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We can’t function without sleep, and yet, so many of us don’t get enough rest each evening to fully recharge for the following day. Making changes to your schedule and routine, increasing your daily exercise, and reducing stress in your life can help some, but did you know that your bedroom layout and environment can also impact the sleep you get each evening?
Believe it or not, factors such as the colors in your room, the position of your bed, and even the plants in the space can play a role in how quickly you fall asleep and how soundly you sleep throughout the night. If you’re interested in learning more about how to create the ideal sleep space that will help you get the rest you need each evening, continue reading. We’ll also highlight some of the best mattresses and sleep accessories that will allow you to create an optimal environment for sleep.
Colors for Sleep
Changing the wall color of your bedroom is a relatively simple fix that can have a huge impact. Many sleep experts agree that the best bedroom colors for sleep are cooler colors. Light blue, lavender, green, gray, silver, and other cool colors can help lower an individual’s heart rate and blood pressure, which can help prepare them to fall asleep more easily and sleep more peacefully.
If you’re searching for, “what is the best color for a bedroom to get the best sleep,” blue may be the best choice. According to a sleep study, individuals who slept in a blue room average the most sleep each evening. The same study also showed that moss green, silver, and pale yellow were among the best bedroom colors for sleep, right behind blue.
Avoid red and shades of red when looking for the best bedroom colors for couples or individuals. Red in a bedroom can lead to increased levels of stress, as well as elevated heart rate and blood pressure, which will have a negative impact on sleep.
Once you’ve decided on a cool paint color for the bedroom, choose a paint with a matte finish. Matte is often seen as the best paint finish for bedroom walls because it absorbs light. This can make the paint color look lighter, which may help with preparing for sleep.
Bedroom walls are just one example of color in a bedroom. As you’re planning out your space, consider the colors of the accessories and bedding the space. Stick with the cooler colors theme for these items as well to facilitate deep and relaxing sleep.
Plants for Sleep
Adding some plants to your bedroom can also help in creating the ideal sleep environment. Some of the best bedroom plants for better sleep include: jasmine, lavender, chamomile, golden pothos, and aloe vera.
· Jasmine: Jasmine is one of the best bedroom plants for sleep because of the relaxing scent released by the flowers. The scent of jasmine has been linked with reduced levels of stress and anxiety, which can facilitate better sleep.
· Lavender: Lavender is another scent that is associated with decreased stress and relaxation. The scent of lavender can aid in lowering blood pressure and heart rate, which can help prepare individuals for sleep.
· Chamomile: If you want to unwind before bedtime, adding a chamomile plant to your room can help. Chamomile is another plant with a very relaxing scent that can help you push away the stresses of the day to enjoy a peaceful slumber.
· Golden pothos: Golden pothos acts as a natural air purifier to remove carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and other toxins from the air.
· Aloe vera: While some plants release carbon dioxide at night, aloe vera continues releasing oxygen all night long. This can help purify the air and allow you to breathe more easily as you sleep.
Bedroom Design for Sleep
Finding the best way to arrange bedroom for good sleep and the best bedroom designs for sleep are also important. One thing to keep in mind is that cluttered spaces can increase stress. This, clearly, is not going to make it easier to fall asleep or sleep more soundly, so taking steps to declutter and organize your room are important.
Take some time to sort through your belongings and sell or donate anything you don’t use or need. Then, organize what remains in the drawers or closet. If you have a very small space, consider adding underbed storage drawers or closet organizers to maximize the space you do have.
Choosing a mattress that is appropriately sized for your room can also help with reducing clutter or the appearance of over-crowding. If your mattress takes up too much of the floor space in your room, not only will it make it feel cramped, but it will make it more difficult to have room to organize your belongings properly.
Once you’ve decluttered your space, you can move onto asking questions like, “which direction bedroom for best sleep?” According to Vastu Shastra, the southwest corner of a home is the optimal location for a master bedroom. This area of the home is associated with prosperity and health. The northwest corner is also seen as a good alternative bedroom location. Vastu Shastra theory recommends sleeping with your bed facing towards the south. Although, according to Feng Shui, facing the south can cause individuals to be surrounded with too much energy, which isn’t good for sleep and can lead to arguments in a relationship.
How to decorate bedroom for best sleep is another common question. In addition to using the cool paint and décor colors we shared above and adding some plants like jasmine, chamomile, or lavender, there are a few other design decisions that can have a positive impact on your sleep.
One thing you can do is to choose blackout shades or curtains. Blackout curtains or shades can help keep your room darker in the mornings to prevent too much light from coming in and waking you up. Blackout curtains can be especially helpful for those who work night shifts and need to sleep during the day.
You can also add some warm white lighting to your room for the evening. Soft lighting can help calm your body down and prepare for sleep, while bright overhead lighting will send the signal that it is time to be awake.
