Refreshing My Bedroom For Spring!

I happily teamed up with the National Sleep Foundation to bring you this post.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

I let my bedroom go. I let it turn into the dumping ground. I let it get dusty and cluttered. I kept using the excuse “When we finish the basement and can move our bedroom over there, THEN I will redecorate and take care of the mess.” But guess what? Two years after deciding to make our master suite in the unfinished part of the basement, we are not any closer to actually doing it. The money just hasn’t been there. And it was high time I stopped waiting. Maybe your excuse is “When we move somewhere bigger.” Or maybe it is “When we are no longer renting.” Whatever your excuse is, how about you change the way you are thinking about it? Because when your room looks like the back lot of the thrift store where people dump their stuff, then you probably are not getting the type of sleep that you need. I believe that the space you are sleeping in can affect the way you sleep…or don’t sleep.

So I decided to take care of my room. I did a NO COST room refresh! Well, I did splurge on $5 grocery store flowers since most of mine in the yard have not bloomed yet.

I moved the gallery wall from the side wall to above my bed. I changed my comforter from green (which was full of holes from getting washed so much over the last eight years) to an all white one. I felt pretty safe doing this now that we have no diapers and all my kids are old enough to make it to the bathroom when they have the flu. I have probably just jinxed myself. Watch for a post next week on removing stains….. :P

You already got to see me transform these metal card catalogs into a side table, but it has finally found its home on my side of the bed.

We added some blackout curtains. Up until this point we only had sheers. We live in the country and it gets pretty dark at night so I never really worried about it. But man! What a difference they have made! You can read my interview on the Sleep Foundations site for more about why they helped and how it has affected my sleep.

I went shopping around my house and decided the artwork in my office would look better in my room. I added colorful pots to my greenhouse instead of all white.

And while I was shopping my house I collected some of the pillows I have ~~hoarded~~ collected and made over the years.

Another addition to the room is this Dohm sound machine. I will admit that I have mocked others for having a sound machine. I didn’t want to fall asleep to the sound of gulls. But this one just sounds like a fan. And I can control how loud it is. I have it on the lowest setting and I have to admit to being SHOCKED at how it has helped me fall asleep faster. I kid you not. Shocked. Normally my mind races and thinks of all the things I did not do that day, all the things I need to do the next day, and all the things I want to do but will never have the time to do. It normally takes me 1-2 hours to fall asleep. HOURS! Sad, but true. Now it is maybe twenty minutes. And it is so small!

So what else can you do to get a good night’s sleep?

* Have a clean space. Having clutter can give you anxiety and make it harder to sleep. I also think having a beautiful space is calming. I once heard that how your space looks (cluttered, cleaned, etc) reflects how you feel inside. I think there is some truth to that.

* Limit screen time before going to bed. This is a hard one for me since I blog at night so I can spend time with my kids during the day. I also have TV time with my husband in the evenings. But the type of light that comes from the screen of electronics can affect you being able to fall asleep. Doing something calming like reading at least an hour before going to bed.

* Stick to a schedule. MAN! This is super hard for me. I blog until I am done and sometimes I have to pull an all nighter. Editing pictures, writing posts, and research all take time. But I have tried hard to go to bed at 11:00 or 11:30 for the past couple of weeks which is much better than my normal 1 or 2 am. It is all about time management and priorities I decided.

* Avoid napping if falling asleep at night is an issue.

* Keep your bedroom cool. Did you know you sleep best between 60 and 67 degrees? I had no idea. Our bedroom is in the basement so it is always just under 70 degrees.

* Avoid caffeine, alcohol, large meals, and spicy food before bedtime.

* Don’t do things like watch TV, work on a laptop, or play games on your phone in your bed. I remember a long time ago, I think even before I was married, that Oprah said to not have a TV in your bedroom. I don’t even remember her reasoning. I just decided then and there I would never have a TV in my bedroom. You know, because Oprah said so. I have never regretted it. Our room is for sleeping (and “sleep” related activities) only.

* Keep your circadian rhythms in check. Before working with the national sleep foundation I had no clue this was a thing. You are suppose to avoid bright light at night before bed and then expose yourself to bright light (sunlight) in the morning. It is really quite fascinating and you can read more about it on their site.

* Exercise and be active during the day. My favorite day would go like this: Wake up, work in the garden and yard to the point of exhaustion, shower, read, go to bed. It is no wonder that on those type of days I always sleep so well.

*Keep your bedroom free from noise as much as possible. I am not sure if this means making your snoring husband sleep on the couch or not. Hehe. Actually, either my husband is miraculously done with snoring, or the sound machine has drowned it out. But either way I haven’t noticed his snoring.

*Sleep on a good mattress and pillows. This brings us to today’s GIVEAWAY! You don’t have a nice mattress you say? Well, how would you like a Serta Perfect Sleeper mattress set? Enter below!

*Must be 18 years or older and a resident of the USA at the time of the contest. The winner will be chosen via random.org and notified by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. The prize will be shipped by the company.

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I partnered with the National Sleep Foundation to bring you this post and giveaway. I was compensated for my time but all opinions and ideas are all my own!

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