I grew up dressing my bed each morning. It made perfect sense to me as I knew from my extensive reading of older books that sheets and blankets used to be called bed clothes thought it's rarely heard anymore.
I had no idea other people did not dress their beds until I used the term around my now-husband who had no idea what I was talking about. I did know the term "make your bed" and I'd bet my family used both terms. It's been years since my husband pointed this out to me and I've realized I've never heard anyone else use the term "dress your bed" outside of my family. Now that I listed regularly to your show (podcatching is fantastic!), I wanted to ask you guys if this term is used anywhere or ever was.
My Mom grew up in Iowa (German/Prussian ancestors), my Dad in Massachusetts (Lithuanian ancestors), and I in South Dakota, in case it has relevance.
AnnMarie
A Google search on "dress your bed" (or "dress a bed") brings up a lot of hits that suggest "dress" is used to mean decorating the bed with sheets, blankets, pillows, and other accessories. (Lots of home decorating sites in the results.)
Not strictly relevant, but this result caught my attention (uses both "make" and "dress").