How to CreateA Sleep-Friendly Bedroom Environment

Do you often feel like a restful sleep is far beyond your reach? Then, you’re probably not sleeping in a sleep-friendly bedroom environment.

Losing shuteye or sleep deprivation often leads to hormonal imbalances, loss of concentration and focus, paranoia, hallucinations, and serious health problems including heart disease, heart attack, heart failure, high blood pressure, stroke, and diabetes. In extreme cases, lack of sleep often leads to death.

With all the potential dangers of sleep deprivation, you must give yourself enough time to have your most deserved shut eye. But, do you often have troubles in achieving a restful sleep every night? Then, the real problem may not be in your efforts, but in your sleeping environment – your very own bedroom.

To create a sleep-friendly bedroom environment, you must consider the following leading factors:

Temperature
Is your bedroom too warm or too cold? Do you experience shivering or sweating while you sleep?

Your bedroom’s temperature greatly affects the quality of your sleep. To have a restful sleep, your bedroom has to have an ideal room temperature that ranges from 60 to 65ºF.

A temperature that’s over 71ºF is too warm and leads to sweating and restless sleep. On the contrary, a temperature that’s below 55ºF is usually too cool and leads to shivers and rapid muscle contraction and expansion to produce heat. Both extreme temperatures hinder a restful sleep.

For a restful night’s sleep, see below tips on regulating and managing your bedroom temperature:

Use a room thermostat, air conditioning, or heating system to easily set and regulate the right temperature for your bedroom and help you achieve better sleep.

In buying a mattress, gift yourself with a gel mattress that helps regulate body temperature, a memory foam mattress that includes an intelligent temperature-regulating technology, or other related mattress types available in the market today.

Use breathable fabrics in choosing the material of your sheets, including your pajamas, to make sure your body won’t overheat especially in warmer months.

But, because of our different characteristics, our optimal sleep temperatures may differ from each other. So, experiment and discover what room temperature can make your sleep more restful.

Sound / Noise

Does sound or noise often disturb you in your sleep? Are you having troubles in sleeping soundly?

While the majority still agrees a quiet bedroom is essential to achieve a good night’s sleep, some sleepers are impervious or unable to be affected and awakened by any noise. These becomepossible because of our individual differences regarding sensitivity to noise.

How noise disturbs sleep depends on different factors which include the stage of sleep you are in, your emotional connection to the noise, or the time of the night.

In light stages (stages 1 and 2) of sleep, noises are more likely to wake you and disturb you in your sleep as compared to deep sleep (stages 3 and 4).Emotionally-charged noises are often relatable to parents who sleeps through their spouse’s snores yet wakes up to their child’s cries.

To eliminate sleep-disturbing noises and create a sleeping environment that benefits the majority, see below tips:

 If possible, keep the television out of your bedroom or merely turn it off before you sleep. Unlike white noise, the sounds from the television constantly change in tone and volume which often leads to sleep disturbances.

 If you live in a busy and noisy neighborhood, use a white noise machine or any steady background hum to block and drown out the disturbing outside noise.

 Play relaxing noise with consistent frequencies to help you sleep and relax better. Sounds of the wind, ocean waves, and falling rain work great. You can listen to these through different apps including Noisli and Rainy Mood.

 Listening to relaxing tunes such as classical music and instrumentals also improves the quality of sleep. More than that, it greatly benefits memory and brainpower.

But, if you’re more of the person who sleeps better in absolute silence, use earplugs instead. Doing this can also silence your loud snoring bedroom partner if you happen to have one.

Lighting

Unaware of the effects of your bedroom’s lighting or visual conditions to the quality of your sleep?

Light and darkness cue the body whether it’s time to sleep or wakeup. That’s why the light in your bedroom, as well as the light that enters it, can impact the quality of your slumber.

The human body automatically reacts to light, causing shifts in behavior. As the body detects sunlight, morning light, or any bright light, it activates the cortisol hormone to keep us alert and awake. On the other hand, when light disappears as evening approaches, the body releases the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin which causes us to feel rested and sleepy.

For those working on irregular shifts, a restful sleep becomes hard to attain. Because of the irregular work schedule, the body’s circadian rhythm gets disrupted and often results in insomnia, sleeping difficulties, etc. For shift workers, they need extra effort to manage their room’s lighting.

To manage the lighting in your bedroom for a restful sleep, consider practicing below lighting tips:

Keep away or turn off electronic devices from you as you sleep. Store them inside drawers instead. These devices emit blue light which delays the release of melatonin.

Hang special room-darkening shades or curtains to block any light during your sleeping time. You need to make sure your bedroom is completely dark for better sleep. However, they should easily be pulled back to allow the entry of the early morning rays.

If a totally dark bedroom scares you, invest in dimmer lights or lamps you can leave on.

Remember that lighting can significantly impact your body’s circadian rhythm and the quality of your sleep. Don’t let any untimely light hinder you from achieving your most needed quality sleep.

Scents / Smell

Remember how extra excited you are to go to sleep when the bed sheets are freshly laundered?

Just like the different factors explained above, the scent or smell of your bedroom, especially of your bed sheets, greatly impacts the quality of your sleep. In fact, the National Sleep Foundation’s Bedroom Poll reported that 78% of Americans agreed that a fresh and pleasant scent makes them more relaxed in their bedrooms. Different studies also support this claim.

Scent plays a vital role in relaxation, memory-building, and having a good night’s sleep. Fresh and pleasant scents greatly improve anyone’s sleeping experience.

To make sure your bedroom always smells fresh and pleasant, follow these effective techniques:

Schedule a weekly trip for your sheets and pillowcases to the washer. Use only a laundry detergent with a smell you personally prefer. Unscented ones will also do.

Fill your bedroom with the scent you like most, and that which greatly relaxes you. For most, lavender-scented oils, candles, etc. work best in encouraging sleep.

Avoid bringing food and eating in your bedroom. Bringing food into the bedroom can result in accidental food spills which often result in trapped smells of food.

If you suffer from allergies, use an air purifier to clean and freshen up the air you’re breathing in. Clean and pollutant-free air also results in deeper sleep.

Always maintain the freshness and cleanliness of your mattress, sheets, and pillows to make bedtime more inviting and relaxing, and more conducive for a more restful and peaceful sleep.

“Sleep is an investment in the energy you need to be effective tomorrow,” says Tom Rath, a well-being consultant known for his bestselling books. True enough, sleep is one privilege we shouldn’t dare miss. 

By creating a sleep-friendly bedroom environment, enjoying a peaceful and restful sleep won’t be out of reach. So, follow the tips enumerated above, and may the Z’s you need be with you always!

FloralynTeodoro is a writer of all sorts who works for HomeBuysPlus and other websites. When she's not writing, she's probably travelling or reading books and poetry.