According to our team's recent study on sleep and burnout, your bedroom plays a big role in the quality of your sleep and ability to battle burnout.
If you're feeling stressed and overworked, you might not be getting enough sleep. However, few people have the ability to completely cut out stressors at work or have the financial stability to quit their job. While you might not be able to make drastic changes at your office, you can turn your environment at home into a calm, relaxing space. We're sharing 8 tips on how to prep your bedroom for quality sleep.
Pictured: Blackout Cellular Shades in Tamarind
Is Your Home Telling You You're On The Verge of Burnout?
These 4 warning signs from your home environment could mean you're headed for burnout.
- Disorganization and Clutter. Do you have so much on your mental plate that it's blinded you to just how messy your home has gotten?
- Junk Food. Take a look in your pantry and fridge. Is stress leading you to reach for unhealthy snacks and takeout for most meals?
- Partially Complete Projects. Whether it's starting a new hobby, painting a room, or something as simple as changing the air filter - motivation to complete tasks can be a challenge when you're feeling burned out.
- You're Home More Frequently. When's the last time you met up with friends or took a walk in your neighborhood? If you find yourself withdrawing from social situations and spending most of your time alone, you may be experiencing burnout.
8 Ways to Hack Your Bedroom for Better Sleep
Getting quality sleep is crucial to allow your body to recover from the day's stress. Give these bedroom strategies a try, and you may discover some surprising factors that were hurting your sleep quality.
Pictured: Designer Roman Shades in Tantalum Slate. Photo via @ellishomeanddesign.
1. Darken Your Sleep Space with Blackout Shades
We're looking at you, obnoxious streetlight. Experts say complete darkness helps your body know when it's time to sleep. Get hotel-room-level darkness with blackout shades or draperies. If you want to block as much light as possible (especially if you're a night shift worker), it's important to get shades that fit tight to the window frame.
Take advantage of our professional measuring service to leave all the calculations to a pro. You can also add light blockers to the sides of your shades to cover the strip of light that can leak in along the sides of shades.
Pictured: Premier Roman Shades in Shelby Walnut.
2. Shut Out Blue Light
Most of us know screen time right before bed can be detrimental to our sleep. (But we still end up scrolling for hours on TikTok anyway.) Try charging your phone in a different room and using an actual alarm clock instead.
Sleep-stunting, blue light could also be lurking in your light bulbs. If your bedroom lamps have bulbs with a bluish "daylight" color temperature, try switching to a warmer hue, like "warm white" or "soft white."
To help synch up lighting to your circadian rhythm, you can also install smart bulbs that slowly dim on a timer when it's time for bed. This will help your body shift into sleep mode and remind you to go to bed at the same time every night.
Pictured: Blackout Cellular Shades in Cirque Glacier.
3. Keep Things Cool with Cellular Shades
Did you know that 60 and 67 degrees is the optimal temperature for sleep? If you're worried about the energy costs of keeping your room that cool, install a programmable thermostat to keep your home warmer when you're not at home.
You can also install insulating cellular shades which reduce your home's energy loss and help regulate the temperature in your bedroom. You can also connect motorized shades with your smart home system to automatically lower during the hottest part of the day.
Pictured: Levolor Blackout Cellular Shades.
4. Block Out Disturbing Sounds
If your bedroom is next to a busy road or you have a snoring partner, it can be helpful to dampen noise with a sound machine, fan, or earplugs. In addition to regulating temperature, insulating shades and draperies can also help dampen outside noise.
If you live on a busy street or in a large city, things can get pretty noisy, even late into the night. Layering window treatments is another great way to absorb sound. Each window treatment acts as a barrier towards exterior noise. If you're looking for a guide, on how to layer window treatments, we've got you covered. Whether it's drapery and woven wood shades, or light filtering shades paired with blackout shades, layer away!
Pictured: Woven Wood Shades in Bonaire Flaxen. Photo via @Frengpartyof5.
5. Clear Out Clutter
It's easy to justify messiness by saying you're just not an organized person, or don't have time to clean up. However, clutter in your physical surroundings can lead to increased metal stress.
Stress-inducing clutter isn't just piles of mail and dirty laundry. If every surface of your home is crowded with tchotchkes, your eye won't have a place to rest. In the bedroom, try minimizing your decor and incorporating soft, muted colors like sage and teal.
Pictured: Woven Wood Shades in Antigua Natural. Photo via Crazy Wonderful.
6. Tone Down Your Wall Color
While we're talking about color, vibrant yellow or bright green might make you smile, but they could be energizing you rather than allowing your body to decompress. Even bright white walls can be overstimulating. Instead, stick with cool-toned colors like light blue, green and grey.
If your bedroom is full of bold patterns, instead try adding visual interest by mixing up textures in a single, calming color palette.
Featured: Premium Natural Blackout Roller Shades in Cascade Blackout Graphite.
7. Stop The Wrestling Match With Your Sheets
Do you wake up every morning tangled up in your sheets? Switching to silkier performance sheets that wick moisture can help keep you cooler (See tip #3) and reduce friction so you don't get so twisted up. You might also want to switch to organic bedding since you are exposed to your sheets and pillow cases for an extended time every night.
Featured: Natural Woven Wood Shades in Caracas Drift. Photo via @cohesivelycurated.
8. Bring Some Green Into The Room
Pictured: Woven Wood Shade in Antigua Natural. Photo via: @theboyerhome.
If your bedroom feels flat and lifeless, adding a few plants can help. Plants help reduce stress and purify the air, it's a win-win!
Just be sure to open your blackout shades during the day so they can get some natural light.
Learn More About Burnout and Sleep
For more resources about how to prevent burnout, improve sleep, to find out which state gets the worst sleep, read our full report: State of Sleep.
If you'd like help choosing the right blackout window treatments for your bedroom, shop here, or speak to a Blinds.com Designer for free at 844-551-3769.
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