Simple Tips to Create a More Peaceful Bedroom (And Get Better Sleep)

What’s the most important room in your home? Some would say the kitchen or the bathroom, but there’s one absolutely critical room that hardly ever gets a fair shake: your bedroom. The bedroom is typically that room tucked away in the far recesses of your home. It’s the room you lock when guests come over, and sometimes it’s the last place that ever gets cleaned.

That really shouldn’t be the case, though. In fact, your bedroom should be treated as one of the most sacred spaces in your entire home. You spend about a third of your life there, after all. It’s where you go to relax and have time to yourself, and critically, it’s where you can get good, recharging sleep.

At least, that’s what your bedroom should be able to do for you. If you haven’t taken the time to turn your bedroom into a tranquil space that encourages rest and uninterrupted sleep, here are a few calming bedroom ideas that you may want to consider.

1. Declutter

The first step in creating a peaceful bedroom is getting rid of the clutter. Even if you’re not ready to launch into a full minimalist lifestyle, it’s important to make an effort to declutter and reclaim your bedroom before you start working on improvements.

Your room can no longer serve as a depository for all of your belongings that don’t have a home. Get rid of the carpet of clothes strewn about the floors, put everything in its proper place, and clean up those crumbs from that late-night snacking spree.

This isn’t just bluster or unnecessary preparations that you can skip, either. Needless clutter has been shown to literally cause the very stress that you’re trying to remedy. It overstimulates your mind, prevents relaxation, and leads to feelings of guilt, so make sure that your bedroom is neat and tidy.

2. Find a Great Bed

Next up, make sure that you have a quality bed. This is the literal foundation of a good night’s sleep. It won’t matter how well you set up the rest of the room if you wake up with back pain or general discomfort each morning.

Start by making sure that you have a good mattress that fits your style and cultural preferences. Don’t stop there, though. You also want to make sure that you have a couple of sets of quality sheets in order to maximize your comfort as you rest. If you are combating anxiety, or generally find yourself struggling with stress as you head to bed, consider investing in a weighted blanket to help promote sleep.

3. Pick the Right Nightstand

Your nightstand is one of the easiest items to overlook. Each nightstand should be specifically chosen with the user in mind. Make sure that it has enough space to hold everything you might want by your side at night, including:

- A lamp.

- An alarm clock.

-Your phone.

- Glasses.

- A small fan.

- A glass of water.

- Headphones.

- A spot for a book, journal, or magazine.

- An essential oil diffuser.

Consider everything you want in arm’s reach whenever you’re resting and then make sure you select an end table that is big enough to hold it all.

4. Hang Up Blackout Curtains

Lighting is a crucial factor when it comes to sleep. Your body wants to follow its natural circadian rhythm, and if it gets light while you’re trying to rest, you’re going to have trouble getting quality sleep. This can be caused by anything from an early summer morning to a street light outside your window.

The easiest way to control the amount of light in your room is to hang blackout curtains. These are simply thick curtains designed to keep out the light when drawn. This allows your room to remain dark for the duration of your sleeping time.

5. Embrace Aromatherapy

Essential oils are a popular form of aromatherapy that can make a significant difference in the quality of your sleep. Oils that are particularly effective for sleeping include lavender, jasmine, and bergamot. It can be very helpful to set up a diffuser in your room and then fill it with water and a few drops of an essential oil of your choice before your head hits the pillow.

6. Create a Technology-Free Space

This one can be challenging, but it will pay you back in spades. Try to make your bedroom a technology-free area. We already talked about the disruptive effect that light can have on your body’s natural circadian rhythm, and it should come as no surprise that the blue light from our devices is certainly one of those disrupters. In fact, blue light has been shown to suppress the release of the sleep hormone melatonin more powerfully than most other light we’re exposed to.

The issue of blue light before sleep isn’t just one that adults deal with, either. Kids also struggle with it profoundly. In fact, studies have shown that children who use devices at bedtime are more likely to suffer from a decrease in both sleep quality and quantity. Whether you’re doing it for yourself or your children, keeping devices out of the bedroom is clearly worth the effort.

7. Make It a Sleep-Only Zone

Finally, make sure that your bedroom is a place where you primarily sleep. It’s tempting to set up forms of entertainment, work from your bed, or even snack while under the covers. The problem is, if you do too many different things in bed, your mind is going to have a much harder time associating your bed with genuine sleep.

Keep your bedroom, and especially your bed, for sleep only. Don’t set up unnecessary things in your sleeping space. If you have more than a bed, end table, a dresser, and a mirror, you may want to check your priorities.

Creating a Perfectly Peaceful Bedroom

If you’re looking to enhance your bedroom, consider following these seven simple yet powerfully effective relaxing bedroom ideas. Some are practical, like setting up a diffuser or using blackout curtains. Others are more mental in nature, like making an effort to create a sleep-only, technology-free zone to rest in. All of them, though, are aimed at helping to turn your bedroom from a cluttered extra room into a sacred space, hand-tailored to provide you with the best sleep possible.

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