Skip the Rules and Design a Bedroom for Better Sleep

Last week we talked about the importance of unplugging in this hectic world and brought you some of the best new freestanding tubs available for a good, hot soak. An even more important factor in your health and happiness is a good night’s sleep. Have you ever watch your pets plop down in a slice of sunshine, twist in some crazy contortion, and fall blissfully asleep as if that were most comfortable spot on earth? Ah, it be wonderful if truly restful sleep were that easy for us!

Restorative sleep (or any sleep at all) is a bit harder for us mere humans. Bedroom design can play an important role in achieving those essential hours of shut-eye. Read on for a guest article from the experts at Tuck Sleep with tips on designing your bedroom for a better sleep:

Skip the Rules and Design a Bedroom for Better Sleep

Design rules are there to enhance the look and appeal of a room, but sometimes they can get in the way of the room’s purpose. The bedroom needs to be your sleep sanctuary so you can get the full seven to eight hours of sleep you need to function at your best. It should be inviting, comfortable, and restful. With those design qualities in mind, you can incorporate elements that speak to your personal tastes and create your bedroom getaway.

Bring Nature Indoors

The color green has long been associated with a calm, relaxing atmosphere. Nowhere else do you see that more than in nature. Bringing natural elements into your bedroom can help it feel connected with the outdoors, but it’s free of bugs, rain, and more irritating natural occurrences. You don’t need to paint the room green, but use the color through plants or accessories.

Houseplants like lavender and jasmine both give off scents known to cause a sense of relaxation. If you’re looking to improve the air quality in your bedroom, the snake plant releases oxygen at night when you need it most.

Live plants aren’t necessary to bring nature into your home. Raw wood planks on a wall, a tree stump transformed into a nightstand, or even photos of nature are enough to evoke calm in the mind and body. Incorporating these elements into your design can bring the sense of Zen you need to release stress after a long day.

Use Lighting Carefully

Light plays a pivotal role in the quality of your sleep. In fact, the body’s sleep-wake cycle is largely determined by exposure to sunlight. To keep your body’s natural cycles functioning correctly, you need to keep your bedroom dark at night. Blackout curtains or heavy drapes with blinds might be necessary to thwart light pollution or a bright moon, from disturbing your sleep.

Light bulbs can impact your sleep as well. High-efficiency LED lights with their blue lights are similar enough to daylight to trick the brain into thinking it’s time to be awake. Keep these bulbs out of the bedroom and put them somewhere like an office or study area where daytime activities take place. Instead, opt for traditional incandescent bulbs that don’t affect your sleep. The light from a television or smartphone can have a similar effect on the brain. If at all possible, leave screens out of the bedroom.

Decorate for Comfort

Bedroom decor should be functional and attractive. Your body temperature changes during sleep. It drops as you enter the deep levels of REM sleep and rises towards morning when it’s time to wake up. Not only should you turn the temperature down at night, but try to use a bedspread that’s appropriate for the season.

Your bed, whether a fancy canopy bed or an air mattress, should be inviting and cozy. You can also add textiles to create the atmosphere you want. Rugs, plush throws, and pillows add warmth to the room while also absorbing sound. Keeping those echoes down makes the room feel more inviting and intimate and also prevents premature waking.

Tuck Sleep is a community devoted to improving sleep hygiene, health and wellness through the creation and dissemination of comprehensive, unbiased, free web-based resources. Visit their website or facebook page for more information.

Our special thanks to our friends at Tuck Sleep for these great tips. Sweet dreams everyone!

images from pixabay.com