Our Light & Airy: The Summer Bedding Turnover Boutique opens Monday, May 20, at 3PM ET.

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Like a salon blowout (as in, near impossible to replicate at home), the perfectly made hotel bed is a feat of housekeeping mastery. Luckily, the Director of Renovations for W Hotels, Aliya Khan, let us in on a few tricks of the trade.

Invest in high-quality bedding and pillows. ”I recommend using 100% cotton, with a 200–400 thread count. Be sure to use sheets, shams, and a duvet set, as well as a lightweight blanket or coverlet. Extra pillows and shams are a nice, inviting touch.”

Make the bed. ”After placing the fitted sheet on the bed, make hospital corners with the bottom corners of the top sheet. Then place the top sheet on the bed, followed by the duvet. Fold the sheet and duvet down 12–14 inches before placing pillows on top. Smooth out the duvet and sit the pillows up straight.”

Keep duvets and pillows fluffy. “Shake them lightly with your hand every morning and then redistribute the filling by tapping the pillows on every side. Wash your pillows and duvet every few months on the gentle cycle and dry them on low with tennis balls in the dryer to keep them fluffy.”

It’s not just about the bed. ”While the bed is key, it’s also important to consider the entire ambiance of a room. Scents like lavender (either from a candle or a spray) are ideal as they soothe and relax, and citrus scents are perfect for waking you up in the morning. Also experiment with different lighting, keeping it dim by night so you can unwind but bright and welcoming by day.”

Our Keep It Simple: White, Grey, & Neutral Bedding Boutique opens Friday, May 17, at 3PM ET.

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The Top-of-the-Line Table: Mariposa, Lenox, & More Boutique opens Wednesday, May 15, at 3PM ET.

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Cheap. Easy. So fun. Wine drinkers? This one’s for you. Everything you need is in your house except for the knob that will top the stopper. Thankfully, you only need one – so spend $8 or so (love these) for the soon-to-be cutest wine stopper ever.

First, dig up a few old corks to practice. The trick to a successful stopper is a perfectly vertical twist through the cork – otherwise, the knob will not lie flat. If you have one of those handy-dandy mechanical wine openers, I encourage you to use it here. If not (I don’t), that’s what practice is for.

In terms of wine corks, synthetic is ideal. Not only do synthetic corks keep wine fresh longer by eliminating bacteria, they also make for a DIY wine stopper that you can use again and again (or give as a gift!).

By Julia Ivins, Staff Writer

Questions? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us at @ruelala, then check out our Rue How-To column every Wednesday.

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Our BODUM Grills Boutique opens Wednesday, May 15, at 11AM ET.

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Our Ready for Bed: The Linen Refresh Boutique opens Monday, May 13, at 3PM ET.

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Food, drinks, and hungry guests are givens. More easily overlooked? These items, all key players in a smoothly running cookout. To ensure you don’t forget anything, click on the image below for your own downloadable checklist. (Party on.)

Our Gear Up for Grilling Season: BBQ Essentials Boutique opens Friday, May 10, at 3PM ET.

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Our All-Clad Stainless Steel Cookware Boutique opens Wednesday, May 8, at 3PM ET.

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If you visited Rue La La at all last month, you probably saw our April login page. (If not, peep it here.) A personalized welcome mat? Needless to say, I was inspired.

One trip to Home Depot, a few printouts, and some work with an X-ACTO® knife later, my front porch has serious personality. Here’s how to create your own.

What you’ll need:

• Door mat (about $10 at Home Depot)
• Black spray paint ($2)
• Stencils – I printed mine on regular printer paper, in a few different sizes
• X-ACTO knife
• Scissors
• Thumbtacks
• Newspaper
• Tape measure, if you want to be precise

How to do it:

1. Print out your mat message. (Need an idea? How about a Rueism?) If you have heavier paper, it might make the cutting process a bit easier, but I used regular and it worked well.
2. Decide what size your font should be by placing the pages on the mat and eyeing them from standing level. If you can’t read it clearly, it’s too small.
3. Use the X-ACTO knife to carefully cut out the letters. Do this on a safe surface, like a thick piece of cardboard or magazine (I used an old Rue La La box). Make sure to save the letters that need fill-ins, like Es and Os.
4. Go outside (inhaling toxins is no fun) and place your stencil plus fill-ins – tape measure optional – on the mat where you would like the message.
5. Secure the pages and pieces with thumbtacks. Don’t be modest – the spray will cause lightweight paper to blow around a bit, and you want these as stable as possible.
6. Cover the rest of the mat with newspaper to prevent the paint from spreading.
7. Spray the stencils completely.
8. Let dry for a minute or two, then reveal!

By Julia Ivins, Staff Writer

What will your welcome mat message be? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us at @ruelala, then check out our Rue How-To column every Wednesday.

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