This is a blog post I’ve wanted to write for a little while now, having written the ‘Bathroom Edition’ at the start of the year. This week I’m focusing on your bedroom (as the name of this post might suggest!) but specifically areas that I believe will help support your evening routine, and in turn hopefully give you the best chance of a good night’s sleep.
With everything going on at the moment, I’ve been hearing of a lot of people who have never suffered with insomnia before, are having difficulties with sleeping, and the general anxieties and brain power required to process everything in the media and around us, is certainly making a lot of us feel more tired during the day, so I felt now might be a good time to write up some of my tips.
Let’s get straight in…
BLACKOUT BLINDS
If you’re anything like me I sleep much better in a dark room. I love the idea of waking up with the sun, however I find I just end up waking up having squinted and screwed up my face, and often with a little morning headache. So my blackout blinds from Blinds2Go are a life saver, and as fate would have it, they currently have an offer running where you can upgrade to their blackout lining for free!
They have such a lovely selection of fabrics and a great sample service, they do roman blinds, wooden blinds, roller blinds, shutters and curtains so definitely head on over if you’re looking to add a new window treatment to your bedroom. Popping a blackout roller blind behind some curtains or shutters is also a great option, if you’re looking to make your room more on the pitch black side of things!
PILLOWS
Next up, I want to talk to you about pillows. It’s becoming more common now for hotels to have a 'pillow menu' so you can select how firm or soft you'd like them, or you might know of (or in fact, be!) that person who takes their own pillow with them when staying somewhere else. I know I’ve only just turned 30, but I’m starting to see why that’s a thing!
I’m lucky enough to sleep on a Tempur Cloud Pillow which the very clever sales assistant gave to me when I was trying out mattresses to buy - I did choose a mattress, but the thing I was most sure about after that visit was that I needed to get one of these pillows! They did us a great deal luckily, because they’re not the most affordable option out there, but I can highly recommend them and I’d say very much worth the investment.
Obviously this is a very personal preference, and just like mattresses, one size doesn’t fit all. So if you are able to try out some different options, I’d start there and try to find one that really suits how you sleep, gives you the right support and just feels damn comfy!
HABITS
Something as simple as making your bed in the morning can make such a difference to how you feel getting into bed at night. And changing your sheets regularly is also going to create a much more comfortable (and healthier) environment to sleep in. Try to find the softest sheets you can afford as well - there are some amazing options available, I usually head to TKMaxx/Homesense to pick up some top quality bargains!
On my bedside I have a night time hand cream and pillow spray so I can easily finish off my evening routine before switching off my reading lamp. Do you have any items that might help you drift off a little easier? It might be an eye mask or your current book. I am actually working on a bedside styling blog post, so stay tuned if that might be helpful for you.
SCENT
Find something that works for you. I know some people aren’t keen on lavender - I personally love it and it usually sends me straight off to sleep!
You can light a candle while you do your skincare routine - I love the M&S Restore which contains essential oils of Geranium, Cedar Wood, Eucalyptus & Lavender.
As I mentioned earlier, a pillow spray is a really good option, or I also like to use a roll on or dab some essential oil on my temples, neck and wrists before I head to bed so the fragrance stays with me most of the night.
ORGANISATION
This might be an obvious one but I personally always sleep a lot better when my bedroom is tidy & organised, so it’s important to decide on a place for everything so that keeping your room tidy is a much simpler task.
My main battle is always the bits & pieces that don’t have an obvious home, or items that I need to take some sort of action on. For example that H&M package I need to return, or the overnight bag I used at the weekend and need to unpack fully before it goes away again.
It might be as simple as keeping an empty drawer to pop these items in just for the time being and allocating some time each week to sort it out - it’s something I’m trialling, so that on the surface everything looks tidy! I’ll report back!
I hope that’s been helpful, and given you some ideas or inspiration to create a calming sanctuary in your bedroom and hopefully help you get that good sleep you deserve!
Thanks so much for reading!
Jess x
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