Friday, December 28, 2018

Home Style || Creating A 'Sleep Well' Bedroom



Do you find that when your bedroom is freshly tidied with clean sheets that you get a better nights sleep? There's a lot to that and the more we can do to make our bedrooms a calming, relaxing and soothing place to be, the better. I wrote recently about some things you can try to achieve a better nights sleep, but as well as all those little things like reducing screen time, adjusting lighting etc, making a few simple changes to our bedrooms can make a huge difference too. By altering colours, lighting and bedding, we can make the perfect 'sleep well' bedroom that will help to send even those of us that find it hard to switch off for sleep, heading for the land of nod. 

Whilst there are some general rules to creating the perfect room for sleeping, every one of us is different and something that may help someone relax, may not be suitable for someone else. Hopefully though, by considering a few things before you get started, you can create your perfect bedroom for optimum relaxation by adjusting the look and feel of your room to make it perfect for you. 



Things to consider


What's keeping you awake? If you do struggle to sleep, try and think if there's anything specific that you could change easily first. You make not need a big bedroom makeover, it may be that you just need to move your room around, tweak some of the furniture or even adjust your bedtime routine.

What style of bedroom do you like? Hit Pinterest, Google or home magazines and find some key features that call out to you. Try and consider which colours appeal to you for a relaxing space, what kind of wall art you may like if any and what look you want to go for that will make you happy yet relaxed when night time rolls around.

How much light do you like at night? Some like more natural light flooding in when the morning rolls round, a night light or pure darkness. Remember that we will still want lots of natural light in the day time, so try and work out how best to achieve your perfect lighting for sleep, without compromising on day time appeal.

What was your best nights sleep? Think of a time from a hotel, a sleep over, your childhood where you had a good nights sleep. What was it about that place that really made you relax? See if this is something you can incorporate into your new room design.

How do you want your bedroom to make you feel? Obviously we want to feel sleepy when we need to, but before that do we want to look at relaxing seaside scenes? Family photos? Blank walls? Patterned papers? Do we want to be reminded of happy times, our favourite places or would you prefer a blank canvas to help your mind focus on the job at hand, sleep.




Creating your own 'Sleep Well' bedroom...


Windows... By updating your blinds and curtains and possibly opting for black out or insulated options, you can create the perfect light needed for your sleeping needs and also keep the temperature up without extra heating. Also, as the window is such a large area of a room, by replacing your curtains for lighter fabrics, less patterned or more suited to your rooms, they will stand out less and be less of a distraction at night compared to busy patterns or bright colours.

Lighting... Lighting is everything, but never more so than when it comes to creating a relaxing space. You need nice bright lights in the bedroom sometimes, but also with the ability to reduce it to a more ambient glow when it comes to winding down for sleep. Consider various options of low level lighting, add dimmer switches to main lights, separate bedside lamps for the evening and if you need a little help on a dark morning, you could even consider a daylight clock.

The bed... Having the right bed for your needs makes a huge difference to the quality of your sleep and relaxation. With growing families, we often outgrow our beds, experience back pain or just need more space for a less disrupted night. Consider a new bed, mattress as well as updated bedding and pillows.

Gadgets... We're all suckers for gadgets but having them close by isn't always the best option. By leaving your phone out of reach, you may be less likely to pick it up at bedtime and get sucked into that social media hole. You may have LED lights illuminating your room which can be switched off or blocked out. Make sure any unwanted sounds are switched off and anything that's contributing even the tiniest bit to you not relaxing or sleeping, get rid of it or try and put it elsewhere.

Noise... If noise is an issue, see what you can to to reduce the impact or eradicate it completely. If you live in a busy area and it's external noise keeping you awake, you may need to replace windows for some that cancel out the noise more efficiently. If it's noisy neighbours, see if moving your room around helps, adding larger furniture to the adjoining wall to absorb the noise and adding your own soft sounds with music etc to further distract you from their noise.

Pets... Some of us have our furry friends join us at bed time and as much as this can feel relaxing at times, if it's not working for you then you have to make changes. This change could be as simple as adding a blanket of pet bed for your cat/dog to sleep in/on at the end or next to the bed. If they keep you awake by scratching, snoring or waking you up with 'kisses', then it may be time to consider moving them elsewhere at night, such as the hallway, a spare room or downstairs.




Temperature... Feeling warm and cosy at night can help you get to sleep, but if it's too hot or too cold, it can throw you off completely and leave you uncomfortable at night. Sometimes we can be very different to our partners in this sense, so it's all about striking that balance to make you both feel the perfect temperature at bed time.

Declutter and organise... Living with clutter can give you a busy mind at the best of times, but it's the last thing we need to think about at bed time. If we see a clean, mess free room before bed it can help add to the feeling of relaxation that is so important when winding down to sleep. Get organised, make sure everything has a place and try to get in better habits if only in the bedroom of tidying regularly and putting things in their rightful place.

Decorate... If you room decor isn't working for you, then you need to consider decorating to get your perfect colours to help you drift off. For me, I love the sea, so soft blues work well, whereas warmer tones make me feel less relaxed. I also find busy wallpapers too much for bed time as I can find myself staying awake looking at the patterns, so simple painted walls work best. This may not be the case for you though, so do what works for your needs.

The senses... By distracting your mind with fresh smelling bedding, aromatherapy oils, gentle music, soothing sounds and soft lighting, you can help yourself relax further and enjoy your bedroom without the distraction of a busy mind.




Good luck creating your perfect sleep space!