WHEN DECORATING YOUR home, it’s smart to begin by drilling down on the desired function of each room. How will you spend your time there? How do you want to feel when you’re in the space? What time of day will you use it most?
Taking the time to answer these questions will help you to determine everything from the furniture to the colours on the wall. For example, you might want a more energising kitchen but a moodier, cosier living room.
When it comes to the bedroom, however, one thing we can all agree on is the fact that we want to create a space conducive to a good night’s sleep. We want to feel tranquil, at ease and relaxed – and believe it or not, the decor you choose is paramount when it comes to our mood.
Decor has the power to moderate feelings of stress that we experience throughout the day, but done wrong, it equally has the power to enhance them. Consider these easy bedroom updates to ensure your bedroom decor is serving both your waking and sleeping self well.
Swap your white roller blinds for lined linen roman blinds. Grey or green tones are soothing on the eye. You can opt for blackout blinds in this style for maximum darkness while you sleep, but studies do suggest some natural light coming through in the morning will help you to wake up and feel better.
Blinds are visually neater than thick, heavy curtains, however, you can add light floor length curtains that remain open, simply to frame the window and add a soft layer of texture. Keep your window sills clear of clutter.
Your bed will do a lot of the work while you sleep, but the quality of your sheets cannot be overlooked. Not only do they help you sleep better, they also look better, encouraging you to get into bed early and nail your sleeping routine.
Treat yourself to Egyptian cotton sheets that boast a 300 to 400 thread count. Any more than 400 and you’ve been fooled – if you’re buying something that describes itself as 700 thread count, for example, the reality is the threads have been split and the quality has been compromised.
Keep the colours soothing and the patterns lowkey, otherwise you’ll wind up feeling overstimulated. Plain or a simple stripe will do the trick. Always match your pillow cases to your duvet cover to make your bed more inviting.
Again, when choosing decor such as art prints you may hang on the walls, bring it back to the function of the room and the way you want to feel.
Word art that encourages you to breathe and sleep can work well to trigger your mind and body for a night’s rest.
A busy gallery wall will be too much in the bedroom so instead, consider adding a picture ledge above the bed (cheap as chips from Ikea) and stack a series of simple, easy going prints of equal size and frame colour. Nothing too severe or stimulating.
Beyond decor, it’s your storage that will have the most impact on how you feel when you’re in your bedroom. Think about how good you’ve felt waking up to a clean and tidy room – no ‘floordrobe’ in sight. Think about that satisfying feeling of slipping into fresh sheets at night after you’ve made the effort to fold your clothes away. A clean room, a clean mind, a better sleep.
Add simple drawer dividers to make your life easier. Add shelves above your door frames to keep your walls clutter free but to allow for additional storage. You can add wicker baskets to the shelves and tidy away things you’d rather not have on display.
The less you have on your surfaces – be it your bedside locker or your dresser or your floor – the better.
Last but by no means least, you need to give serious thought to what you have beside you while you sleep.
Exposed bulbs are still on trend throughout the house, but for a tranquil atmosphere in your bedroom choose something softer, with a shade for beside the bed. Lights that points to the floor rather than out towards the room are a good choice.
Also keep clutter to a minimum here; if you can go one step further with wall lighting as opposed to a table lamp, even better.
Charge your phone elsewhere in the room overnight. Invest in This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray to spritz the room before you retire, and ensure the night stand itself has adequate storage so you can hide away stuff once you’ve used it.
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