Designing Your Bedroom To Promote Better Sleep
Did you know that how you style our bedroom can actually affect your ability to have a good night’s sleep? Our quality of life is dependent on the quality of our interior spaces. It is important that we take care in designing our spaces thoughtfully, with an emphasis on our bedrooms. These 3 secrets will help you create a bedroom that promotes a better night’s sleep.
Allow Darkness. Lights communicate to your brain that it is time to wake up, so keeping your room dark is one of the main foundations to promoting better sleep. If you live in an area where there is a lot of light pollution or an area where your bedroom windows face the rising sun, invest in light-eliminating curtains to block out lights and activity that would otherwise cause anxiety and distraction. It’s important to eliminate as much light as possible in the bedroom. This includes the glow of our electronic devices. Many of us use our phones as our alarm clocks, but the light from our phones can also be disturbing to our sleep cycles. Try an analog or vintage alarm clock rather than your cell phone. Coming out of a deep sleep to the brightness of your phone can be damaging to your vision.
Similarly, televisions in the bedroom can be a distracting light source for your sleep cycle. Use an armoire to conceal your television while it is not being used. While it can be comforting to fall asleep with the TV on, the light from the monitor can disrupt your sleep pattern. If you absolutely need the television on to fall asleep, set a timer so it turns off automatically, or replace the habit completely with soothing music or a sleep meditation recording. In addition, use soft lighting in your bedroom. Try investing in bedside lamps with low wattage light bulbs to avoid the use of overhead lighting during the night. Bright lights remind the brain of wake time, and it is important to enhance and promote the feeling of sleep time.
Clear Clutter. Too much clutter can disturb your ability to have a good night’s sleep. Always keep your work out of the bedroom to promote relaxation and peace. The more your bedroom promotes a feeling of leisure, the more it will actually feel like a luxurious place. Keep household items like your laundry basket in a closet or other enclosed area. Leaving clothes around the room can remind one of daily tasks and chores that need to be done. By neatly enclosing these items in a designated place, you’ll eliminate the look and feel of a clustered space. The same goes for all of your personal items. Clothing, jewelry, and accessories should all have a place. Keeping your items organize will promote a feeling of an organized life.
Color palette. Soothing colors can actually promote relaxation and enhance your ability to fall asleep and feel calm. Muted earth tones, such as blues, creams and greens, are ideal colors for bedrooms, according to the experts of Yorkville painters. Try to avoid bright and loud colors in your bedroom to create a more restful atmosphere. Pale gray is the perfect color for bedrooms. It creates a sense of balance in any kind of lighting, plus it plays well with accent colors like lavender, pale pink, and cool blue. Use these hues in your bedroom accessories like your comforter and wall art to create the ultimate relaxing space.
Sleep is an important and sacred part of our everyday life that benefits both our physical and mental health. The better sleep we get, the better we feel throughout our day. Simple design concepts, like light, color, and organization, create the foundation for the perfect night’s sleep. By utilizing these tips, you too can promote a better and healthier sleep for yourself. For more relaxing bedroom decorating tips, contact Angie Lowry, a Smithfield, VA interior designer.
Uses For Duct Tape
If you don’t have a roll of duct tape lying around your house, you’re missing out on a major problem solver. Duct tape is one of the cheapest, easiest, DIY-problem solvers for many household troubles. It is one of the most versatile items on the planet with many uses. Think about it – what household item can you use to fix a leak and make a prom dress? Duct tape can save the day on many different levels, multiple times per day. Discover how you can use duct tape to solve your everyday issues around the house:
Fix a leak, any leak. Do you have a leaky faucet, plumbing, or hose? Is there a hole in your tire? Duct tape is a great temporary fix that will keep you up and running until you can have a professional come out and make the repair.
Decorate anything! Instead of repainting a wall or staining a wood surface, use duct tape for a colorful update. You can find duct tape comes in many different colors and patterns aside from its usual silver. It’s also a great replacement for painter’s tape. If you’re completing a paint project and lack painter’s tape, Evanston painters recommend using duct tape to achieve clean lines and stop paint from bleeding.
