How to Style Your Sleep Space

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So, if you’re anything like me, sleep is absolutely sacred.  But it’s so hard today to actually get good rest, I know if I have to get up at a certain time or if something is worrying me, I’m pretty much guaranteed to get up multiple times in the night, or just lie there tossing and turning.  So, I did a little research, and here are some fab tips on styling your sleep space for maximum zzzz’s.

1.  Get rid of the media.  I know, I know, this is hard.  But it’s a great idea to leave your iphone plugged in in another room (for an alarm, get a cute little alarm clock, like this one, from Crate and Barrel, digital ones are just kind of fugly and they also give off a glow which can be unsettling.  I will confess, I use the Kindle for iphone app because, ahem, some nice French person is enjoying my Kindle right now since I left it in an AirFrance jet back in December, but ideally, use a Kindle instead of iphone or ipad for bedtime reading because you can’t easily uh, browse the web.  Or text.  Or insta-stalk.  Or do all those other things that get our heads going when we should be clearing our brains.
2. Lighting.  OMG do I hate overhead lighting.  Not to mention that overhead lighting means you have to actually physically get out of bed to turn out the lights, but get yourself some nice nightstand lamps.  Or even better, wall-mounted ones, these free up your nightstand space (not for your iphone, for a nice glass of water and maybe the Kindle.  Or some flowers).
   

   Lamps. Getcha some.

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3. Linens.  White sheets.  Why?  Girl, one word:  bleach.  I only use white sheets, they’re interchangeable with everything and they just feel so flipping clean.  But remember – nothing below 500 thread count (trust me when you get accidentally sunburned in August you’ll thank me, not to mention pretty much every other night because they’re sooo soft).  I actually love Homegoods, you can buy each piece separate if you want, or if you live in a big city, check the semi-annual sales at Frette or Pratesi.
   

   White, white, white. Oh and check out the mounted reading lamp. Yeah.

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4. Make it soft.  I love, love, love tiled and hardwood floors (believe me, I have cats, carpet is a no-go).  So if you’re lucky enough to have tiled or hardwood flooring in the bedroom, definitely make sure you have a nice, soft rug at least in the area where your feet hit the floor in the morning.  It’s jarring to wake up or get up for a glass of water in the middle of the night and touch the cold hard floor.  A soft rug, like sheepskin or flokati is an awesome choice that’s easy to clean, just shake the dirt off or gently run a dustbuster over it.
5. Get a nightstand with drawers.  The whole point of going to bed is to turn off your brain and maximize zzz’s.  So if your nightstand is junked up with a pile of books, reading glasses, bottles of water, iphone, ipad, remote controls and all the detritus of the day to day, it’s just going to be mentally distracting.  As a blog designer, I work from home and I have a big thing about never taking my Macbook into the bedroom.  So take everything that you don’t need and put it in a nightstand drawer, trust me I know it sounds weird but literally not having a bunch of distracting clutter in your line of sight at night will make a world of difference in a quality night’s sleep.

Got any other tips?  Feel free to share below!