Every room in your house serves a function. Your kitchen is supposed to facilitate meal preparation; your living room is supposed to help you entertain and be entertained. Because these are the most visited rooms of a home, they might be where you expend the bulk of your interior design energy — after all, you want your guests to think of you as stylish and trendy.
However, this usually means you are forgetting arguably the most important room in your home: your bedroom. Though you might not spend as much time in your bedroom as you do your kitchen and living room, your bedroom should help you relax and de-stress, and it should be where your body and mind heal and rest. Unfortunately, because you might not be prioritizing your bedroom’s design, it’s likely that you’re making several design mistakes that make this room less than functional.
At times, you may not even have allocated enough space in your house for your bedroom, and considering turning it into a loft might be a good idea. After all, there are plenty of loft conversion south west London options out there.
Here are a few major bedroom design mistakes to look for in your home — and how to fix them and get a good night’s sleep.
Exciting Wall Color
If you have a bold personality that demands to be seen on your walls, you should try to avoid going too bright and exciting in your bedroom. Color psychology is a well-studied field, and while reactions to specific colors might differ between cultures — for example, in America, black is the color of solemnity and mourning, whereas white is for mourning in India — most experts agree that loud colors wake up the brain and encourage animation and exhilaration. Because these shouldn’t be the emotions you seek in your bedroom, where you are trying to relax and sleep, you definitely don’t want to decorate using hues like hot pink or lime green.
For the sake of your mental health, it might be safer to opt for softer, more soothing hues. Some options worth considering include:
- White or cream
- Lavender
- Pale blue
- Deep blue or navy
- Soft gray
- Charcoal
- Taupe
No Natural Light vs. No Privacy
Many people struggle to fall asleep when their bedrooms are overly illuminated. If you live in the middle of a busy city, you might need heavy, blackout curtains over your windows to have even a hope of falling asleep — but preventing all natural light from ever entering your bedroom is a bad idea. Your body follows a rhythm of wakefulness and sleepiness, and it develops this rhythm by the patterns of the sun.
Then again, you don’t want to strip your windows of any covering whatsoever. Sometimes, a lack of privacy can interfere with your slumber, especially if you can hear people talking and moving just outside. Plus, there are other things you do in your bedroom that you might be less-than-comfortable showing to the world.
If possible, you shouldn’t cover your bedroom windows completely; instead, you should use a lighter window covering that permits some light. Over time, you’ll become accustomed to falling asleep with the gentle glow from the window, and you’ll find yourself much more alert and cheerful when you wake.
Wrong-sized Bed
When it comes to beds, bigger isn’t always better. Small spaces can quickly become cramped by over-large beds; not only does this impact the room’s style, but it will severely impact its function, as well. You can’t fit a dresser or side tables into a room that is all bed, and you might not even be able to walk around the mattress to reach the closet or the bathroom. Unfortunately, oversized headboards and footboards can also make a room seem imbalanced and cluttered, even if they don’t actually affect the space.
This isn’t to say you need to sleep in a twin, but you do need to carefully measure a room before succumbing to the temptation of the California king. If you do buy a new bed for your space, you should also invest in a high-quality bed mattress. Though no one will see it, you’ll definitely feel the difference when you drift off to sleep.
Too Much Tech
Finally, it’s not a good idea to decorate your bedroom with tons of technology. Screens of all types, even smartphones, emit blue light which simulates daylight, telling your body to put off being tired. Plus, if you have a habit of watching TV in bed, your body might associate the room with lounging, not sleeping.
Any tech that you do have in your bedroom should be used sparingly, and as importantly, it should have a designated space. Then, your room won’t be cluttered with cords and chargers, which could trip you up during nightly trips to the bathroom.
Whether or not you struggle to sleep, you should invest time and energy on the look and feel of your bedroom. When you have the right mix of décor, you’ll feel more content and relaxed, which will help you while you are asleep and awake.
