Creating your perfect bedroom

There are plenty of tips to help you with your ‘sleep hygiene’ from staying away from technology before bed, to taking a calming bath at night, but one thing that’s very important to your quality of sleep is your environment. We’ve put together five top tips for creating the ultimate oasis of calm with your bedroom décor.

1 Make the most of space

Clutter is an absolute no-no in a bedroom, so make sure your decor is minimal if you want to be able to relax. If you have a small room then use as little furniture as possible and make sure that there’s plenty of room to move around. You should be able to get easily around three sides of the bed as this not only creates a sense of space, but also makes changing the sheets a whole lot easier. Consider fitted wardrobes to hide away any necessary clutter (take a look through our advertisers to find the perfect professional for the job) and remove anything from the room that doesn’t absolutely have to be there.

2 Make sure furniture is appropriate

Dark, substantial antique furniture can be absolutely beautiful, but if your room is small or has small windows, then it will look heavy and oppressive. Consider pine or similar to brighten up the room or, if you do have a larger room, choose one dark piece (such as a bed) as a centrepiece. Use wall art or a tall headboard to draw the eye upwards and use mirrors to catch and spread the light.

3 Add colour with caution

Your bedroom should be soothing and natural: that’s why spas often use pale and natural tones such as cream and beige. However, that doesn’t mean you have to drown the room in magnolia! Pick a pale base colour and then accent it with something a little stronger. Think beige with warm brown, cream with leafy green or even white with a rich navy. The important thing is to add your stronger colour sparingly. A bedroom that’s predominantly white could take dark blue curtains at one end of the room, with a skyscape or similar painting at the other end to create a night sky or ‘grown up’ space theme. Cream walls and light furniture can be given warmth with green bedding and lampshades. The best thing about keeping your coloured accents minimal is that they can be easily changed when you get bored, or even swapped out temporarily at Christmas for, say, red and gold.

4 Softly softly

Bedroom furniture tends to be overtly functional and, as such, will usually be wooden and therefore hard. Whereas in a living room you can soften the décor with a nice plump sofa, in a bedroom you’ll need to add those soft touches very deliberately. Your bed of course is the main ‘soft focus’ of the room, and a plush throw or extra cushions will take you from budget hotel to sumptuous boudoir in no time! A faux fur rug will carry through that softness and, if you’ve the space, a small upholstered chair can make a gorgeous addition.

5 Light up your room

The amount and type of light in your bedroom is vital to your sleep hygiene. Ideally you should be lulled to sleep with cosy, warm lights at night, and be able to let the morning sun stream in to wake you up. You can’t do much about the size of your windows or the direction your house faces, but by using colour and mirrors, as mentioned earlier, you can make the most of mornings – even adding a daylight bulb or lamp to beat the winter blues. In the evening however, you’re in full control. Use warm light bulbs and wall lights or lamps, rather than overhead lights to create a peaceful ambience. Consider candles or even some carefully placed twig lights for a fantasy feel.

Last but not least

Those are our top five tips, but there’s one thing that’s more important than any décor advice we can give you, and that’s the bed itself. Your bed can lend itself to every one of the tips above:

• Underbed storage is a life saver in small rooms
• A light frame will make a small room look bigger, while a heavy frame creates a focal point
• A striking headboard could be just the splash of colour you need
• Your mattress should be just the right softness to give you the best possible night’s sleep
• The type of bed and mattress you choose will do more for the ambience of the room than lighting ever could.

We researched long-established mattress company Harrison Spinks and discovered the following:

It’s vital that your bed be tailored to the comfort of you and your partner, year-round. Many mattresses now have a dual option (for couples who like different tensions) and some high-quality ones even have seasonal turning options, where one side of the mattress is cooler and one is warmer. Harrison Spinks offer no turn options, for people who are mobility impaired, and they use all natural materials so that there are no unwanted chemicals to interrupt your body’s rhythms.

A good night’s sleep is essential to your overall wellbeing, and we hope that these tips will help you catch up on your zzzs.