Interior choices for a better night’s sleep

A good night’s sleep can be the difference between a great day and a really bad one – there’s a lot of truth in the phrase ‘woke up on the wrong side of the bed’!

Feng shui and the placement of your bedroom furniture can actually play a really big part in your mood and how you function in that space, and the colour is just as important too!

We wanted to find out everything from how many Brits woke up happy in a bright yellow bedroom to how many found that the sight of their burgundy boudoir was just too much to process first thing in the morning. We surveyed the nation to find out if our feng shui is way off, or if we’ve managed to get the balance just right.

Principles of feng-shui

Looking at the principles of feng shui is the best place to begin (after all, we need to create the right balance before we begin digging through the data on everyone’s bedrooms!).

In feng shui, certain colours are thought to promote maximum sensuality and peaceful vibes in the bedroom, which promotes restful sleep. A general rule of thumb is to opt for skin tones or muted shades you'd find in nature, as these are colours that our brains find calming and safe. Here are a few:

Off-white – White is seen as too stimulating and bright, but an off-white is a natural colour that has a real sense of softness.
Creams – Creams are natural colours that enhance natural light and soften your space into a soothing sanctuary - discover our cream bedroom design tips for some style inspiration and check out our collection of cream carpets or cream laminate flooring.
Blues - Having blue in your room can make you feel safe, relaxed, and calm. Soft blues can help calm the mind, while more intense blues can inspire reflection and clear thoughts. Browse our range of blue carpets or blue vinyl flooring to find the perfect calming floor for your space.
Green – Green symbolizes nature, so it's considered advantageous to the body and mind as it can produce a calming effect. It's associated with calmness and tranquillity — making it ideal for sleep. Check out our green carpet range or our selection of green vinyl flooring.

Colours to avoid

Conversely, there are colours that feng shui actively discourages in your bedroom, if you want to create a relaxing and calming environment:

Yellow – Reflecting optimism, joy, happiness, intellect, energy, and cheerfulness, yellow can be too stimulating for a bedroom, as this is meant to be a relaxing space.
Purples – From magenta to eggplant, this shade boosts alertness and increases energy levels. It’s recommended to choose a muted lavender if you want to have purple in your bedroom.
Greys – Greys promote negative emotions and can create a sombre atmosphere (especially a gloomy dark grey), which is not ideal for peaceful sleep.
Red – Red boosts alertness because it’s an invigorating colour that can increase our heart rates. One study found the colour red even increases brain activity, something you don’t want when trying to relax and fall asleep.
Brown – Although considered a natural colour, brown promotes negative emotions as it’s quite gloomy. This increases subconscious feelings of sadness and causes restlessness instead of sleep.

Mirrors

While mirrors are great for making a small room look bigger, mirror placement can be difficult when implementing bedroom feng shui. It’s most important to ensure your mirrors aren’t in line with the bed, as this will likely bring more distracting elements into your sightline.

This doesn’t mean mirrors are a no-go for a peaceful bedroom. Just try to make sure that you can’t see yourself from your bed, and the mirror doesn’t face out of the door – maybe try a higher mirror for a good sense of balance. A good idea is to place your mirror opposite a window, to help maximise light without distracting you when trying to relax in bed.

Bed

The position of your bed is also important in implementing feng shui correctly. Position your bed in the command position - this means placing it so you can see the entry door when lying in it. The best place to keep your bed is diagonally from the door, so it’s in your sight, but you’re not looking directly out of it.

Speaking of beds, they should always have a headboard. In feng shui, headboards provide a feeling of support. If you only have a box spring, you can get a headboard separately, but make sure to attach it securely so it doesn’t go wobbly!

When you’re choosing a headboard, go for one that has soft edges, whenever possible. Heavy cast-iron headboards or ones with bars have a "cutting" energy you're trying to avoid in such a relaxing space. Instead, opt for a headboard that’s made of fabric, as they provide a soft, inviting feel.

Pairs

In feng shui, pairs are thought to promote loving, harmonious energy, so decorating your bedroom for two people can help to make it feel more inviting - even if you're not currently in a relationship. Leave a little extra room in your dresser and nightstand, and present everything in pairs. That means:

similar nightstands
sets of pillows
seats
similar lamps

What interior choices work best for good sleep?

We surveyed Brits across the nation to find out more about their sleeping habits – and if they correlated with their decorating choices!

We found that 22% of people with yellow bedrooms have a poor or very poor night’s sleep, and the same for 17% of people with purple bedrooms! The trend continued, with 9% for brown bedrooms, 12% for red bedrooms, and 16% of people with grey bedrooms all reporting poor to very poor nightly sleep.

Alternatively, those who experienced a very good or excellent night’s sleep had chosen more feng-shui-aligned colours to relax in! 57% of people with a blue bedroom had a very good or excellent night’s sleep, joined by 54% of people with a green bedroom.

The same was said for 46% of those with cream bedrooms, and interestingly, 49% of people with white bedrooms too. Bright whites can be seen as stimulating, but they can also make small bedrooms feel bigger, giving the illusion of blank space and room to relax, thus creating the ideal calming space for busy minds.

How to incorporate these colours into your flooring

One of the easiest ways to get these colours into your space is through your walls and floors. Painting your walls is as simple as picking up a tin of paint and some brushes from your local hardware shop, and upgrading your flooring is as easy as speaking to one of our Floorologists down at your local Tapi store!

Check out our range of stunning beige carpets, or opt for a lighter cream carpet to go for the off-white aesthetic. Alternatively, bring even more of those natural elements into your home with a wood-effect laminate or one of our gorgeous choices of engineered wood floors.

Alternatively, look for more inspiration on our Ideas Hub, which is packed with styling ideas, DIY guidance and care guides to bring even your oldest carpets back to life and bring a feeling of freshness back into your bedroom again!

Post author

Claire Murphy Copywriter Former lifestyle journalist, keen amateur upcycler, full of value for money ideas

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