Rest Assured: 5 Evidence-Based Design Tips for Sweet Dreams

Design: Flax Interiors | Photography: Vivian Johnson | Styling: Rachel Forslund

It’s National Sleep Week! You may or may not know that we spend about ⅓ of our lives sleeping. When living a healthy lifestyle, sleep – the amount and quality of sleep – is as important as, if not more than, other health factors such as stress, nutrition, and exercise.

At Flax Interiors, we use evidence-based design whenever possible. We’ve taken it upon ourselves to dig into the research on sleep and make evidence-based design recommendations for how you can adjust your home to improve the quality of your sleep. We’ll dive into research popularized by Ariana Huffington, Andrew Huberman and numerous other scientists and researchers, and translate it for you into design suggestions.

For each design-for-sleep piece of research, we have offered a couple of tips. Some of these tips are as easy as swapping out light bulbs and some are more expensive and complicated. We have correlated the ease of implementing each tip with the below chart:

One “Z” ideas are cheaper and easier to implement.
Two “ZZ” or three “ZZZ” ideas will require more work or money than buying a floor lamp but not as much as ripping out the walls and spending thousands of dollars renovating.
REM sleep is the part of the sleep cycle where we dream and consolidate memories. A “REM sleep” idea is the most involved design recommendation (help from an evidence-based interior designer recommended!).

We live in an age where we go go go, but stopping to rest is just as important. We hope that these tips and design recommendations are helpful for getting those oh-so-sweet dreams.

Tip 1. LIGHT: To See or Not to See

You’re probably aware that light has a major impact on sleep quality, and that light color is at play. (Does anyone else cringe at the sight of fluorescent lighting as much as I do??) There is evidence to suggest that humans need certain light hues, exposure times and brightnesses to remain alert during the day without compromising our ability to get to sleep at night.

For example, Andrew Huberman talks about viewing morning sunlight as a way to set your internal clock and help your body produce alertness hormones when it should and even start to prepare for evening sleep. An easy way to accomplish this if you don’t have a good view of the morning sun is to buy a floor lamp and a bright, daylight bulb.

Study Break: Lightbulb Education

Let’s take a second here to break down lightbulb K values. I, for one, have always been intimidated by the Home Depot light bulb aisle. I somehow end up bringing home a super bright blue light bulb that makes my home look like an operating room, Dexter style.

On each lightbulb, there is a K number, which stands for Kelvin. The K number indicates the level of bright blue wavelengths in the light. Higher K numbers (like 5,000K) simulate bright blue morning sunlight, and lower K numbers (like 2700K) simulate that golden-hour sunset light.

Without getting too complicated, the biggest takeaway design recommendation is that we want the bulbs in our home to mimic the change in wavelengths of natural sunlight over the course of the day. That means installing different types of lighting in your home that can shift with the sun and avoiding bright white or blue wavelength lights in the evenings.

Maybe you have different sets of lights that you use during the day (bright overhead lights) vs evening and night (warm, dim wall sconces or floor/table lamps), or maybe you have adjustable bulbs that can be changed throughout the day.

Design Recommendations

For optimal bedtime reading, swap out the bulbs in your bedside table lights for 2700K light bulbs (Z)

Install some badass dimmer switches to be able to adjust bulb brightness (ZZ)
Install smart LED can lights that let you control the hue, brightness and temperature from your smartphone (REM sleep)

Featured Product

I love these plug-in wall sconces by Andrew Neyer. Installing them is like hanging a piece of art on the wall, no electrician required. But best of all, they give off a warm light with a dimmer switch that is perfect for evening reading and winding down for bed.

Tip 2. BIOPHILIA: Nature is Nurture

Nature improves sleep! In this study from 2015, researchers compared Americans’ responses to sleep-quality with their access to nature. Scientists found that proximity to natural resources like waterfront, sunlight and dense greenery was associated with higher-quality sleep.

Interestingly, there was a difference between men and women. Men saw greater nature-related sleep benefits than women. However, long-term, having nature nearby benefits everyone.

In recent years, there has been a rise in biophilic design, or incorporating nature into designs. Nature-inspired motifs are scientifically proven to reduce stress and cortisol levels. High cortisol levels have been linked to insomnia, waking up during the night, and less sleep time overall. (See my previous “Facts with Flax” post about biophilic design and some additional research associated with it).

In short, bringing nature into our homes is beneficial in many ways, including for our sleep.

