How to Turn Your Bedroom into a Sanctuary
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When you live in “The City That Never Sleeps,” aka New York City, it can be hard to wind down at bedtime. Since I am all about self-care and wellness in 2022, I decided to take a few easy steps to transform our bedroom into a peaceful sanctuary. It’s our little slice of heaven on the 39th floor. 😊
Color
As a designer, it’s hard NOT to be obsessed with color. To create a bedroom sanctuary, you want to choose colors that are calming to you personally, and for each person that will look different. However, as a general rule of thumb, whites and neutrals will create the most relaxing space. If that’s too minimalistic or modern for your taste, try cool hues like light blues or greens. We chose a super deep navy blue as an accent color for our bedroom. I love the bold contrast against all the white.
Peaceful Artwork
I moved this large painting from the foyer to our bedroom because I find it very relaxing to look at. Art is crazy expensive so I create my own.. which isn’t that hard if you keep it simple and borrow ideas from Pinterest. I buy canvases from Blick and use acrylic paint because it’s by far the easiest to work with. Whatever you choose to put on your walls, make sure it sparks joy and makes you feel at ease.
Candles
We always turn the lamps off and light a candle for 10-20 minutes before bed. Here are a few of my favorites lately…
Candles give off warm, red light.. which is calming and has the opposite effect of blue light, which leads me the next one…
Ban Phones & Screens
We have a no phones/no screen time in the bedroom rule, and we’re pretty good about sticking to it. I don’t just mean airplane mode or silenced, we actually turn our phones off when we go to bed, and we don’t bring the computers or iPads in there.
Yes, that means we do not have a TV in our bedroom. Try ditching yours and see what it does for your relationship and sleep!
Eight Sleep Pod Pro Mattress Cover
When I moved in with my boyfriend Hamed a year ago, I was delighted by the fact that he came with a king size Tempur-Pedic® mattress. SCORE!
But… our mattress slept HOT. I’m talking, all year long, even when it’s 15 degrees outside and there’s snow on the ground.. and even though we use these cooling bamboo sheets and this super breathable lightweight quilt, instead of a down comforter.. our bed was just too damn hot. The only solution was to crank the AC all night long. Not ideal.
Then one night at dinner, his friend told us about his newest obsession: Eight Sleep. We are now totally in love with this brand too.
Click here to save up to $250 on Eight Sleep products!
Eight Sleep has a few products, but since we didn’t want to ditch our Tempur-Pedic® mattress, we opted for the Pod Pro Cover. (Eight Sleep also sells another product that is an entire mattress, which I think is worth checking out if you aren’t happy with your current one.)
So what is it exactly? The Pod Pro Cover is a sleek, super thin mattress cover and health tracking device. The main feature is that it allows you to precisely control the temperature of the bed — and let me tell you it works WELL and FAST.
If you’re curious how it works, there is a super thin layer of water inside the cover, and the water heats up or cools down to rapidly change the temperature of the bed. Each side of the bed is separate, so I control my side and Ham controls his. It’s honestly amazing what a difference this makes in terms of getting good quality sleep.. which is SO important for so many things, from your overall health to your day to day mental clarity and performance, to preventing premature aging and disease.
And let’s be honest.. some nights I want the bed to be warm and cozy, other nights if I’ve had a lot of red wine, I want the bed to be super cold. You control the Pod temperature from an app on your phone, and the change happens within a matter of a minute or two. It still trips me out every time I adjust it and feel the results almost IMMEDIATELY. Like, what more can you ask for, really?
It gets better though! The Pod Pro Cover also tracks your vitals while you’re sleeping.. including respiratory rate, resting heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep cycles, and how many times you roll over.. then it gives you insight and a “sleep score” in the morning.
You get the same benefits as wearing a smart watch to bed, except you don’t have to sleep with something uncomfortable on your wrist. Over time the Pod learns about you and then sends you notifications, so you can make tweaks to optimize your sleep hygiene.
If you don’t want to fork over $1700+ up front, they have interest-free payment plans.
Canopy Humidifier (with Aroma Diffusion)
It’s so dry in New York in the winter, which takes a serious toll on my skin, lungs, the inside of my nose, hands, allergies. The solution? Enter Canopy Humidifier.
Use this link to get $10 OFF your order from Canopy
A humidifier is your best friend when it comes to youthful, dewey, plump, moisturized skin year-round. Also.. better air quality with moisture means improved breathing, which contributes to better sleep… and can even prevent some boyfriends from snoring lol.
I made the executive decision to upgrade to Canopy after reading that other humidifiers are breeding grounds for mold and bacteria… which made sense since the previous one I had was impossible to clean thoroughly.
Canopy is anti-mold and anti-bacterial because it uses mist-free technology, and is super easy to clean—you just pop it in the dishwasher.
Make sure to order some fun fragrances to take advantage of the aroma diffusion feature!
Tempur-Sleep Mask
I cannot fall asleep without my Tempur-Sleep Mask. It blocks all the city lights if you like to sleep with the curtains open, like I do. What makes this mask special is the super cushy tempur-pedic material and the way it sticks out over your eyeballs, so it doesn’t press against them. You can actually open your eyes with it on, so it’s like being in a completely pitch black room.
Quality Bedding & Pillows
Silk Pillowcases are a MUST for your skin and hair. I’m obsessed with silk pillowcases for 3 reasons:
If you sleep on your side or stomach.. your face slides against the material, instead of getting pulled by the fabric, which causes wrinkles. So a silk pillowcase is anti-aging, which we love!
Silk doesn’t soak up your skincare products like other fabrics, which is HUGE if you spend what I do on my serums and night creams.
They prevent your hair from breaking (unlike cotton).
These Bamboo sheets are my favorite because they are incredibly soft and breathable, but more importantly they are cooling (our Tempur-pedic bed sleeps hot year round.)
I chose this white quilt, these hotel-looking white pinched shams, these light gray throw pillows, and this adorable ‘wake me for Champagne’ Ted Baker throw pillow in deep navy.. to match the curtains and painting.
Essential Oils
This $7 lavender essential oil is a roll on that I put directly on my skin right before bed. I put it on my chest, neck, and wrists. (Ham likes the smell too and he’s picky.)
Guided Meditation or Spa Music
We often put on a guided meditation at bedtime to wind down before sleep. I’ve used both Headspace and Calm, they’re both great. Or sometimes we’re more in the mood for this Spa Music Playlist on Apple Music. I love this pink $22 portable bluetooth speaker. It sounds much better than playing audio on your iPhone.
Himalayan Salt Night Light
Technically this is in our bathroom, but I love this Himalayan salt night light because the light it gives off is a warm like a candle… the opposite of blue light, which is what we want! Salt rock lights emit negative ions when heated by the bulb, which is apparently good for breathing, allergies, asthma symptoms.. I don’t know about all that, but I love the way it looks and the gentle light it gives off.
Bring in Nature
I think nature relaxes everyone.. plus who doesn’t need an excuse for one more plant!? I suggest having at least one (if not 10) plants in every room whenever possible.
That’s it! I hope you enjoyed this guide to creating a peaceful sanctuary in your bedroom. I have included links below to all the products I bought while redecorating.
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x, gretchen
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