How to Set Up Your Bedroom Lighting for a Perfect Night’s Sleep
World Sleep Day is March 15. Here are 5 bright ideas for lighting your bedroom for optimal shut-eye
Gwendolyn Purdom
March 15, 2019
Lover of architecture, history, dogs, the Chicago Cubs, crowded bookshelves, and homes with a story. Former editor at Preservation mag and Culturess.com.
Lover of architecture, history, dogs, the Chicago Cubs, crowded bookshelves, and... More
In honor of World Sleep Day on March 15, we consulted bedroom design pros and sleep science research to break down a few illuminating ideas for snooze-friendly lighting.
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We spend about a third of our lives in bed. In those resting hours, we stock up on the vital energy we need to fend off illness, be productive at work and think clearly, among other benefits. Bedroom features like cozy linens or a supportive mattress can help achieve those needed z’s, but experts say the way you light your sleeping space can actually make all the difference.
We spend about a third of our lives in bed. In those resting hours, we stock up on the vital energy we need to fend off illness, be productive at work and think clearly, among other benefits. Bedroom features like cozy linens or a supportive mattress can help achieve those needed z’s, but experts say the way you light your sleeping space can actually make all the difference.
Bedside Retreat Interiors
1. Calming Curtains
As important as natural light is to waking us up, darkness is what tells our bodies it’s time for bed and helps keep us asleep throughout the night (or day if you’re pulling a night shift). Blackout curtains can block out the glow of street lamps, headlights and other distractions. “Window treatments with blackout lining keep a room very cocoon-like until you’re ready for that natural light,” designer Karen Kempf of Karen Kempf Interiors in Wisconsin says.
Gretchen Neels, who specializes in bedroom design as the owner of Bedside Retreat Interiors in St. Petersburg, Florida, often recommends dual shades to her clients, with one shade that completely darkens a room and one with some transparency to use during daylight hours. In a sunny, scenic place especially, a blackout shade paired with a sheer curtain can create a soft barrier that won’t impede any view and can help with glare. Neels is a big fan of Crestron’s line of smart shades.
1. Calming Curtains
As important as natural light is to waking us up, darkness is what tells our bodies it’s time for bed and helps keep us asleep throughout the night (or day if you’re pulling a night shift). Blackout curtains can block out the glow of street lamps, headlights and other distractions. “Window treatments with blackout lining keep a room very cocoon-like until you’re ready for that natural light,” designer Karen Kempf of Karen Kempf Interiors in Wisconsin says.
Gretchen Neels, who specializes in bedroom design as the owner of Bedside Retreat Interiors in St. Petersburg, Florida, often recommends dual shades to her clients, with one shade that completely darkens a room and one with some transparency to use during daylight hours. In a sunny, scenic place especially, a blackout shade paired with a sheer curtain can create a soft barrier that won’t impede any view and can help with glare. Neels is a big fan of Crestron’s line of smart shades.
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“My clients can program their shades to open,” Neels says. “Sometimes if it’s room-darkening, they might stay in there forever without having the sun to wake them up.”
Shop for blackout curtains on Houzz
“My clients can program their shades to open,” Neels says. “Sometimes if it’s room-darkening, they might stay in there forever without having the sun to wake them up.”
Shop for blackout curtains on Houzz
Hayley Bridges Design
2. Lights Where You Need Them
Instead of relying on a single overhead light, try a variety of targeted lighting options to help promote sleep. Small wall-mounted lamps, for instance, can concentrate light onto one person’s nighttime reading without waking the person on the other side of the bed. (Wall mounting saves precious bedside table space too.) A discreet nightlight outside the master bath can prevent tripping in the dark but won’t trigger your body’s full wake-up mode or disrupt a sleeping partner.
Shop for swing-arm wall lamps
2. Lights Where You Need Them
Instead of relying on a single overhead light, try a variety of targeted lighting options to help promote sleep. Small wall-mounted lamps, for instance, can concentrate light onto one person’s nighttime reading without waking the person on the other side of the bed. (Wall mounting saves precious bedside table space too.) A discreet nightlight outside the master bath can prevent tripping in the dark but won’t trigger your body’s full wake-up mode or disrupt a sleeping partner.
Shop for swing-arm wall lamps
Richard Bubnowski Design
3. Unplugging
Sleep experts have long warned of the negative effect of electronic screens in the bedroom. Not only can a TV be a mood killer if the room is being used for something other than sleep, but according to the National Sleep Foundation, the artificial blue light a television emits can trick the body into thinking it’s supposed to be awake.