Bedroom Environment for Good Sleep
There are many factors to consider when creating the right bedroom environment for good sleep. One of the most important things to consider is the amount of light in the room. Making your room as dark as possible can help tell your body that it is time to go to sleep and facilitate deeper and longer sleep. As we mentioned above, using blackout shades or curtains to stop daylight or street lighting from coming into your room can help a lot.
You can also limit light exposure and help prepare your body for sleep by reducing your use of devices with a screen, such as phones, tablets, computers, and TVs, right before bed. When you expose your eyes to the blue light on the screen before bed, it can mess with your body’s circadian rhythm and make it more challenging to relax and fall asleep. If possible, try to put all of your devices away at least an hour before you plan to go to sleep.
Temperature is also important when creating the right environment for sleep. The best bedroom temperature for sleep is between 60 and 71 degrees, with many experts suggesting a cooler temperature closer to 60 degrees. Adjusting your thermostat, opening a window, or adding a ceiling or oscillating fan to your bedroom can help you achieve a cooler temperature that will facilitate sleep. Choosing a cooling mattress, such as the GhostBed Luxe, can also help keep you from waking up due to being too warm.
The sounds and smells in your bedroom should also be considered. If there are too many outside noises that are negatively impacting your sleep, consider trying a sound machine. Playing white noise or other calming sounds can help drown out disruptive noises to allow you to sleep peacefully.
Some scents have been shown to help individuals relax, which can aid in falling to sleep more easily. Lavender, chamomile, and jasmine are among these scents, which is why they were included above as ideas for plants to add to your space. You can also consider trying aromatherapy and essential oils with relaxing scents such as lavender, cedarwood, sweet orange, or vanilla.
The Best Products to Help Improve Your Sleep
What does a safe sleep environment look like? In addition to considering the layout, light, temperature, sounds, and smells in your bedroom, choosing a comfortable mattress and bedding is also essential for getting a good night’s sleep.
Our internal temperature decreases while we sleep, but this can cause the excess heat from our body to get trapped in the mattress or sheets. Choosing a cooling mattress can increase air flow to keep this trapped heat from waking you up overnight, allowing you to stay cool and comfortably asleep.
The Best Cooling Mattresses
Below, we’ve shared some of the best cooling mattresses on the market. Consider adding one of these to your room along with some of the other ideas shared above to create your ideal sleep environment.
GhostBed Luxe
GhostBed’s founder, Marc Werner, has spent over 20 years in the mattress industry working on developing the best products to help individuals sleep comfortably. The company even offers an Education Center on their website to help individuals find the answers to common questions so they can find the mattress that will help them enjoy a relaxing and rejuvenating sleep.
The GhostBed Luxe is described as “the coolest bed in the world” for a reason; this mattress is designed to help individuals stay cool and sleep comfortably throughout the night.
The 13-inch GhostBed Luxe has a seven-layer design, including multiple layers that contribute to its cooling capabilities. The cooling starts with the cool-to-the touch Ghost Ice Fabric cover which is made using a phase change material. This special material can react to an individual’s body heat and pull heat away from bodies that are too warm or gradually release heat back to a body that has become too cool.
One inch of a special cooling fiber is woven into the mattress’s cover. This fiber allows greater airflow to ensure individuals don’t get too hot as they rest. Yet another cooling layer of this mattress is the Ghost Ice Layer. This layer works to move heat away to ensure the mattress’s core stays cool, allowing you to sleep more peacefully.
The gel memory foam layer of the mattress works to pull heat away, while also ensuring that individuals receive the pressure relief they need to sleep comfortably and wake up pain-free.
If you purchase the GhostBed Luxe, not only will you be able to stay cool while you sleep, but you can rest easy knowing that your purchase is protected with a 101-night sleep trial and a 25-year warranty. GhostBed also offers fast and free shipping.
Nolah Evolution Mattress
The Nolah Evolution Mattress is another top choice for those who tend to get too warm when they sleep. This mattress is also loaded with multiple cooling features designed to help you sleep soundly all night long.
The cooling design of the Nolah Evolution begins with the Cooling ArcticTex cover. This cover is not only soft and cozy, but is it also cool to the touch and designed to stay cool all night long.
The Nolah Evolution Mattress features a 2-inch quilted HTC Euro topper. This high thermal conductivity (HTC) topper pulls heat away from individuals as they sleep to keep them from overheating.
Nolah also added a border gusset to provide a way for heat to escape from the mattress. This special 2-inch AirBreath border gusset ensures that heat won’t build up in the mattress and cause individuals to get too warm.
Next in the mattress’s design is another cooling layer. The 2-inch AirFoamICE layer is a graphite-infused foam that pulls heat away from individuals as they sleep while also providing the right amount of pressure relief for a pain-free and comfortable rest.
