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Design Your Bedroom for Healthy, Undisturbed Sleep

One of the common concerns I hear from patients is how their bedroom environment affects their sleep quality. Often the bedroom tune-up makes a bigger difference in sleep than people anticipate. Let’s dive into creating the perfect sleep environment. Hi, I’m Dr. Catherine Darley, and welcome to Skilled Sleeper, where we equip you with the skills for a good night’s rest.

Essentials for the Best Sleep Environment

There are three main components to perfect sleep:

1. Getting the total amount of sleep you need each night
2. Having good sleep quality, and
3. Sleeping at the right time for your body clock

Having an ideal bedroom for sleep is an important part of getting good sleep quality. We want to eliminate any external factors that can disturb your rest. The other aspect of getting good sleep quality is to treat any sleep disorders that interfere with good sleep quality. These I think of as internal disruptors.
There are many, many aspects of creating a bedroom that gets you perfect sleep. Take the time to systematically evaluate your bedroom, then go through optimizing it. Next do the same for the rest of the bedrooms in your home. This strategy can very quickly make a positive impact on your sleep!

The Foundations of an Optimal Bedroom

Let’s start with the essential features of an ideal bedroom for sleep, including the ideal temperature for sleep, and bedroom lighting ideas.

Darkness
Achieving a dark room is crucial. Your bedroom should be no more than one lux during sleep hours, which is about the brightness of one candle flame from three feet away. Use a lux meter app on your smartphone to measure the light in your bedroom. Another easy way to determine whether your bedroom is dark enough at night is to hold your hand out at arms length, and wiggle your fingers. If you can see your fingers wiggling, your bedroom is too light.

Use black out curtains or blinds over the windows. There are custom made solutions available from home decorating companies. Or a DIY solution can be to get black out fabric from a craft or fabric store to line your existing curtains.

Bedroom Lighting Ideas
Use dim, warm-toned lamps for nighttime activities and avoid blue light exposure. Blue-blocking glasses can also be helpful if you need to use electronic devices before bed.

If you need to get up at night, keep lighting under 10 lux for minimal disruption. Have a bedside lamp that can be easily turned on in the night before getting out of bed. Avoid having a night-light on constantly if you can. Though for safety, always have the amount of light needed if you need to get up in the night.

Quiet and Soothing Ambience
A quiet room promotes better sleep. If your home or neighborhood isn’t naturally quiet, consider using white noise. Traditionally fans have been used for this. Now though, there are noise machines that are specifically designed to mask other sounds during sleep. An air purifier can double as a white noise machine, improving both sound quality and air quality.

Some machines produce pink noise, green noise, or brown noise. This is a growing area of understanding, with active research underway. At present, there is more evidence for pink noise having positive effects on sleep than the other noise colors. Stay tuned as our understanding develops.

One caution – listening to podcasts to sleep can be disruptive in that your mind is actively engaged in listening and thinking about the content, making it take longer to fall asleep. Then, when the podcast ends, you may wake up due to the silence. There are other, more sustainable ways to calm your thoughts at night, if that’s what’s motivating you to listen to a podcast. See the article here.

Best Temperature for Sleep
When the sun goes down in the evening, and it cools off, it signals to our body to start switching into a more restful sleep state. Now of course we can set the thermostat to whatever temperature we prefer. It’s best though to replicate the natural daily temperature fluctuations by turning down the thermostat a couple hours before bed.

The optimal bedroom temperature is below 65°F (18°C). Cooler temperatures facilitate better sleep. For more on temperature management, check out my video on taking a bath for sleep.

Fine-Tuning Your Sleep Environment

Now that we’ve gotten the basics in place, let’s keep going by fine-tuning the details. The goal is to create a bedroom where nothing disturbs your rest!

Clean and Uncluttered Space
Ensure your bedroom is both clean and uncluttered. One reason to clean regularly is to keep dust and dust mites down. We can have a histamine or allergic reaction to dust. Histamine is a neurotransmitter that increases alertness. Regularly deep clean your bedroom by vacuuming carpets, washing bedding, and dusting surfaces. Ensure good ventilation to maintain air quality. The recommendations are to wash sheets and pillowcases weekly in hot water. Then wash all the bedding, from the mattress cover and dust ruffle on up to the coverlet every three months. Replace pillows every two years, and traditional coil spring mattresses every 10 years (more often if they’ve broken down or gotten a divet).

Additionally, keep your space uncluttered to reduce subconscious cues to be active and alert. Seeing unfinished projects or tasks in your bedroom can make it difficult to sleep. Of course, sometimes we need to use our bedroom for additional purposes (as I write this, the sewing table is set up in the bedroom). If you use your bedroom for multiple activities, visually separate work and sleep. Some options would be to put a cloth or cover over your work area when you’re done. A folding screen is also a good option. The goal here is not to have any activities in view as you’re getting ready and getting to bed for sleep.

Bedding and Mattress
Your mattress and bedding should help regulate your body temperature. Opt for multiple thin blankets instead of a single thick duvet. These can easily adjust to your comfort level. Natural fiber mattresses are preferable as they generally breathe better and avoid off-gassing issues associated with synthetic materials.

Deep Clean Bedroom Checklist
Take the time to create a sleep-friendly environment. Many people find that improving their bedroom significantly enhances their sleep quality. With these tips, you’re well on your way to a good night and sleep well!


About the Author: Dr. Catherine Darley

Dr. Catherine Darley is a pioneering internationally recognized expert in the use of natural, behavioral and lifestyle medicine for the treatment of sleep disorders. Dr. Darley founded the Institute of Naturopathic Sleep Medicine to fill the need for natural, less invasive solutions to a common problem–poor sleep.  

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The content of the Website, such as text, videos, audio, images, and other materials created by the Institute of Naturopathic Sleep Medicine and other materials contained on our Website (collectively, "Content") is for informational purposes only. The Content is not medical advice and is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately.