Sleep is one of the most vital components of your health. Lack of sleep can lead to poor eating habits, weight gain, declining productivity, lack of focus, and greater risk of heart disease, stroke, immune problems, diabetes, and depression.
Proper sleep, on the other hand, improves your vitality, performance, productivity, and overall health. Plus, how great is it to get a good night’s sleep? Everything is better when you’re well-rested. Consider enhancing your bedroom design with these elements to benefit your health and sleep.
1. Lighting
How you design and use lighting elements in your bedroom affects your sleep quality and therefore, your health. An hour or so before bed, you should diminish light sources. Turning off overhead lights and switching to lower light settings an hour or two before bed helps you nod off faster. Lighting Science makes bulbs that give off depleted blue spectrum light to help get your brain ready for bed. Three-way lamps that offer dimmer settings are also good to include in your décor so you can dim at night.
2. Colors and Patterns
Anything that stimulates your brain can cause wakefulness before bed when you should be unwinding and turning your brain off for the night. Bright colors and busy patterns draw the eye and engage your mind. That’s fine for other parts of the house, but when designing your sleep space, these are elements to avoid. Stick with a neutral palette, no bold colors or patterns, and if you want a richer look, play with texture rather than color. The key is to achieve a visually relaxing design.
3. Sound
Quiet is important to restful sleep. If you have street noise outside, you can use room design elements to combat this for better sleep. Special thermal insulated curtains help reduce external noise to keep your sleep nest nice and quiet. Plants in the windows also trap and prevent noise from traveling. For very noisy environs, invest in a stylish-looking white noise generator. Working together, these design features can help you get to sleep and stay that way.
4. Scent
When considering room design, you usually think about what you see, but what about what you smell? Some aromas are very conducive to sleep and can be incorporated into the design of your bedroom to optimize sleep and health. Lavender plants or lavender-scented accessories can help decrease heart rate and blood pressure before bed. A eucalyptus plant in an attractive planter placed on (or near) your bedside table gives off sleep enhancing scent as well.
5. Comfort
In addition to what you see and smell, consider what you feel. The foundation of your best night’s sleep is an excellent mattress. High-quality sheets and specialty pillows (cooling, memory foam, etc.) are part of the recipe for good sleep too. Finally, when choosing a comforter, consider how it will impact your sleep. Is it too light, too heavy, or too busy looking? You want a blanket that won’t overheat you, is a soothing texture, and that’s not visually stimulating.
Finally, look at smart tech design features to help optimize your sleep experience and enhance your health. A programmable thermostat is ideal because you need to cool your room to 60-70 degrees at bedtime to help you drop off to sleep faster. A wake-up light alarm clock will slowly infuse the room with light in the morning to simulate sunrise. Light sets your internal sleep clock to wake healthfully and gradually setting the stage for an alert day and better sleep that night.
With some planning, you can convert your bedroom into a sleep sanctuary to leave you well-rested, happy, and healthier.
Samantha Kent is a researcher for SleepHelp.org. Her favorite writing topic is how getting enough sleep can improve your life. Currently residing in Boise, Idaho, she sleeps in a California King bed, often with a cat on her face.
