Tips for Making Your Bedroom a Private Retreat

Your bedroom should be a place to relax, unwind, and recharge. Create a serene and comfortable space that can enhance your well-being with these tips for making your bedroom a private retreat.

Use Color To Create Mood

The colors you feature in your bedroom can significantly affect the ambience. For a calming room, opt for soft, soothing hues, such as muted blues, gentle greens, or warm neutrals that promote relaxation.

While many people like to fall asleep in a softly colored room, brighter or more saturated colors can improve sleep quality by helping you wake up more easily. Consider using expressive colors in your room if brighter, warmer colors boost your mood and improve your relaxation.

Declutter and Organize

A clutter-free environment can make your room feel less hectic, calming your mind and helping you be more present in the moment. Keep your bedroom tidy and organized by minimizing unnecessary items. Use storage solutions for belongings to prevent items from cluttering the space and creating distractions.

Tips for a Multi-Use Bedroom

The history of bedrooms shows that the use of bedrooms has changed significantly over time. Not to mention, more people have been working from home in recent years, and this change can affect the flow of the entire house.

If your bedroom has a multi-use space, such as an area for a home office, utilize flexible furniture and visual cues to separate the flex space from the sleeping area. Use an intuitive organization system, like closed shelving, that makes it easier to keep the flex space contained.

Personalize With Art and Decor

Personalize your bedroom with art, photographs, or decor that satisfies your taste. Pieces that evoke positive emotions or memories can help make your bedroom a private retreat.

When choosing places for your pieces, consider what art you want to see on your way to bed and when you wake up. Artwork hanging above your bedframe welcomes you to bed, while art on other walls can be some of the last things you see before you sleep and the first things you see when you wake up.

Use Dimmable Lighting

Lighting helps set the mood in your bedroom and assists in the transition from day to night. Install dimmable lighting fixtures or use lamps with adjustable brightness.

Warm lighting with a more yellow hue is well-suited for bedroom use. While bright lights help you focus on tasks, warm lights help you relax.

Organizing your Nightstand

These days there is so much that is out of our control.  Not being in control can be frustrating. Organizing takes time which is hard to find with everyone home 24/7. One area that is quick to organize is your nightstand. Here are some tips from House to Home Organizing to help you through:

• Take a before photo.

• Totally empty the entire unit.  

• Sort the contents into categories. For example, electronics, (cords, kindle, TV remotes to name a few) medications, keepsake items, photographs, makeup, reading glasses, notepads, jewelry, pens/pencils and books are some of the categories you may find. 

• Donate or Toss what you don’t use.  Is the makeup very old and dried up? Are the medications current or expired? Are there numerous books or magazines you started but don’t plan to finish? Can the photographs be stored with keepsake items in a more remote place? Do you need twenty pens or is three enough? Are all the remotes current or do you have some from old TV’s?  Are all the reading glasses the correct strength? You get the picture, time to discard what is taking up space and will never be used.

• Clean the nightstand. Now that everything is out, time to wipe it down and clean it out.

• Purge the non-essentials and visualize what you really want in the nightstand. What do you use regularly and needs to be kept within easy reach?  Keep what you truly need before bedtime and when you wake up.

• Drawer organization. Now that you know what you are keeping there are many ways to organize the drawer more effectively. Stores such as  Amazon, The Container Store, 

Bed Bath and Beyond, and Target have many drawer organizers in a variety of materials to help you keep the drawer neat and tidy. Remember to measure before you purchase anything to make sure it will fit to the drawer specifications.

• Try to keep the top of the nightstand clutter free. What do you really need on the top? A small clock? Tissues? One pair of glasses? A small lamp? Maybe a hand lotion? Everything else should be in the drawer or underneath. 

• You’re done! Stand back and take an after photo so you can feel good about your work and your clutter free nightstand.

Guest Post - How To Modernize Your Teens Bedroom

When it’s time to turn your teen’s bedroom into a hipper, more modern space, it can seem pretty daunting at first. However, there are plenty of simple and affordable ways to change up the look of a pre-teen bedroom and give it that fresh, updated look that your teen has probably been asking for. 

Planning out all the items you’ll need, curating a complimentary look for all the decor and furniture, and of course, finding the best minimalist approach are all important factors to keep in mind when it’s time for that long-awaited bedroom makeover. 

Get Organized Before You Get Started

Picking pieces and a color palette that will grow with your teen is important for being more minimalist in your makeover as it will last them several years rather than one or two. It might also be helpful to start a design book with fabric and paint swatches so that you don’t end up being tempted by something at the store that ultimately doesn’t fit the space. It’s also a good idea to make bullet points of what your teen wants and needs from their space. Do they want a lot of good lighting? A study area? An area to read a book? A selfie or TikTok station? If you have all this in mind during your makeover, it will be easier to stay on task and really make the most out of your time and money.

