How Interior Design Can Help You Sleep Your Way To Wellness-According to LiLu

 SLEEP YOUR WAY TO WELLNESS-ACCORDING TO LILU

Sleep Your Way to Wellness

Sleep Your Way to Wellness.  That is a great goal...am I right?  Having just returned from High Point Markets Design Bloggers Tour I am reminded that sleep affects everything and everyone.  We all need it.  Some function better off of six hours while others crave 12 plus hours. Sleep experts still recommend a solid eight hours.  People have made professional careers off of analyzing sleep and not just for babies for us adults too! In our opinion, sleep is the foundation of wellness.
If you sleep well you think better, feel better, and eat well. According to the National Sleep Foundation sleeping well can help you maintain a healthy weight. You’ll have more energy to do your daily tasks whether it is work or play.  You will also enjoy the people and the environment around you more.  Sleeping well can increase your patience to handle tough tasks such as your toddlers melt downs or those last minute deadlines you were not prepared for. Even adults can have a meltdown when they are over-tired.
So, can you environment where you sleep really enhance it?  Just like having a productive, efficient work environment having a place to drift off to never, never land and wake up to feeling refreshed is important.
And just like having a productive work environment, having an environment to sleep well for wellness takes setting an intention to create the environment, making a plan and implementing said plan.
We LOVE designing and helping others with their bedroom projects here at LiLu Interiors.  Many people put their own bedroom behind them or it just isn't a priority because no one sees it right?

SELF-CARE IS PRIORITY NUMBER ONE

Our advice? Self-care and wellness should be priority number one in your own home! You see your bedroom and you actually do a lot of living in there. Your bedroom should be at the top of the list when it comes to interior projects.
Many Americans spend far more money on their cars than they do ensuring their bedroom is a comfortable supportive space. However in the average lifetime we spend 229,961 hours sleeping and a mere 37,935 hours driving.
We have put together some ways that interior design can help you sleep right.  Take a look below and remember the designers of LiLu Interiors would love to help you with your own sleep haven. You too can sleep your way to wellness.

LIGHT CONTROL

We love natural light and believe that letting this light into your room in the morning is a wonderful way to wake up but let's face it we might not all be able to fall asleep with the moonlight or perhaps you have a street lamp post that peers into your bedroom window.
We suggest creating a layered window treatment to give you options that balance privacy, lighting and having a dark room to sleep in.
If light disturbs your sleep take try implementing these tips:
-Remove any electronics that emit light, including alarm clocks, cable boxes or cell phones. Since we do have a television in the room, I actually cover the light at night and uncover it in the morning.
-Design a layered window treatment that balances needs for light, privacy and a darkened room to sleep in.
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Also, seasons change and the sun can come up much earlier than we are ready to especially on a Saturday morning.   Here are some ways in which we can design the light in and out of your room

Temperature

This might not fall under an interior designers purview but we have to share this incredible tip on getting a good nights sleep! Keep your bedroom between 60-67 degrees Fahrenheit for the best nights sleep. Having a smart thermostat like the one from Nest can help you control the temperature without having to think about it every day.

Relax before bed but not in bed

A key to sleeping well for wellness is not using your bed for anything but sleep (and the other obvious bedroom activity). Many of us have habits of watching television, reading or snacking in bed. But if you’re not getting a solid eight hours and wake up groggy or tired. You need to change habits.
Our environment often forms our habits and we can design our spaces to make changing habits easier. So design a spot near your bedroom or bed to read or watch television. Stay there until you are drowsy and get into bed when you are very sleepy. It makes falling and staying asleep easier.
The seating area could be as small as a window seat, a loveseat at the end of your bed or a chair or recliner tucked in a corner. But taking a seat to read and relax outside of bed is a great way to ensure a great nights sleep.

A Quality Mattress

Finding the best mattress for you can be a challenge. From a traditional mattress to a latex mattress there is a right fit for everyone. Our top tips; find a mattress with no toxins.
For a traditional mattress we recommend Naturepedic, or Saatva as trusted resources for non-toxic mattresses for health.
For Latex mattresses please refer to our post Healthy Home Tips-Organic Mattresses.
If a mattress upgrade isn’t in your budget right now consider buying a mattress topper from one of the sources in our Organic mattress post. I used one on my daughter dorm room bed and it greatly improved the comfort.

Bedding

What you sleep in is as important as what you sleep on. Bedding adds color, texture and comfort to your bedroom. Having textures that are soft and cozy will create a more peaceful place to sleep. Soft textures are calming and have a psychological effect of comfort. It may be that they evoke the memory of the safety you felt as a small child with you’re your favorite blanket. Look for bedding that will bring a serene feeling to your bedroom. Soft color and pattern are desirable.
There are custom, semi-custom and off the shelf bedding options. So the variety of options for creating a bedroom that is beautiful, soul-soothing and supports your wellness are almost infinite.
At LiLu, when we select bedding we consider multiple factors including.
-If allergies are a concern.
-The desired weight of bedding for each season.
-The maintenance style of the homeowner.
-The budget.
-No toxins/ organic options for health and wellness
There is a variety in the type of bedding that you put on your bed.  You can get down filled or synthetic fill comforters.  Synthetic fills come into play when someone may have an allergy.  This is a great alternative. Two sources we recommend Company C and Saatva and Garnet Hill are great sources for ready made organic bedding. Here at LiLu Interiors, we have many custom and semi custom sources to create bedding that perfectly suits you.

Soothing Color

Color is the element in a room that has the largest impact on whether the room feels active or relaxing. In order to sleep your way to wellness having a soothing color palette in your bedroom is a must. We’ve written a blog about soothing color palettes that includes paint colors to use as your palette in a bed or bathroom.
There are basics to know about color psychology but perhaps more important is to think about what color resonates with you and feels relaxing and serene to you.