Create a Truly Relaxing Bedroom Retreat

Updated on March 24, 2015

The bedroom should be a place where you can unwind, relax and lounge uninterrupted. It should be decorated with comfortable furnishings, beautiful art and plush accessories that whisk you away from the everyday. One thing it should not be is another source of stress.

Try these tips to create a truly relaxing bedroom retreat:

Be a Minimalist

The minimalist design approach is all about cleaning up clutter and having only the essentials. Clutter not only makes your living space look unattractive, but it’s a major source of stress and can even cause depression. Researchers at UCLA found that clutter and messy rooms affect your mood and even your self-esteem—and, it turns out to be worse for women than it is for men.

Simply decorating with a less is more approach can help you feel more calm during the day and allow for a better night’s rest. Choose two or three pieces of art to hang on your bedroom walls, and avoid decorating with a lot of accessories. Paint your room with light and airy neutral colors to make your bedroom appear larger.

Natural Light Is Good Light

Just like the right colors can make your bedroom feel open and airy, so can the right amount of natural light. Interior decorators look to natural light to create living spaces that make the occupants feel healthy and happy, and you can do this in your bedroom, too.

Create the effect of more natural light by removing the heavy drapes and curtains you have blocking your windows. Decorated Life suggests using sheer or light fabrics for small windows and window treatments for large styles. Decorating your windows with custom solar blinds can help to reduce glare and provide UV protection. The Shade Store offers solar blind styles that complement any minimalist bedroom retreat.

Think Plush

Another relaxing accessory is a plush rug. Apartment Therapy suggests adding a thick shag rug or a soft sheepskin rug near your bed. PlushRugs.com offers a variety of affordable rugs, including soft, plush rugs in a a variety of colors and prints to match your decor.

For the ultimate plush bedroom, consider adding cozy memory foam pillows and down comforters to your bed.

Invest in a State-of-the-Art Mattress

Sleep is important. It can improve your memory, ignite creativity, sharpen your attention, help maintain your weight, lower your stress levels, reduce depression and give you a longer lifespan, according to Health. The National Sleep Foundation suggests that all women should sleep seven to nine hours each night, and a Women and Sleep poll found that most women ages 30 to 60 get less than seven hours of shuteye each night.

Between exhausting workdays, toting the kids to soccer practice, PTA meetings and whipping up something for dinner, when it comes time to go to sleep, you’ll want to retreat to a bed fit for a queen. Select a mattress that suits your comfort level like a state-of-the-art style Serta mattress with memory foam or a Sleep Number Bed that can be adjusted to your individual comfort. Sleep Number beds are clinically proven to reduce back pain and improve sleep quality. And, the adjustable comfort levels can be changed with just the touch of a button.

+ posts

Throughout the year, our writers feature fresh, in-depth, and relevant information for our audience of 40,000+ healthcare leaders and professionals. As a healthcare business publication, we cover and cherish our relationship with the entire health care industry including administrators, nurses, physicians, physical therapists, pharmacists, and more. We cover a broad spectrum from hospitals to medical offices to outpatient services to eye surgery centers to university settings. We focus on rehabilitation, nursing homes, home care, hospice as well as men’s health, women’s heath, and pediatrics.