Gardening Help

What if your bedroom could keep you from hitting the snooze button? It can, according to designers who specialize in bedroom facelifts. The right bedroom can help you sleep more soundly and be more eager to get up and start the day.

 

Debra Browne is a designer at Harrison Browne in Snowmass Village, Colorado. She said bedrooms should be personalized, warm and tranquil — a space that is inviting at both the end and beginning of each day.

 

“I believe that your sleeping space should completely reflect your personality and really emulate who you are,” Browne said. “It should be comforting, surrounded by objects that represent peace and a sense of tranquility.”

 

To help get you out of bed, Browne suggests simultaneously awakening your senses of sight, sound and taste.

 

Sight? “How about motorized blinds that open with the clock to wake you to the glory of a new day.”

 

Sound? Browne suggests “a personal sound system preset with music that plays softly and then slowly increases in volume and tempo.”

 

Taste? “My clients love a carafe of water next to the bed that is room temperature to start the day with minimal shock.”

 

Sheri Bootman is an interior designer and feng shui consultant who works in Tuscon, Arizona, and San Diego, California. She said to start with bed placement to help maximize the positive energy of feng shui aesthetics.

 

“Face the head of your bed to the east to take in the energy of the early morning sun,” she said.

 

Of course, it’s easier to wake up well if you sleep well.

 

“One will not want to hit the snooze button if one has had a good night’s sleep,” Browne said.

 

At least 50 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep loss and sleep disorders, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and more than 25 percent of American adults sleep six hours or less per night.

 

To be sure, a well-appointed and well-designed bedroom may not clear your schedule and help you get to bed earlier, but it can help you fall asleep faster and sleep more deeply. 

 

Susan Aiello, an interior designer and LEED expert in New York City, suggests taking the time to find the right bed and position it properly. She recommends testing a mattress overnight at a hotel rather than for 10 minutes in a showroom.

 

Place the bed so your head is not adjacent to a door, window or heater. Also don’t overlook the pillow. “Even the best pillows do not last as long as a mattress,” Aiello said.

 

Experts agree bedrooms should be sleep-focused and not have televisions or computers. They should also be neat and organized.

 

“No matter how small the space, a place for everything and everything in its place, contributes to the overall relaxing spirit of the room,” Browne said.

 

The bedside area should also be clutter-free. Browne suggests leaving “a clear space for books, notepad for the ideas that bubble up in the night, and a reading lamp.”

 

Bootman urges people to clear out laundry, paperwork, pending reading and even exercise equipment before going to sleep.

 

“If the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning is work to be done, why wake up?” she said.

 

There is less agreement on covering windows. Browne suggests black-out blinds or other dark, attractive window treatments that can keep the room dark and restful.

 

On the other hand, Bootman said a dark bedroom might keep you from getting out of bed.

 

“Black out shades let your mind believe it’s still the middle of the night,” she said.

 

Charise Buckley of Breckenridge, Colorado, acknowledged she is in the minority among designers in largely advising against shades and drapes altogether.

 

“In my mind nothing makes a person want to get out of bed more than a beautiful day that you can see developing through your bedroom window,” she said.

 

She suggests following a more natural sleep pattern and waking up to natural light.

 

“It is my belief that our bodies were designed to follow the cycles of the sun and the moon,” Buckley said. “In our most natural state I believe we are meant to rise with the sun and go to sleep shortly after dark. If you are healthy, eating a good diet, exercising and resting, I think the best advice is to only have sheer draperies in your bedroom so that your body can follow the cycle it is designed to follow. The only reason I would have window treatments at all is for privacy from others. 

 

Relaxing colors and clean air also promote healthy, sound sleep, according to Aiello.

 

“Blues and greens are particularly soothing, as cool colors actually lower blood pressure,” she said. “But it’s important to have colors that make you look and feel good in the bedroom.”

 

Like black-out shades, dark paint can also keep you from bouncing out of bed.

 

“You might fall asleep very quickly, but you’d still have trouble waking up because it would feel like the middle of the night,” Aiello said.

 

Aiello warns that energy-efficiency efforts can trap chemicals and allergens that inhibit sound sleep.

 

“As homes become increasingly air-tight, it’s more important than ever to safeguard the quality of our indoor air,” she said. “Particularly in the bedroom, make sure that all construction materials are zero- or low-VOC, and that things made of wood have no added urea formaldehyde.”

 

She also said to minimize dust by avoiding heavy drapes and wall-to-wall carpets.

 

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