The time you sleep is when your body recovers and repairs itself. A good sleep is vital to retaining good health and a strong immune system. Every person spends one third of their life sleeping. That is a lot of time to spend in the bedroom. Since such a large part of your life is devoted to sleep, it is important to design and furnish your bedroom so that you can get the best quality sleeping experience possible. There are many theories regarding how to go about doing this. Some furnishing methods have proven to be more effective than others. This article will take a practical approach to furnishing a bedroom. Let’s take a look at what you will need to do:
1. Purchase the best mattress you can afford
A good night’s sleep begins and ends with the level of comfort that your mattress provides. There are a wide variety of mattresses on the market, so you would be wise to go to your local mattress retailer and try them out yourself to see which one suits you the best. This is an important decision, since you will be spending eight hours each night on this mattress. Some of the mattresses you can choose from are airbeds, adjustable, foam, waterbeds and innerspring. Each one of these has their own unique feel. Certain varieties of mattress compliment certain physical conditions better than others. Whatever mattress you choose, make sure you are able to return it if you are not satisfied with the way it feels. You should also choose a mattress with a long warranty. A mattress is an expensive purchase, so you want to be protected in case it is damaged in any way. Some stores that have furniture for sale will also sell mattresses.
2. Room darkening shades
Along with a comfortable mattress, another critical element to getting a good sleep is to make sure you are sleeping in complete darkness. Nowadays, this is difficult to do because there is so much artificial light created by street lights. This is especially true in city areas. When you sleep, your body produces melatonin, which helps to regulate your sleep cycle. Melatonin can only be produced effectively in complete darkness. Ideally, you should not be able to see your hand in front of your face. Therefore, installing room-darkening shades in your bedroom will ensure that you have a pitch black sleeping environment.
3. Selecting a bed
When it comes to bedroom furniture, the bed is obviously the most important. The type of bed that you choose will depend a lot on the mattress that you decide to buy. For example, if you like the feel of a waterbed mattress, you will not be able to find this is the size of a traditional single mattress. This means that you will need to buy a large bed, even if you are single and don’t need all that extra space. You will need to decide if the added price of buying a large waterbed is worth the comfort it provides. Some mattresses are considerably more expensive than others. Therefore, you may like a certain type of mattress, but you can not afford a queen or king size. This will force you to buy a smaller bed, unless you choose a different style mattress. Buy a bed with a sturdy headboard, so you can firmly plant your pillow against it as you sleep. You can find beds like this in stores that sell furniture and antiques.
4. Electronic devices
This is a topic that the majority of people overlook when they are furnishing their bedroom. It has become common for people to have a TV and even a computer in their bedroom. While it might be relaxing to watch a TV show or a movie before you go to sleep, having electronic devices in your bedroom is not healthy and not advised. Electronics emit electro magnetic frequencies (EMFs) that are harmful to the body if a person is exposed to them for a prolonged period of time. Even if the device is turned off, EMFs will still be emitted, unless the device is completely unplugged. Therefore, all electronic components should be stored outside the bedroom. It is also a bad idea to have your cell phone near your head when you sleep. Using a clock that is quartz and not a typical electronic clock is a good idea. One final suggestion is to make sure that there are no electronic components directly behind the wall where you will be positioning the headboard of your bed. EMFs can radiate through the wall and do harm to your body as you sleep.
5. Night tables
Night tables add charm to a bedroom and they hold items such a books, your watch, a phone and many other items that you may want to have access to before you sleep. The style of night table you buy will depend on your style of bed. There are certain bed manufacturers that also sell matching sets of night tables. You should inquire with your bed retailer about this when you are shopping for a bed.
6. Vanity
Women need a place to do their makeup. It is not always comfortable or convenient to do this in the bathroom because there is no place to sit down in front of the mirror. Also, if you have children, they make need to use the bathroom before you finish your makeup. If you do not have room darkening shades, your bedroom vanity should be positioned in such a way that it does not reflect outside light into your eyes when you are trying to sleep. A good idea is to position the vanity against the same wall as your bed’s headboard. This will prevent any annoying light reflection from outside keeping you awake at night.
7. Clothing chests
You are obviously going to need somewhere to store your clothes, unless you plan on keeping everything in your closet. Clothing chests are made in many attractive styles of wood in decorative designs. The chest can also serve another purpose besides clothing storage. If you have a noisy air vent that is keeping you awake at night, you can push the chest in front of the vent to muffle the sound.
8. Sound machines
These are quickly becoming an essential component in the bedrooms of millions of people, especially those people who live in noisy city areas. Sound machines produce an array of soothing sounds that will help block out the standard city noises of beeping car horns and screaming sirens. There are many different discs you can buy that contain every sound you can imagine. Many people like to fall asleep to the sound of falling rain or waves gently crashing on the beach. However, these sound machines can also produce what is called “white noise.” This is a steady stream of one continuous sound, such as the sound of a fan. White noise has also been found to be an effective tool to help people go to sleep, even those who do not live in noisy areas.
Whatever bedroom furniture you decide to buy, make sure you choose wisely. Because getting enough sleep is so important to your health, you want your bedroom to be the most relaxing environment possible.
