Furniture brand, helmii, embraces Clean Sleeping as we approach Sleep Awareness week 2019

As we approach Sleep Awareness Week 2019 (March 11-17), furniture brand helmii shares the importance of a Clean Sleeping program which, combined with the concepts of Feng Shui and the infamous Marie Kondo’s house principles, is sure to bring you a restful and better night’s sleep every day. 

2018 was all about clean eating and the growth of the raw food movement but this year’s newest biggest predicted lifestyle trend is ‘clean sleeping’ which includes low lighting, no clutter, natural linens and zero technology. 

Dr. Sarah Rasmi, Licensed Psychologist & Founder of Thrive Wellbeing Centre, says “Getting a good night's sleep is important for our physical and mental health. Many people sacrifice sleep for other pursuits, but what they don't always realize is that sleep facilitates learning, memory, creativity, problem-solving, and productivity.”

With this in mind, it is important to introduce some changes into your home and these tips will set you on your way to a cleaner sleeping regime.

Start with the bed. This should be the absolute centrepiece of the room and should indirectly face the door. Ideally it should be the only piece of furniture in the room, accessible from both sides, and not up against a wall.  If you do need to introduce other furniture pieces into the room, ensure they are simple in style and blend with the décor.  The same goes for bedding.  Ensure it is made from natural fibres and light in colour.  Follow the same colour palette for textiles, adding warm fluffy rugs, velvet cushions and linen curtains, even spreading the neutral tones to the walls.  Avoid mirrors if you can too.

Declutter completely.  All random household items need to go, and necessities should be stored out of sight.  Founder of helmii, Simon Moore, adds “Like any room in the house, storage is important. So we recently introduced the option for customers to add storage space for any beds they order in our ‘design your own’ range as this is a really smart and easy way to stash extra bedding, duvets and blankets out of view.”

Ensure the room is dark, using black out curtains, for sleeping, but has effective lighting for when you need it.  Dimmer switches, if you can have them installed, will be your best friend. And hanging your bed side lamps from the ceiling rather than on side tables means fewer messy wires and ugly plugs to scar the walls of your new sleep haven.

Hanging art is fine but choose your pieces carefully and keep numbers to a minimum.  In a bedroom feng shui advice states that you should display artwork that is romantic, coupled or paired if you are sharing your bed, and Kondo lovers would advise a decluttered room to show off the artwork more.

In short, think about the furniture in your bedroom, remember materials matter, and tone down the décor.  Love your lighting and remove random household items from your room.  And when you have created your clean sleeping environment, take one last step and engage in Marie Kondo’s ‘tidy house, tidy mind’ mantra and follow some basic feng shui principles around orientation, placement and arrangement to promote a restful environment for a guaranteed better sleep.