Design Recommendations

Select bedroom artwork that features landscapes and nature scenes, rather than cityscapes or bright pop art (Z)
Choose earth-toned bedroom colors that resemble shades you’d see on a nature walk. Think neutrals, greens and blues (Z)
Wallpaper your room with a nature pattern (ZZ)
Materials matter! Everything from potted plants to materials that invoke nature, such as natural wood or carved leaf patterns, can make us feel comforted and safe. Incorporating wood into room designs is proven to reduce stress. This can be as easy as purchasing a wood bedside table or some potted plants, or as complicated as installing wood paneling on the walls (Z to ZZZ)
Design a room around the sun. Build a bedroom with large windows and doors where the room configuration allows the bed to be positioned for maximum morning sunlight as your alarm clock (REM sleep)

Featured product

Removable wallpaper is a low-cost, low-commitment way to incorporate nature-inspired designs into your space. While it takes an experienced DIY-er to install it, it’s possible to install it yourself! Here is a link to a personal favorite nature-inspired wallpaper by Livette’s Wallpaper that I installed myself in my daughter’s nursery.

Tip 3. CLUTTER: Clean Room, Full Heart, Can’t Lose

I design with the mantra, “a place for everything and everything in its place.”

We probably don’t need to cite many studies to convince you that clutter can negatively impact your well-being. However, there is evidence to suggest that people at risk of hoarding disorders get worse sleep than people who are better at getting rid of their excess. Or, consider that stay-at-home partners who spoke more frequently of clutter saw constant and higher-levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. As mentioned earlier, elevated cortisol levels can affect your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.

The good news is not everyone needs to go full Marie Kondo to declutter their lives. There are simple and elegant design solutions that can accommodate even the messiest housemates. Best of all, you can tailor your solution to your needs, depending on how you react to clutter and how diligent you are at cleaning up.

Design recommendations

Ditch the bedroom accent chair. We all know that chair, that’s never used as a seat, but as a dumping ground for clothes, books, bags and random things that never make it back into the closet or dresser (Z)
Know yourself! If you’re a bit of a Messy Mary, make sure you have a bedside table with lots of storage and a solid door. Even if you aren’t good at organizing the inside of it, you can easily keep the outside free from clutter. If you’re better at cleaning up, you can look for fun bedside table designs that let you show off your book-sorting skills or accoutrement-arrangement prowess (ZZ)
Consult with a cabinet maker and interior designer to design the optimal bedroom closet storage solutions. Adding optimal closet space with doors you can close can give you tons of extra storage without taking up too much space, leading to a calming room free of clutter (REM sleep)

Tip 4. TEXTURE AND SHAPE: Easy Does It

Just as nature can positively affect our sleep so, too, can organic shapes that mimic nature. Harsh, sharp angles can energize and set you on edge, while rounded, soft and smooth shapes do the opposite. Matte surfaces can feel more relaxing, and people tend to perceive hard floors as uncomfortable and carpets as soothing.

Intuitively, this makes sense. We imagine falling into a warm, womby bed of soft, comfy covers, not a pile of nails (that’s a hard pass from me).

Design recommendations

Invest in soft bedding, pillows, and throw blankets (Z)
Consider bedroom furniture without harsh edges or materials. Swap a cold, metal bed frame for an upholstered one with organic lines.

Featured product

This is my favorite go-to throw blanket. Not only does it come in tons of colors, but the best part is that it’s machine-washable!

Tip 5. NOISE: No Sleep Till Brooklyn

Loud noises are the enemy of sleep, and it doesn’t take a sleep scientist to figure that out. When it comes time for shuteye, nothing prevents us dozing off like a jackhammer in the background or honking car noises filtering through your windows. When designing for soundproofing, here are some design decisions you can make as you create your sacred sleep space.

Design recommendations

Consider a white noise machine to drown out ambient noise. Studies have shown that individuals who use white noise machines experience a deeper, more restful sleep (Z)
Try sound-muting window coverings, such as fabric roman shades with blackout lining. The thicker the fabric, the better they will be at blocking out noise (ZZ)
Ask your general contractor for state-of-the-art insulation in the walls, and use special noise-reducing windows and exterior doors that help with soundproofing. You might even look into acoustic wall paneling if you live in a true concrete jungle (REM sleep)

No matter how you approach designing your ideal room for sleep, you’ll want to think holistically. How do patterns and color fit together? How can you design lighting to keep you awake when you need to be and asleep when you want? Even if you live in a rental, there are plenty of non-permanent ways to implement these better-sleep tips and design recommendations. Because while Sleep Week may only last a few days, calm nights and peaceful dreams are tonics that should follow you for a lifetime.

xx

Emily