5 Ways to Create a Restful Sleep Environment

Your bedroom should be your sanctuary. A place where you close the door and say goodbye to the noise from the outside world. A room designed with only your wellbeing in mind. That’s the key to Biophilic Design, creating a space that improves both your health and happiness. From choosing a calming colour scheme and embracing the power of plants, to banishing blue light and investing in your bedding, we're here to share our 5 top tips for creating a restful sleep environment.

Choose a calming colour scheme

Do you find that certain colours *speak* to you more than others? The study of colour psychology has proven that colour impacts the way we feel, displaying a powerful effect on our mood and physiological reactions. Whether you want to feel happy, uplifted, energised or calm, there will be a colour palette to reflect your chosen emotion. When it comes to the bedroom, choosing a calming colour scheme is imperative to a peaceful night’s slumber. "What you want to avoid is any colour that's overly stimulating or highly saturated," says Tash, Lick's Head Colour Specialist. Instead, choose more nurturing shades such as palettes of green and blue that reflect the sea, sky, and countryside.

Invest in your bedding

We spend a third of our lives asleep, so it's important that we're comfortable! There’s no better feeling than sinking into fresh, great quality bed linen at the end of the day - in fact, we feel sleepy just thinking about it. Investing in high-quality natural textiles is one of the best things you can do for your sleep, and not choosing the right set could be coming between you and your best-ever sleep. Ideally, your bedding should be hypoallergenic and kind to your skin, while helping you regulate your body's temperature to keep you cool while you sleep. We would highly recommend the Eucalyptus Silk range from Mela, made from 100% Eucalyptus Silk, which feels equivalent to 1000 cotton thread count. Their weighted blankets are also a must-have if you struggle with night-time anxiety.

📷 @miss_malgo

Embrace the power of plants

You know that feeling of calm you experience when you’re surrounded by nature? Indoor plants bring that feeling of the outside, in! As well as introducing calming shades of green into your bedroom, research has shown that plants help reduce stress and make you feel more at ease. While our leafy friends look pretty and help regulate our mood, they also purify the air we breathe by releasing oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide. As if we needed another excuse to buy MORE houseplants!

Remove all distractions

We firmly believe your bedroom should be your sanctuary, your place to escape. To create this feeling of peace, you need to remove all distractions from your space, whether that’s your laptop, phone or TV (check out our top tips on how to ban your phone from your bedroom!). Your digital devices not only make it difficult for you to switch off, they also emit alerting blue light which confuses your sleep/wake cycle by decreasing the production of melatonin (the sleep hormone), making you feel wide awake. Instead, get lost in a good book, meditate or practice gratitude journaling to help you drift off to sleep.

📷 @littlefashionbooks

Get an alarm clock

Sounds simple, right? But most of us still rely on our phone's anxiety-inducing alarm to jolt us from sleep. It's often said that a great night's sleep starts the minute you wake up, and we couldn't agree more. That's why we suggest you make the change and wake feeling refreshed and ready for the day with our Bodyclock sleep/wake-up lights. Did you know that light is crucial for keeping our circadian rhythm in check? Our internal body clock synchronises to the 24-hour day and is the reason we go to sleep when it’s dark and wake when it’s light! Just like our ancestors synchronised their body clock to the natural rising and setting of the sun, Lumie wake-up lights slowly send you to sleep with a fading sunset and rouse you from sleep with a gentle sunrise. This gradual light helps your brain to distinguish day and night in our modern world of technology, alarms and unusual working hours. Say goodbye to your phone's harsh alarm and hello to a restful sleep environment!

I bought this alarm because I was returning to the office and knew I couldn’t rely on naturally waking up in time anymore and I couldn’t face going back to that jarring iPhone alarm! It’s one of the best investments I’ve made in the last few years. I even set it on days I don’t have to get up because I love waking up to the light and the birdsong. I even set it a bit earlier on the days I do have to get up to so I can lie and listen to it for 5 mins as it makes me smile . I love the sunset feature as well and use it most nights with the thunderstorm or crickets sound. Also the digital display can be set so that it doesn’t show at night unless you tap the lamp. This was important to me because I need complete darkness to sleep and I don’t like clock watching at night so it’s perfect. Basically I couldn’t do without this alarm now! Sally

Bodyclock Shine 300 sleep/wake-up light

Time for your best-ever sleep

Now, we're not saying that changing your bedding or putting a plant on your bedside is going to magically improve your sleep. But, these are just a few small steps you can take to improve the environment in which you sleep, and reframe the way you think about winding-down. The few hours before bed really should be your 'you-time', so the power of creating a restful space where you can prioritise yourself and your wellbeing should never be underestimated. Sleep tight!