3. Unplugging
Sleep experts have long warned of the negative effect of electronic screens in the bedroom. Not only can a TV be a mood killer if the room is being used for something other than sleep, but according to the National Sleep Foundation, the artificial blue light a television emits can trick the body into thinking it’s supposed to be awake.
Studio Dearborn
Neels strongly discourages her clients from having a TV in the bedroom and suggests they use a traditional alarm clock and let their cellphones and other devices charge overnight in another room. If someone’s not ready to part with their bedroom TV, the National Sleep Foundation recommends turning it off, along with other smaller screens, a few hours before bed. Storing the TV out of sight, in a cabinet with a door or curtain that closes, can also make it feel less disruptive.
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Neels strongly discourages her clients from having a TV in the bedroom and suggests they use a traditional alarm clock and let their cellphones and other devices charge overnight in another room. If someone’s not ready to part with their bedroom TV, the National Sleep Foundation recommends turning it off, along with other smaller screens, a few hours before bed. Storing the TV out of sight, in a cabinet with a door or curtain that closes, can also make it feel less disruptive.
9 smart charging solutions
Veronica Rodriguez Interior Photography
4. Beyond Basic Bulbs
Standard incandescent lightbulbs aren’t as energy-efficient as LED bulbs or CFBs (compact fluorescent bulbs), but the light they give off is warmer and better suited to bedrooms. Even better than incandescents, according to the National Sleep Foundation, is red spectrum lighting, which has been shown to be the most conducive to sleeping. Neels recommends pale pink bulbs that can be adjusted in intensity. “It just softens things so nicely,” she says.
4. Beyond Basic Bulbs
Standard incandescent lightbulbs aren’t as energy-efficient as LED bulbs or CFBs (compact fluorescent bulbs), but the light they give off is warmer and better suited to bedrooms. Even better than incandescents, according to the National Sleep Foundation, is red spectrum lighting, which has been shown to be the most conducive to sleeping. Neels recommends pale pink bulbs that can be adjusted in intensity. “It just softens things so nicely,” she says.
TG-Studio
5. A Relaxing Space
Pairing those soft pink bulbs and darkening shades with a room whose decor evokes serenity can make the space all the more ready for restfulness.
“I think sleeping well is always high on the list of wants and has lately become a more prevalent request for our clients,” Kempf says. “They are looking for an environment that evokes a calm and quiet feeling. When a bedroom is too loud visually, with strong colors and patterns, it can be just as distracting as a television or a cellphone. With technology so close to our fingertips at all times, it’s hard enough for us to slow down and relax. I like to create a soothing space where the interest is added with a tone-on-tone color palette and soft textures.”
5. A Relaxing Space
Pairing those soft pink bulbs and darkening shades with a room whose decor evokes serenity can make the space all the more ready for restfulness.
“I think sleeping well is always high on the list of wants and has lately become a more prevalent request for our clients,” Kempf says. “They are looking for an environment that evokes a calm and quiet feeling. When a bedroom is too loud visually, with strong colors and patterns, it can be just as distracting as a television or a cellphone. With technology so close to our fingertips at all times, it’s hard enough for us to slow down and relax. I like to create a soothing space where the interest is added with a tone-on-tone color palette and soft textures.”
Bernard Andre Photography
Tell us: What bedroom lighting choices help you get a good night’s sleep? Let us know in the Comments.
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Tell us: What bedroom lighting choices help you get a good night’s sleep? Let us know in the Comments.
More on Houzz
The Right Mattress: The Secret to a Great Night’s Sleep
How Your Home Can Help You Get 8 Hours of Sleep
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I only put foil on the windows when it's hot. Still, it will probably start around June and end in late October or November. Still, I wouldn't mind black-out drapes myself.
As for your hubby checking the time, does he wear a watch? Can he just leave it on the nightstand? Or maybe use a non-digital clock and turn the light on to look at it?
As recent Marie Kondo alumns, we believe the less clutter in the room, the better. The only clutter in the bedroom should be your warm covers!
In past decades I used to paint my little night-light bulb with pale pink acrylic craft paint, one coat per day until it was dim enough. Now we have a standard night light fixture plugged into an outlet installed underneath the sink cabinet with a 4W LED bulb (7W was way too bright). For safety in the night, have very dim lights placed thru the house so no one needs to throw a switch or risk a misstep. (Overnight guests appreciate this, too, as do little grandchildren visiting an unfamiliar bathroom, who are suddenly afraid because they turned off the main light before opening the door.)