
9 months ago
AUTHORI would just do both kings!
monica
9 months ago
If you do this, then the duvet stays put better. Most European duvets are just a bit larger than the cover, so when they are inserted there is little need for the ties sine the duvet itself does not have any room to move within the cover
Trudy
9 months ago
This looks pretty easy….I usually use the burrito method…..will try this next time.
My duvet doesn’t have ties, so I use diaper pins. They are big and secure it well. I’m nervous a regular safety pin would come loose, so I really like these.
Judith
9 months ago
The idea of having anything potentially pokey near me while I’m sleeping makes me a bit uncomfortable. Maybe you could try going without and see if it works for you?
Here in Germany, duvets and duvet covers are the norm, as are fitted sheets. Everyone I know uses the inside-out method they show in the video, but no duvets come with any ties. I’ve actually never heard of ties on duvets or inside covers before this post, and they really aren’t a necessity. If duvet and cover are sized well for each other, it stays inside and in the right spot. Though come to think of it, I have some Ikea duvet covers where I added a button on the bottom because they were open 1/3 and sometimes a bit of the duvet bottom would poke out a bit (not a lot though, but enough to annoy me).
Shell
9 months ago
I am so surprised this is new to people!! We’ve been doing it like this for decades and I just assumed most everyone else did too : )
nancys
9 months ago
LOL – I gave up crawling inside my duvet cover years ago, lazy me just lays the cover over the duvet like a blanket :) Definitely giving this a try this week!
Wilma
9 months ago
Nice tip. Also, if you don’t have ties you can lay the duvet on the bed, and put your hands on far corners of the inside out duvet, grab the far corners of the duvet, and “swish” it right side out. you’ll still have to fix the other two corners but it’s way easier than crawling in the duvet :)
M
9 months ago
Yes! This is what I do. Only household thing I have been able to impress my mother in law with :-).
Krystal
9 months ago
Yes! This is sort of how I do mine but even easier! And I actually have several new duvets arriving in the mail today to test out, so I am absolutely going to use this method. Thanks! This was also helpful to see your lovely grey bedding. I have a grey cat and finally decided that after years of fighting it, I’m changing my white duvet cover that is a cat hair magnet for a grey cover that might mask his sleeping spots just a bit better lol. But I’ve been having such a hard time deciding what color grey to try and what sort of pillows/colors I want to use to finish the bed. Your bed is just so lovely, I’m going to keep it in mind as inspiration. :)
Cici Haus
9 months ago
Duvet covers have ties inside?! I need to check mine because that’s genius…
Ashley
9 months ago
Brilliant. I can’t believe I never thought of this method. Thank you!
Paula Sullivan
9 months ago
Brilliant! Will try this – my husband & I do the european twin duvets b/c I like to ‘burrito’ up so I’m never cold…and I thought I had it down but this will save me more time! Thanks!
LMK
9 months ago
If you don’t have ties, these (or something similar) work just as well:
https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/comforter-clips-set-of-4/1010313465?keyword=duvet-clips
Just clip the duvet and insert corners together.
Amanda
9 months ago
Just coming here to post this! I’ve been using these and doing the method posted here for years! Works wonders. Someone else in the comments mentioned binder clips which would work very well as well! These just have softness on the outside for any middle of the night accidents. ;) Happy clipping! (And flipping!)