Getting a good night’s sleep comes easy to some, but less so for others. And with the warm summer nights, it can be even more challenging to nod off to sleep. Our recent ‘Living in the Lockdown’ survey revealed that 26% of respondents have typically felt most relaxed in their bedrooms while we’ve been confined to our homes.

That’s why now is the perfect time to enhance your sleeping quarters. So whether you’re starting afresh or looking for a few updates, read on to find out how you can create the optimal bedroom for sleep in your home.

Get rid of the electronics

The experts have long said that having electronics in your bedroom can negatively impact your sleep. Research has shown that almost 15% of us admit that we spend more than an hour per week watching television in bed, which could be seriously affecting the quality of our sleep.

Limiting your exposure to electronics in your bedroom can help you sleep more soundly, as the ‘blue light’ they admit suppresses the sleep hormone, melatonin. Try an audiobook or meditation if you need help to switch off at night.

Balance the lighting in your bedroom

Similarly to ‘blue light’, the amount of light that your curtains let in can also affect the quality of your sleep. If you’re a light sleeper and don’t want to be woken by the morning sunrise, take a look at our selection of blackout curtains and blackout blinds.

Find the right duvet and pillow

Once you’ve created a restful environment, it’s time to find the right bedding and duvet for you. Buying bedding can seem overwhelming due to the sheer amount of choices available. Starting with the basic items, you should choose pillows and a duvet.

Pillows

You should replace your pillows every two years or so, as they can lose some of their filling and flatten after a while. Our pillow buying guide will help you to choose the right pillow.

Duvets

After deciding on the size of duvet that you need, you also need to think about the filling (synthetic or natural?), and the Thermal Overall Grade (TOG) rating that suits you. TOG ratings range from 1 to 15 and tell you how much warmth you can expect from a duvet. For more information on duvets, read our duvet buying guide.

Top Tip

We like to use a duvet cover that is one size bigger than the bed size as this creates a luxury look – and leads to fewer disagreements if you share a duvet! For example, for a double bed, we’d use a king-size duvet.

Use quality bedding

The bedding that you choose can change the look of your room, as well as impacting your quality of sleep. You should look for bed linen that is comfortable and soft, whether you’re looking for crisp white linens or hotel quality bedding.

Top Tip

If it’s a hot night, we throw back the duvet and use a ‘hotel style’ Egyptian cotton flat sheet. Egyptian cotton is softer and finer than usual cotton, so creates a real luxury feel. You can also use a flat sheet to enhance the styling of your bed by lining up the bottom of the sheet with the bottom of the mattress, and folding the top of the sheet back onto the duvet cover.

The key to getting a great night’s sleep could be as simple as creating a restful atmosphere and refreshing your bed linen. Now is a great time to switch up your bedroom style as we head into a new season.