Sweet dreams and relaxing rest: The ideal bedroom

By Stephanie Hoenig Jun 30, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Hamburg - A good bed alone isn't enough to assure restful sleep, experts say.

The bedroom's decor is also important. Discreet, warm colours help create a calm atmosphere, while pictures hung on the walls should be favourites - taken on a vacation, for example. These are things that help create the right atmosphere for sleep, says professor Juergen Zulley, a sleep researcher at the university hospital in Regensburg.

'The bedroom is often used to store every possible household object, such as ironing boards and laundry waiting to be ironed,' points out Ursula Geismann of the association of German furniture makers in Bad Honnef near Bonn.

It's difficult to wind down and fall into a restful sleep when the bedroom is used as a junk room. The room shouldn't be crowded with a strange array of objects. Geismann believes that when creating the decor of a bedroom, concentrating on the essentials is sufficient; plain, linear furnishings work best.

But it's not always so easy to achieve the desired effect. Switching to small closets often doesn't necessarily solve the problem. They have to serve for storing all kinds of things in addition to clothes, shoes and bags, thus they tend to be large. But they can be moved to another room, Zulley says. Geismann recommends creating a dressing room or walk-in closet out of a small room, if possible.

The focal point of the bedroom is, of course, the bed. Good sleep depends not only on a comfortable bed, but also one that is big enough, argues Geismann. People who are taller than 1.85 metres (6 feet) don't have enough room to stretch out in a standard bed. They are better served by a bed that is at least 220 centimetres long.

The bed itself also must be well made. The base usually is made of supporting springs or slats. The mattress and the springs or slats should be compatible.

Another recommendation for promoting sleep covers new technology. Cellphones, for example, don't belong in the bedroom, the experts say.

'There should be nothing in the bedroom that is a reminder of work,' notes Zulley. Computers, laptops and cellphones are taboo. Televisions also should not be placed in the bedroom, even if it is a hard decision not to have one there. This is because the presence of television makes it difficult to wind down and it is not considered optimal to fall asleep while watching TV.

There's also the issue of electro-smog, says Hans Ulrich-Raithel of the environmental institute in Munich. Televisions and other electrical appliances thus should be banned from the bedroom. Even electric alarm clocks are not ideal for sleep. Battery-operated clocks are what sleep experts recommend.

Radio waves are also emitted from the base stations of many cordless telephones. Therefore, Ulrich-Raithel advises against having that type of phone in the bedroom. Even though having a phone in the bedroom is a security matter for many people, he says it should stay out of the bedroom. The same is true of the cellphone.

'When it isn't possible to avoid having electric appliances in the bedroom, it is best to unplug them overnight,' says Ulrich-Raithel. When there are a lot of appliances that should be turned off, he recommends using an extension cord with many plugs and a switch so they can all be turned off at once.

There are other types of switches that can be integrated into a home's electrical circuitry to serve the same purpose.

Another reason for poor sleep is often noticed by the person who can't sleep: the temperature of the room is either too high or too low.

'For most people an ambient temperature of 18 degrees (64 degrees Fahrenheit) is optimal,' says Zulley. Before going to bed, opening the window to allow fresh air in is a good idea. Also, the room's humidity level should be 50 per cent.