Create a Sleep Sanctuary

5 March 2025 Samantha Anderson

TEMPUR® sleep specialist & sleep counsellor shares tips on giving your bedroom a sleep-enhancing glow up ahead of World Sleep Day (14 March 2025).

To celebrate both World Sleep Day (14 March 2025) and the start of spring – aka the season of new beginnings – Thomas Høegh Reisenhus, TEMPUR® sleep specialist & sleep counsellor, is sharing his expert guide to refreshing your bedroom’s interiors with a great night’s sleep in mind.

Thomas says, “A bedroom’s primary function is that it should act as a sanctuary for rest, relaxation and, most importantly, sleep. The optimal sleeping environment is calm, dark, quiet and cool, so being able to achieve such conditions should be a key consideration when it comes to your bedroom’s design.

“Getting enough high-quality sleep is absolutely essential to our wellbeing, both mentally and physically, both in the short and long term. And yet, in spite of this, many of us are guilty of having bedroom set-ups where rest seems to be anything but the priority.

“Luckily, giving your room a sleep-enhancing glow up isn’t difficult. From having a good clear-out, bringing in plants and being mindful of lighting, to embracing calming colours and investing in high-quality bedding, there are plenty of simple changes to help refresh your bedroom and turn it into a sleep sanctuary this spring.”

Read on for Thomas’s guide to revamping your bedroom to achieve a great night’s sleep …

Colours for calm

If you’re looking to refresh your bedroom’s aesthetic, consider repainting the walls.

Colours such as blue and green have been associated with creating calming home interiors making them ideal options for a bedroom, which should be a place of rest and relaxation.

If you want to opt for a more neutral palette then warm whites, soft greys and lighter shades of beige can work well, with such colours all believed to help to create a peaceful environment too.

Bright and vibrant colours such as red should be avoided when it comes to choosing a colour for your bedroom walls given that these have been found to have stimulating effects [1] – which is not helpful for a great night’s sleep.

Keep it clean for sweet dreams

Giving your bedroom a sleep-boosting revamp can be as simple as having a good tidy and clear-out. A disorganised room filled with clutter is likely to induce feelings of stress, which are key to avoid if you want to ensure a good night’s sleep.

Start with the visible surfaces of your bedroom such as putting away that pile of clothes that’s been sitting by your bed for the last few days, donating the stack of now-read books on your bedside table to the local charity shop and taking the stockpile of old glasses and mugs dotted around your bedroom back to your kitchen.

Then, when you’re feeling ready, work your way through hidden areas like under your bed or at the back of your wardrobe – where many of us are guilty of stuffing belongings ready to deal with another day.

And, finally, be sure to make your bed every morning. This simple habit not only helps your bedroom look neat and tidy, but it has also been linked to improved sleep [2].

Power to the plants

Another quick and easy way to update your bedroom to help improve sleep is by investing in some wellness boosting plants.

Aside from adding a refreshing splash of verdant green, bringing houseplants into the home has also been linked to improved wellbeing and reduced stress [3] which, in turn, can help you sleep better.

Air purifying varieties such as aloe vera and snake plants make a great choice. They release oxygen at night, improve air quality and are also relatively low maintenance. What’s not to love?

To maximise the benefits further, why not go for plants with soothing scents. Lavender is an ideal choice; the plant’s smell has long been recognised for its stress-alleviating powers [4].

Light it right

How you light your bedroom before you go to sleep is another element of bedroom design that you should consider.

Invest in some lamps with bulbs that emit light in warm hues of yellow, orange or even red – all colours of light which have been linked to causing minimal disruption to your body’s natural circadian rhythms (which are aligned with the light-dark cycles of day and night)[5].

In contrast, using harsh overhead ceiling lights and any other types of bright artificial lights in the run up to bedtime can disrupt sleep by suppressing the production of melatonin, a hormone which plays a central role in regulating your body’s sleep-wake cycle.

Exposure to blue light – which if often emitted from electronic devices such as phones – is believed to be particularly disruptive when it comes to getting to sleep. For this reason, keep your room as a screen-free space; any phones, televisions and laptops should be kept to areas of the house where the primary function is not sleep.

To help with this, consider stocking your bedside table with a great book and an analogue alarm clock – these should help reduce the temptation to take your phone to bed and, in turn, minimise time spent texting friends, catching up on emails or scrolling social media before bed.

Pitch (black) perfect

An ideal sleep environment is dark, so it’s important to ensure that there is no unwanted light in your bedroom come bedtime.

Designed to block out all external light that might otherwise disrupt your precious sleep – from the early morning sunrise to the glare of streetlamps – installing black-out curtains in your bedroom can be an ideal way to ensure total darkness at night.

If you are not able to install black-out curtains, invest in an eye mask with adaptive padding and an adjustable strap instead. This will ensure total darkness as well as give you full control of the mask’s pressure, providing optimal levels of comfort.

Shutting out external light will do little to help if you have sleep-disrupting sources of light coming from within your bedroom, so don’t forget to check that any electrical appliances with glowing buttons, for example, are either switched off or safely covered.

Invest in the best

It’s important to invest in the best quality bedframe, mattress and pillows that you can afford for your bedroom as, far from being a luxury, they really do play such a huge part in fostering wellbeing in all areas of life by helping to ensure that you get a great night’s sleep.

When choosing a new mattress or pillow, one of the most crucial things to consider is sleep ergonomics, aka your posture and position during sleep.

Your mattress should adapt to you, distribute your weight evenly, support your spine’s natural alignment and absorb pressure to aid comfort and relieve pain. A mattress that is too soft will cause your back or hips to slouch and your spine to fall out of alignment, whilst a mattress that is too firm will put too much pressure on your joints, potentially causing discomfort or pain.

Your pillow should support your spine’s natural alignment too. An ergonomic pillow that actively moulds and adapts to your head, neck and shoulders and that minimises gapping is ideal.

Taking the time to select the right bedframe, mattress and pillows for you will allow you to enjoy restful sleep and wake feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day, every day.

For more information about TEMPUR, visit www.tempur.co.uk

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About TEMPUR®:
TEMPUR® researches, develops, manufactures and distributes mattresses, pillows and other sleep products to improve the sleep experience worldwide.

TEMPUR® Material is the original pressure relieving mattress product made up of viscoelastic – billions of ultra-sensitive open cells that exist between a solid and a liquid state. TEMPUR® products provide the ultimate comfort and support, helping you to get a great night’s sleep night after night.

Each TEMPUR® mattress undergoes sixty-seven different quality checks, ensuring superior quality and durability.

TEMPUR® products can be purchased direct via the TEMPUR® UK website, Dreams, John Lewis, Bensons for Beds, and Furniture Village or from leading independent retailers or from any of 11 TEMPUR® brand and outlets stores.

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