How to make your bedroom space sleep-friendly

Acting as a haven, a sanctuary and a place to rest a weary head, it's important to get a bedroom space right when trying to maximise the amount of sleep you can get there.

From warm lighting to choosing the right bed, there's an encyclopaedia of handy tricks and tips to improve your chances of getting a good night's sleep. As this month is World Sleep Day (13th March) we've collected some of the best here, in this handy blog. Read on to find out how to create the perfect bedroom for restfulness:

Pick the perfect mattress

All good bedrooms start with the bed and the same goes for those bedrooms that offer the best sleep. Your first step in choosing the right bed for you starts with the mattress. Picking the best mattress for you is a matter of shopping around and trying out mattresses to see whether they provide you with the best comfort for you and your body. Generally, the best mattresses tend to hit the sweet spot between hard and soft, fixed at a firm, but not too sturdy medium that provides support for your back without being uncomfortably tough. Make sure you try out a mattress where possible, and ideally, try to spend at least five minutes just lying on the mattress to get as complete an experience as possible.

Choose right pillow

The second step is choosing the right pillow. Pillows play an integral part in the perfect night's sleep thanks to the support they give to the neck and head. Maximising comfort and preventing neck pain are what the right pillow can do for you and interestingly, it's got everything to do with the position you sleep in at night. If you sleep on your back, you'll need a reasonably thick pillow to prop up your head enough but not so thick as to push your head out. Those who sleep on their side will need a firmer pillow to keep their head fully supported, avoiding softer options which can see the head sink lower than the spine. Finally, if sleeping on your stomach is your favourite way to sleep, you'll need something soft to keep your head in balance with your spine. Like the mattress, trying out a variety of pillows is a must.

Encourage warm lighting

Moving away from the bed, your next move should be updating your bedroom lighting to encourage rest and rejuvenation. Artificial lights that aren't tailored to improving sleep replicate daylight in such a way that it tricks our bodies into thinking that it's still daytime, making it harder for us to get the rest we need. The scientific explanation behind this is that natural light suppresses melatonin, a hormone in the human body that induces sleep.

There are specific lightbulbs on the market today that can be bought to aid sleep, but for most people, the ideal choice for a sleep-inducing light bulb is simply to use a red or orange coloured bulb. Red wavelengths of lights push the body into producing that all important melatonin and lull us to sleep. By contrast, you'll want to avoid halogen bulbs which do the opposite to red bulbs, producing white and blue light that closely replicates daylight. This, incidentally, is why staying up on a phone or a tablet can keep you awake longer.

A well organised space

A tidy room is a good room for sleep. While at face value it doesn't seem like tidiness and sleep are connected, how uncluttered your bedroom is does play a big role in how well you can get your head down. This is to do with what our brain associates the bedroom with. If a bedroom is packed with gym equipment for example, your brain will start to associate it with active pursuits, keeping you awake and ready for a workout. If you have a desk in your bedroom for working, your brain will associate it with all the stresses and anxieties of the working day. If your bedroom is built around sleep with nothing to distract or disturb, your brain will connect it with sleep. All this will take time, but if you keep your bedroom simple and straightforward, you'll feel the benefits to your sleeping patterns sooner rather than later.

Done correctly, creating a bedroom that promotes sleeping can truly make a house a home. For more tips on life at home and to discover our wide range of property listings, keep an eye on our website.