Nolah’s patented HDMax Tri-Zone Coils allow for greater airflow throughout the mattress. These coils also work to enhance the pressure-relieving properties of the mattress offer by the AirFoamICE layer.
If you choose to try the Nolah Evolution Mattress, you’ll receive a 120-night risk-free trial, a lifetime warranty, and free shipping.
Nectar Premier Copper Memory Foam Mattress
The Nectar Premier Copper Memory Foam Mattress harnesses the power of copper to keep individuals cooler overnight. Special heat-conductive copper fibers are woven into the mattresses cover. Along with other special technology found in the cover, these copper fibers work to wick heat away from individuals to prevent them from getting too hot as they sleep.
Beneath the special copper-fiber cover is the Smart Layer with ActiveCool HD. This 4-inch layer is made from a phase-change material that allows the mattress to offer customized temperature regulating abilities. It can help cool down individuals who are too warm or even warm up individuals who become too cool while they sleep. The gel memory foam used to make this layer contours to each body shape to relieve pressure points and alleviate pain.
The Nectar Premier Copper Memory Foam Mattress comes with a Google Nest Hub with Sleep Sensing. You can use this device to help track your sleep, detect temperature and light changes in the room, and receive recommendations to improve the quality and quantity of sleep you get each evening.
If you’ve been looking for the best bedroom sets king, you can add a cooling pillow, sheet set, and mattress protector to the purchase of your new mattress. Nectar regularly offers promotions where these accessories are included for free with the purchase of one of their mattresses.
A Nectar mattress comes with free shipping, a 365-night home trial, and a forever warranty.
Awara Natural Luxury Hybrid Mattress
If you’re looking for a mattress made using natural materials that will still help keep you cool while you sleep, take a look at the Awara Luxury Hybrid Mattress. This mattress is constructed using natural latex, organic cotton, and organic New Zealand wool. No chemical adhesives, chemical flame retardants, memory foam, or synthetic foam were used to make it.
The 2-inch layer of natural Dunlop latex is designed to offer optimal support and pressure point relief. Unlike memory foam that can trap heat, latex remains cooler overnight to prevent individuals from becoming too hot when they sleep.
An organic New Zealand wool and organic cotton cover sits atop the Dunlop latex layer. These materials work together to wick heat and moisture away from individuals as they sleep. Additionally, they also allow for enhanced airflow and reduce bacteria accumulation on the mattress.
The Awara Luxury Hybrid Mattress also includes an 8-inch layer of individually wrapped coils. These coils allow for greater airflow throughout the mattress. They also work to reduce motion transfer and prevent one partner’s movements from disrupting the other partner.
Awara offers a 365-night trial, forever warranty, and free shipping with all their mattresses.
The Best Adjustable Bases
If your body isn’t comfortable when you’re sleeping, it only makes sense that you won’t sleep well. When you’re looking for the best quality bedroom furniture, don’t overlook getting an adjustable base.
Pairing a comfortable and cooling mattress with an adjustable base can help you customize your position to take pressure off your joints and decrease back, hip, shoulder, and neck pain. Adjustable bases can also help with other health concerns such as snoring, acid reflux, digestion, and swelling.
Many adjustable bases include additional features that make them an even better buy. These features often include pre-set positions for zero gravity or watching TV, memory functions to save your preferred sleep position, USB ports on the sides for charging your devices, massage modes, and underbed LED lighting. The best LED strip lights for bedroom on an adjustable base can allow you to safely navigate to the bathroom in the middle of the night, without having to turn on the overhead lighting and wake yourself up so much that you won’t be able to go back to sleep.
Below are a few of the best adjustable bases on the market that you can pair with your new (or even existing) mattress.
· GhostBed Adjustable Base
· PlushBeds Adjustable Bed Base - Relax
· Layla Adjustable Base
· Leesa Adjustable Base
· Puffy Adjustable Base
· Sweet Night Tranquil Adjustable Bed Frame
Bedding
Finally, don’t forget that the bedding you choose can also impact the sleep you get. Choosing a supportive and comfortable pillow that will ensure your neck and spine stay in alignment is important. So too are the sheets and blankets on your bed; you want them to be soft and comfortable to keep you cozy, while also ensuring that they are breathable to prevent you from overheating.
Here are a few of our favorite picks for pillows, sheets, and blankets:
Pillows
· Nolah AirFoam Pillow
· GhostPillow – Memory Foam
· Sweet Night Cooling Gel Infused Memory Foam Adjustable Pillow
· The OkiPillow
Sheets
· Leesa Organic Cotton Sheet Set
· Nectar Luxury Cotton Bed Sheets
· Layla Bamboo Sheets
· Comfy Microfiber Sheet Set
Blankets
· PlushBeds Handmade Natural Wool Comforter
· DreamCloud Resident Serenity Quilt
· Puffy Comforter
· Awara Organic Duvet Cover