Utilize Multi-Use Pieces

It’s no secret that teens like to seclude themselves in their bedrooms in between meals and social events. This means it’s worth considering every area of your teen’s room as you’re remodeling in order to really utilize the entire space. It’s also important to consider your teen’s interests as well as their creative input. This space is for them and while you can steer them away from those less evergreen styles and decor choices, let your teen share their vision and you can work as a team to bring that vision to life. 

With all the changes, you’ll want to still make sure everything in the room flows together to create that optimal and modern-looking space. For teen room makeovers, consider the following: 

• Entertainment Central: Teens likely want a space to entertain their friends, watch movies, and play video games. Finding pieces with multiple functions can help them utilize their space. Try a sleeper couch that can sit guests or turn into a bed for a sleepover. Storage is also important but it can be tricky finding modern-looking options. One option could be modern wood lockers to not only hold and organize their stuff but also revamp their room with a unique twist on typical storage space. This is also an opportunity to give new life to old stuff — whether it comes from the attic or a local consignment store. 

• Creating Atmosphere with Paint and Lighting: Ceilings are often overlooked during makeovers but have a lot of design potential. Paint the ceiling to match the room or be the accent color. Swap out a sterile overhead light with an interesting fixture found at the thrift store. You can also match or contrast the room's color palette by adding window treatments and coordinated throw pillows

• Floor Solutions: Changing the floors in your teen’s bedroom can not only run a high price tag, but there’s no point in replacing them if they’re in good condition. However, rugs do bring an element of personality and can modernize a space easily. Rugs can be costly though, especially the bigger ones. Here, again, is a great time to head to your local thrift store or even check out Facebook marketplace.

Make Way for New Beginnings

When working on modernizing your teen’s bedroom, de-cluttering their space and donating any unnecessary items is a vital first step. It helps give your teen a clean slate, which is important when trying to update the space. Of course, sentimental items such as their first teddy bear or middle school science project don’t have to be tossed out, just consider placing them somewhere safe, but out of the room. 

As any veteran minimalist knows, one of the best decluttering tips is to create a system. This is a perfect chance to sit down with your teen and put together a plan to stay on top of clutter. How often do they need to be getting rid of old clothes? Twice a year? Every three months? If they take a lot of photos or hang onto important mementos like movie tickets, what is the best way to organize them? Pictures frames, photo albums, display boxes? If you can identify what clutter seems to accumulate the most, then you can set up a better system for organizing it. 

Modernizing your teen’s room doesn’t have to be a giant headache. With the right organization, creativity, and minimalist approaches, you can create a rejuvenated space that your teen is sure to enjoy spending all their free time in.

Author Bio: Noah Rue is a freelance writer.

6 Key Tips on How to Make Your Bedroom More Comfortable

Our bedrooms should be a space of ultimate relaxation. When we step over the threshold, we should feel at ease, no longer stressed. Our rooms should definitely not add any stress. Take a few steps to create a haven of relaxation by cleaning it regularly, ridding it of clutter, and more. Learn how to make your bedroom more comfortable below!

Clean it Regularly

There’s no chance of you feeling comfortable in your room if there are clothes strewn on the bed or dirty dishes on your side table. A tidy home means a tidy mind, and that starts in your bedroom. Do yourself the lovely favor of cleaning your room regularly. Cleaning soothes your mind, reducing anxiety, and leaves you feeling more comfortable in the space.

Declutter and Donate Often

Clothes are often the main reason for a messy room, so make sure to declutter and donate often. For example, if you’re stressed about putting your clothes away in the closet because you’re not sure if you have enough space, then you need to make a change. Follow tips for when you should get rid of clothes, and you’ll end up making space in your closet for the clothes strewn on the floor. When you make a habit of getting rid of clutter, your space will feel more comfortable.

Choose Comfortable Beddings

If your bed isn’t comfortable, why would your room bring you comfort? Take the time to pick out the right mattress for you (it’s the adult purchase you need to make), and search for cozy sheets and comforters—the softer the fabric, the better for your comfort. Make sure to keep your bedding clean as well—washing should be a part of your weekly cleaning routine.

Utilize Essential Oils

Start weaning off candles, and lean toward essential oils. They’re better for the air quality (most candles include some chemicals you don’t want in the air) and are effective for relaxing the mind and body. Choose your favorite scents, get a diffuser, and let it run when you’re sleeping or when you’re getting ready for bed. Good smells are a key component of how to make your bedroom more comfortable!

Keep Work Out

A comfortable bedroom is one that’s used only for sleep, which means that you need to keep work out of your room. Don’t bring your laptop into your room if you won’t be able to stay off your work email. When you start bringing outside sources into the bedroom, you bring tension and tasks to a place that’s meant just for sleep and relaxation. Keep work out of the bedroom!

Pay Attention to Lighting

Your lighting says a lot about the mood you’re creating. There should be absolutely no fluorescent lighting in your bedroom. Think of utilizing as much natural light as possible and then having warm light to give more vibrancy to the room when you need it.