Your Bedroom: Schmooze or Snooze

By: Carol Freyer
Submitted: 2008-08-15 17:44:49
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Could your own bedroom have the same relaxing atmosphere as a hotel bedroom? It is an interesting thought, as it has always been a special treat for married couples to 'get away' from the children for a romantic weekend. This is supposing they can save enough money, and find enough time! Recently though, so many of the costs involved are increasing in price that the idea is dropping off.

It is not just the gas and the cost of a luxury room - even the local baby sitter's fees are escalating to keep up with inflation! A luxuriously relaxing master bedroom must surely add to the value of your property, so spend the few dollars it will take to create it!

Many interior designers have been touting the latest in interior design ideas: the bathroom as a haven. How about the bedroom as a haven? What is it about our bedroom that is so different from a hotel bedroom? It must be something other than the fact that it is just 'away from home'?

Let us consider some of the qualities that are desirable in the hotel bedroom. Well, of course privacy is number one; the children are not going to come crashing in the door and tell you their latest nightmare. There is often soft music playing in the background, and there are always soft lights in a hotel room - as well as some harsh ones.

The bed is always made and the linen is always clean and laundered with big fluffy tempting pillows and there is always a TV in the room. Hmm, well forget the TV - that may not induce the feeling of a haven. Especially if the home team loses! Even watching the news is supposed to be worrisome enough to produce stress hormones.

The question of a TV is debatable if you are putting armchairs in your bedroom and you may be actually planning to spend longer than usual in your bedroom. However, the general consensus would be: no TV in the bedroom. Another pointer that may be different in a hotel: you always go to bed at the same time. This togetherness is a habit that can be adopted at home.

The privacy issue can be dealt with very easily, put a locking latch on your door, and get in the habit of locking it every night as a matter of course. This will automatically help you to relax in your own bedroom and setting a relaxing tone in a room is achieved most easily and most cheaply with lights and music.

It is very easy to wire up your stereo and your soft lighting to the same switch and connect it to the switch by the door. If it seems difficult, call in an electrician. Use a dimmer switch for the main overhead light, so that it can always be kept turned to low, until you want it on 'bright'.

This way, as soon as you enter the bedroom, you will flick a switch and have soft music and gentle lighting which will help to invoke a relaxing feeling. It is always a good idea to have at least one armchair in a bedroom so you can sit and wiggle off your shoes, take a few deep breaths etc.

If you believe in the brain programming gurus, they tell us that if we walk in, relax to the same music and unwind every night in the same environment for three weeks - it will become a practiced habit. This means that as soon as you open the door and hear the music, your brain will recognize the procedure and take that action coupled with those sounds as the signal to relax. Just don't play the same music at work!

Soft lights are achieved by using a darker, warm-colored lamp shade or by exchanging your energy bulbs for pink or amber bulbs; if you want a very dim light, you can even use a night light. The decor will also add to the ambience, soft apricot being the classic relaxation color.

A final haven-helper is quite important; even if one of you likes to sleep with the window open - keep your bedroom toasty warm! It is much easier to relax when you don't have goose bumps!

Article source: Expert Articles