6 Ways To Turn Your Bedroom Into A Sleep Sanctuary

We spend one-third of our lives sleeping, so your bedroom should be the most comfortable and relaxing place in your home. Are you one of the 60 million people who suffer from insomnia? I know that most of us can relate to the feeling clock watching and not being able to fall asleep readily at some point in our lives.

With the busy lifestyles most of us lead, it’s becoming very important to evaluate your bedroom environment and create a space that will encourage rest and relaxation. Here are a few ways to help you create the perfect sleep environment.

1. Watch Your Lighting From the smallest LED light on your alarm clock, to the street lights outside that dimly light your room, managing your room’s lighting is so important for an uninterrupted and decent sleep. Layer your lighting and have plenty of lamp options. Where possible, put lamps on dimmers and have reading lights on the bedside tables. Even the small amount of illumination from a TV or clock’s LED display can keep you from sinking into a deep sleep, cover them up with something or turn them away from your bed. To block out outside light, consider investing in black out shades. The darker your room is, the easier it will be to fall (and stay!) asleep.

2. Make Your Room Visually Inviting There’s nothing worse than stepping into a cluttered and uninviting bedroom after a long day at work. All you want to do is relax, but your bed isn’t made from this morning and you need to climb over what feels like a mountain of clothes to even get there. Keeping your room clutter free, coming home to a made bed and room that looks visually appealing well help with your sleeping patterns. A messy bedroom is distracting, it reminds your brain of the chores that still need to be done and won’t make for a restful night. Whilst it can be hard in the morning to find time to make the bed before work, a well-made bed is much more pleasant to crawl into that a pile of unkempt blankets tangled or half on the floor.

3. Leave Your Work Away from the bedroom If you’re one of those people that’s still attending to last minute work duties on the laptop before bed, or come home after work to a bedroom that looks more like an office then it’s no wonder your brain is struggling to switch off. Separating your office area to your bedroom is vital to ensuring your mind can switch into relaxation mode. Keep the paperwork off the bed and close down the computer at least an hour before you want to fall asleep.

4. Invest in the Elements Comfy pillows, a great mattress and temperature regulating cooling bedding all contribute to a decent night’s sleep. Sometimes we overlook the importance of these things – especially if we don’t have the money to fork out for a good mattress, new pillows or good quality cool linens and bedding . Purchasing high quality bedding will last you a long time and almost guarantee a much better sleep. Even something as simple as fresh clean linen on your bed can do the trick. People that use two pillows are more likely to sleep well on a regular basis so consider ditching the pillow overload on your bed to fewer and better quality ones. When choosing bed linen, think soft and most important temperature regulating bedding. When your room is cool, you'll sleep better.

5. Tone down the Colors Consider the colors in your room. An overload on bright colors can cause sensory overload and will cause you to to have trouble falling asleep. If you love bright colors, try toning them down with whites and neutrals to balance it out, for example: if you have a red feature wall or red curtains, match it with white bedspreads and cushions to soften the overall feel.

6. Evaluate Smells Certain scents are known to be sleep inducing Try lavender, vanilla or sandalwood linen sprays or candles. Also be sure to remove unwanted smells like yesterday’s laundry.