Create a roof shingle. Did a nasty storm blow through your area and take some of your roof shingles with it? For a quick fix, make a temporary shingle out of duct tape and plywood. Whip out your measuring tape to make sure the shingle will fit in place. You will eventually have to replace the duct tape shingle, but it’s good in a pinch until you can have a professional install a new one.
Patch a tear or crack. From broken windows to rips in furniture and tears in clothes, there isn’t anything duct tape can’t patch up. Whenever you find a hole in your window screen, a crack in your plastic trash can, or a hole in your swimming pool liner, bring duct tape to the rescue.
Secure (or make your own) cords. If you find yourself in need of a rope or cord, you can twist duct tape into a sturdy solution. If you have a bunch of electronic chords scattered haphazardly across a wood surface in your home, tape them down so they aren’t exposed.
Fix your siding. Vinyl siding can easily get punctured and damaged. Thanks to the various colors of duct tape, finding one that matches your home’s siding and temporarily repairing the damage has never been so easy.
Reinforce and repair. Surely you have a few accessories and decorations around the house that tend to fall apart. The binding of old books can come undone, picture frames can break, and lamps can crack. Use duct tape to reinforce and repair these breaks until you can purchase something new.
If you have a problem, duct tape can solve it. Don’t let that roll go to waste in your tool box or junk drawer. Before you go to make a repair or replace an object that is damaged, buy yourself time and let duct tape save the day.
Decorating With Plants
When you think of home design, your mind probably wanders to paint color palettes, patterned drapes, and accent rugs. Our friends at Clark Team Designs, a group of interior decorators in Carmel, say it’s important to think outside of the box when it comes to accessorizing your home.
Plants and flowers are an amazing way to accessorize throughout your home. Whether you’re looking for a solution to that boring bedside lamp you can’t get rid of or simply want to breathe new life into your kitchen, plants are the answer. In celebration of National Decorating Month, here’s a closer look at the best ways to work plants into your home design:
- Simple Succulents. These small, low-maintenance plants you can work into any room in your home. If you don’t have a green thumb, start with a few well-placed succulents like Mistletoe Cactus, Jade, or Aloe plants in your kitchen window or in your home office. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, some with small, rounded leaves other with lengthy, pointed ones. Choose the succulents that speak to you!
- Trouble-free Trees. Incorporating a tree into your home decor can help generate oxygen in your home, deter illness, and even help you be more productive. Weeping Figs, Rubber Figs, and Ficus trees are all excellent indoor tree options. Expert tip – keep the potted tree on a small platform with wheels. When it comes time to clean, you’ll be able to move your greenery around furniture and out of the way. If you’re looking for a smaller option, consider a Bonsai tree to store on your desk.
- Painless Plants. Choose plants that are going to thrive in the home environment you can provide. If you live in Fargo, you’re not going to be able to keep a palm tree alive in your kitchen! Instead, opt for Phalaenopsis plants, like Orchids. They require a lot of humidity, making them excellent additions to any kind of bathroom decor. No matter where you live, your orchid will absorb all of the moisture in the room whenever you shower.
- Tiny Topiaries. These artfully-shaped plants are the perfect accessory to any home design style. Topiaries offer that classical feel without all the fuss. They don’t require direct sunlight so they can live anywhere in your home. Use them as a living centerpiece in your dining room or as an eye-catching accessory on the end tables in your living room. Shop your local nursery to find the topiaries that work for your home.
If you’re not comfortable with maintaining live plants in your home or you’re housing small children or pets, you can always find faux plants at your local craft or big-box store. Dress up your home with plants this spring!
Household Items You Always Forget to Clean
For most people, regularly scheduled house cleaning varies. Some homeowners choose to tackle everything in one day, while others clean bit by bit throughout the week. No matter what your style of cleaning is, there are definitely items you have never cleaned laying around your home. These items can carry a disturbing amount of germs and dirt, so familiarize yourself with these items and add them to the to-clean list!
