Get More Sleep! Six Essential Elements of a Well-designed Bedroom

Everyone likes having a beautiful bedroom: crisp linen, flowy curtains, plush rugs and soft lighting. But did you know that having a well-designed bedroom has numerous advantages for your health and well-being? Here is a list of the most important benefits of having a well-designed bedroom – some of these are going to surprise you!

1. Position of your bed

Your bed’s placement can have a direct influence on the quality of your sleep. According to Feng Shui principles a bed should be placed as far from the bedroom door as possible and not directly in line with the door. This allows the sleeper to feel in control of the space, instead of caged, overwhelmed or intimidated. The more you can see of the room and the door, the better.

Pure practicality dictates that a bed shouldn’t be nudged into a corner because this can hinder free movement and wake you from a peaceful rest. Avoid placing the bed next to a wall that is shared with a bathroom or kitchen as the noise from appliances and pipes can have an adverse effect on deep sleep without you realising it. Finally, placing a bed next to or below a window might seem romantic, but unwanted noise and light can easily slip through. A bed in the centre of a wall opposite the bedroom door is the ideal placement. Play around with positioning in your room until you are happy with it.

2. Blocking and filtering light

Secure a great night’s rest or a power nap with blackout curtains and blinds. Our eyes are equipped with optic nerves that can detect light through our closed eyelids, and once detected, the “wake up” signal is sent to the brain. It’s best to ban light from the bedroom to encourage our bodies’ natural recuperation processes.

3.  Choose your mattress with care

Like with little Goldilocks, a bed has to be perfect for your body to get the most out of your rest. Luckily, you don’t have to tempt fate by enraging a bear, but you do have to do a bit of research and test mattresses before bringing one home. Here are top tips for buying a new mattress and a mattress guide to help you on the road to discovering the perfect mattress. A quality mattress can ease back and neck pain as well as improve posture, which makes the mattress the most important feature in the bedroom.

4. Calming and Soothing Décor

Create the ultimate relaxation space with calming hues and minimal décor. According to color psychology, color has a definitive impact on our moods and can influence physical experiences. There are many differing opinions and studies, but the consensus is that muted colors, especially shades of blue are the most conducive to sleep while bright colors are overstimulating and likely to keep you up at night. Other sleep-promoting colors include pastels and soft shades of green, yellow, orange and grey.

Use texture rather than busy patterns to decorate your bedroom. A decluttered bedroom is a haven to the sleepy! Practice minimalism in the bedroom; keep only the essentials to stimulate restorative rest. Add color by introducing accent cushions, artwork, and pollen-free plants.

You can also paint the ceiling a dark color. A dramatic, dark ceiling will add to the room’s calm and boost your brain to go into super sleep.

5. TV & Electronics

Recent studies tell us, yet again, that electronics and television in the bedroom is still a very bad idea. The duration and quality of sleep have been on a steady decline in the past few decades, while the use of electronics has been on a steady incline. Artificial light at night suppress melatonin; a hormone that prepares the body for sleep and is related to blood pressure and glucose levels.

Give your melatonin a chance to do its magic by keeping electronics out of the oasis of a bedroom you’ve created, installing warm light bulbs in light fixtures or, as a last result, getting a pair of Anti Blue Light glasses – yes, it’s a thing!

6. Music and Sounds

Incorporate soothing nature sounds into the bedroom. Water promotes calm and helps to soothe the mind, so a real water-feature is ideal. However, if that’s not a viable option, you can choose an integrated sound system with soothing music. Even though you should limit the light in your bedroom, the use of a sound system could benefit your sleep. Just make sure that it’s pumping out river, rain or sweetly chirping bird sounds.

Set your chosen slow music track or nature sounds on a timer so that it may switch off once you’re carelessly off to dreamland. That way, you can avoid having the blue light on for the whole of your sleep cycle.

Need some advice on color schemes to get you started? Check out Decorilla’s round up of 5 never fail color combinations for bedrooms and let the inspiration continue!

Are you ready to live the well-designed bedroom life? If you need some expert personal advice, get in touch with one of our online or in-home interior designers to schedule a free consultation. Ready to start designing? Start a project today! They can help you create a magnificent and serene bedroom design perfect for you.

[images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]