One of the reasons most of us love hotels, apart from room service, is the plush inviting bed. It’s a bed that invites you to sit back and peruse the papers, enjoy breakfast in bed and snooze. Is it possible to get this veritable cocoon at home?

The essentials

Any kind of bed requires a good mattress, pillows and bed linen. You can also add a mattress pad, a fitted sheet, duvet/blanket/comforter and accent pillows.

Bed skirts and bed runners are optional but they score big in the style sweepstakes.

The mattress

Get the best mattress based on your budget. The most important consideration is comfort; one that’s right for you is a mattress that you lie in, not one you lie on or sink into. Experts say it should support your entire body and keep your spine in the same position as when you are standing in a good posture.

The pillows

Choose the right pillow, be it firm or downy. It must comfortably provide support to the head and neck, and shouldn’t deflate or lose fluffiness easily. Sleep expert and chiropractor Rick Loos in an interview said that “a pillow needs to be designed to support your neck”. Look for one that fills the gap between your head and your shoulders in your favourite sleeping position.

The little extras

Take the time out to iron your bed linen. A pressed bed sheet looks and feels different from a crumpled one. An extra flat sheet slipped under the blanket looks great. Add a bed skirt if it goes with your room décor. Centre and ensure that the edges are even at the foot and sides.

The hotel secrets

A mattress pad – also known as topper – takes a regular bed to a hotel-standard one. Made from foam, it provides a layer of comfort and warmth. Add a fitted sheet – larger than needed – to ensure that your bed wears it well and it can be tucked in tightly.

Making the bed

After you lay the bed sheet, centre the flat sheet, keeping an equal overhang on either side. Add the blanket or covering sheet; keep its bottom and side edges as even as possible with the sheet. Tuck in the flat sheet and the blanket together. Turn down the sheet and blanket tops, fold about 12 to 18 inches and tuck the long edges under the mattress along the sides.

Pretty things up

Stack pillows and cushions on the headboard. The pillows you sleep on go first and can be accentuated with colourful throw pillows. A pretty bed runner adds a hotel-like finishing touch.