- Remote. These are a breeding ground for germs and bacteria. Think about how many hands have touched your remote, as well as the cracks and crevices dirt and germs can creep into. Remotes are often overlooked when it comes to cleaning, so take a quick second to run a disinfecting wipe across the entire remote.
- Washing Machine. If you notice that your clothes are no longer getting a fresh clean scent after doing laundry, your machine probably needs to be washed! Many people forget that even these need regular cleaning so that they can continue to clean laundry effectively. You can find disinfectant packets to run through your washer at local big box stores like Target and Walmart.
- Coffee Maker. Whether you have a traditional full-pot maker or a single brew machine, it needs to be cleaned regularly. These machines are susceptible to mold growth, particularly in the interior parts that are difficult to see. Take apart your machine and give it a deep clean. Once this is done, run a few pots/cups of hot water and vinegar to ensure its safe to start brewing again.
- Throw Pillow. These decorative pillows on either your bed or couch are the main attraction for dust, dirt, food, dead skin etc., especially if you have guests often that come in contact with them.Make sure to give them some attention next time you are cleaning!
- Dish Rack. Often forgot about, dish racks are prone to mildew growth from all of the excess water and runoff left after cleaning your dishes. If you have a durable dish rack, run it through your dishwasher for a deep clean. If you have a wood or bamboo rack, soak it in a solution of soap and water and allow ample drying time before using it again.
- Toothbrush Holder. This is one of the biggest breeding grounds for bacteria that is always overlooked by people. Next time you clean your bathroom, clean inside of your toothbrush holder thoroughly.
- Cleaning Supplies. No one ever thinks to clean the things that do the cleaning! There are tons of bacteria built up in your vacuum, mops, sponges and feather dusters. Replace sponges and dust rags regularly. Use throw-away mops, like Swiffer, to prevent the buildup of germs on a traditional mop. As for your vacuum, follow the manufacturer recommendations for cleaning.
Don’t neglect these items when it comes to cleaning your home!
This post brought to you by Mooney’s Moving, expert Bucks County movers.
Furnishing Your Home on a Budget
Are you a first-time homeowner or someone looking to redecorate the place you’ve lived for years? Do you want to do this without breaking the bank? Then you’ve come to the right place!
Buying a house is expensive, but the upkeep is even more expensive. When it comes to turning that house into a home, putting a budget into place is vital. Achieving the cozy, beautiful home of your dreams is attainable – and on a budget, no less. Here’s how:
- Know what pieces you want to invest in and what pieces you don’t. Typically, sofas, mattresses, and dining room tables are the items you shouldn’t skimp out on. These items will be used frequently, so they need to be able to withstand wear and tear. Accessories, like lighting and picture frames, are items do not need to take up a large chunk of your budget. These are items you can hunt for on a bargain. Check local thrift shops, craft stores, and yard sales for unique deals!
- Ask around for hand-me-downs. Is anyone in your family getting rid of a gently used couch, chair or end table? Most of the time, you can acquire furniture from your friends and family for a really low price, or even better – free! If you don’t have the money to invest in the larger items, it’s definitely a good idea to see what the people you know have laying around. This frees you up to save more for something new.
- Hunt for antiques. You probably won’t find a sofa you adore at a garage sale or flea market, but you can definitely find unique items to spruce up your place. From old trunks and chests, to books, trinkets, and artwork, you can find unique items in the most unexpected places. As an added bonus, these items won’t put a major dent in your budget.
- Shop Craig’s List. It’s a great marketplace for people looking for affordable furniture, but it’s important to proceed with caution. Most of the time people listing their items on there are moving or looking for a quick way to get rid of something they no longer need. This leaves you open to potentially negotiating with the seller.
- Take on a DIY project. As of early 2017, there were about 150 million active users on Pinterest. This platform is the home for all things DIY. If you are looking for new ways to decorate your home on a budget, this is the place to find all of the best ideas. Search through the billions of pins to find projects that meet your budget requirements and design aesthetic. The only thing you have to lose is the time you spend once your sucked into your favorite boards!
Furnishing your home on a budget can be simple! For more tips on how to decorate your home on a budget, reach out to Sherry Compton, a Sumter interior decorator.