Chapter 5
Bedroom
Calling It a Good Night
Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap.
—Robert Fulghum
Tidy. Now there’s a word that perhaps rarely pops to mind when thinking of our bedrooms. Yet many of us dream of staying in a luxurious hotel room, imagining it to be both the pinnacle of living and sleeping. I’d suggest that it’s not the room’s splendor, view, or bed that makes it so dreamy, but its cleanliness and, honestly, its lack of stuff. There’s no unmade bed, no messy closet, no clothes on the floor, no stacks of books, no old coffee cups, no earplugs, no lotions, and no laundry basket.
Instead, as you step into that deluxe hotel room, there’s often a gasp of appreciation as your eyes rest on the welcoming display: the bed, its crisp linens pulled taut, and its pillows, plumped and perfect. There are the bedside tables (displaying only lovely lamps), the sophisticated wall coverings, the compelling art, and the multicolored patterned carpet.
How often does your bedroom look like this? Always? Sometimes? Never? We spend roughly a third of our lives sleeping plus more time in this room dressing, reading, watching TV, and (ahem) doing other things. All of these activities are great reasons not only to refresh your bedroom but also to keep it tidy, ensuring it’s a restful place where you want to spend time. As novelist Stella Gibbons once wrote, “Unless everything is tidy and pleasant and comfortable . . . people cannot even begin to enjoy life.”
My family visited lots of historic homes on our vacations, and every time I spotted one of those grand four-poster canopy beds, I was mesmerized. As a child, I could only imagine what it might feel like to close up those curtains and crawl under piles of featherbeds—perhaps, I thought, a bit like sleeping in a pillow fort but better. Way better. Years later, in my first apartment, my dream kind of came true when I slept in an alcove that accommodated both my bed and my reading lamp—so cozy.
HL Tip: So you love the idea of tranquil bedroom walls. That doesn’t mean you can’t hide a splash of daring inside your closet. Just spin that paint wheel to find an option that complements your wall color. I guarantee you’ll smile every time you open the closet door.
Whether sleeping in a canopy, an alcove, or even a tent, most of us love that feeling of privacy in our bedrooms. Interestingly, the word bedchamber, derived from both French and Middle English, means a space for sleeping. Yet a private room dedicated to sleeping was a relatively new concept adopted by Victorians at all levels of society. Previously, even large families slept together in a single bed or room, and colonial inns offered communal bedrooms for traveling strangers. (I’d rather sleep in the barn with the cows and the sheep, thank you very much.)
Consider one-room cabins: The living space was used for cooking, baking, washing, drying, mending, bathing, sleeping, and more. Today, while the activities may have changed a bit, a studio apartment is still employed in the same way. Plus, even if you live in a single-family home, you might use your bedroom for a whole array of activities, including working—perhaps setting up a corner desk to serve both as home office and home studio for all those virtual meetings. So there’s another reason you might want to refresh your bedroom—if you’re spending your waking and sleeping hours in it, you deserve to make it a sanctuary.
HL Tip: A bedroom is a great place to display personal items, even heirlooms—whether that’s your grandma’s kimono, your mom’s favorite scarf, your dad’s baby shoes, your spelling-bee trophy, or your childhood quilt. Consider framing this special item or displaying it in a place of honor.
HL Tip: Feature a boudoir photo or two in your bedroom. No, not necessarily that kind of boudoir photo. The term boudoir simply means bedroom. Maybe it’s a picture of you and your best friend hamming it up—a photo that makes you laugh but one you don’t necessarily share with everyone who visits your home. Consider printing and framing your favorites—then display them together.
HL Tip: Don’t feel you need to stick to standard bedroom furniture. For example, as I mentioned before, my former kitchen table serves as one of my nightstands. Other ideas might include using a military trunk as a bench at the foot of your bed, a stack of vintage suitcases as a side table, or a bar cart as a makeup vanity.
I used to know a guy who had an unusual bedroom. Because he worked in fashion, he needed to look his best and owned an abundance of clothes. Unfortunately, his apartment was small. His clever solution? He dedicated the front half of his living room to a seating area and the back half to his bedroom, dividing the spaces with his couch. Meanwhile, what had been the bedroom became a giant walk-in closet. It made all the sense in the world for his life and his career. To top it off, he infused his sense of style into all of these spaces, layering them with opulent and creative furnishings. In a phrase, he made his bedroom, and his home, his own. That’s exactly what I wish for you.
Time to Freshen Up
Before we dive into a dozen ways to revitalize your bedroom, I’ll offer one more metaphor: Many brides spend five hundred dollars or more on a pair of shoes they’ll wear for less than a day, yet they spend a hundred dollars or less on a pair of shoes they wear every day. The same goes for that luxury hotel room and your bedroom at home. Doesn’t it make sense to invest more in the room you sleep in nearly every night? Enough said. Time to refresh.
Change your sheets. There’s nothing more essential to your bedroom than bedding. And that hotel bed isn’t more comfortable because it’s got white sheets. It’s because they’re fresh, clean, and crisp. Any color sheets will do. What matters is their feel. The lower the thread count, the crisper the sheets. The higher the thread count, the silkier the sheets. To determine your preference—for example, cotton, bamboo, linen, or perhaps a 50/50 cotton/poly combo (like many hotels use)—you need to feel them. These days you can even find really great sheets at discount stores. And don’t be afraid to return or send back new sheets. You spend too much time sleeping to attempt to rest easy on linens you don’t love. I’m convinced that the right sheets would make the Rosebud Motel (you know, in Schitt’s Creek) feel like the Ritz-Carlton.
HL Tip: Thinking about donating that old baby blanket with the holes in it or that pieced quilt that’s seen better days? Now, hold up there a moment. Quite literally, you can save that special item and get something new to boot. Vintage blankets and quilts can be remade as headboards, tablecloths, sofa throws, cushion covers, throw pillows, Christmas-tree skirts, and more. If you’re clever with a sewing machine or a needle and thread, more power to you. If you’re all thumbs when it comes to sewing or you just don’t have the time, consider tapping a tailor for help. And then you never have to say good-bye to that special something.
Changing the sheets might also mean refreshing the look of your bed with a vintage quilt, a handmade coverlet, or a new duvet cover. And keep in mind: You don’t have to buy one commercially made. If you or a friend is handy with a sewing machine, you can make your own with a killer fabric remnant. For my masculine bedroom, my duvet is constructed from gray-and-white pinstripe suit material. Or consider adding a fun patchwork or kantha quilt folded lengthwise at the end of your bed for a bright burst of color. A friend of mine uses an oversized needlepoint rug as a coverlet; at night, she simply removes it for sleeping. And then there’s Ross, who loves piling blankets on the bed like nobody’s business. I get him a new blanket at least once a year.
Here’s one more idea. If you sleep with a blanket hog, consider the European approach to bedding: Two twin comforters are used on a queen- or king-size bed—you each get your own. Plus, there’s no top sheet, which tends to get tangled around legs anyway. Making such a bed takes about a minute, and sleep is reportedly better without nighttime wrangling for covers. Finally, during the day, if you don’t like the look of two duvets, simply pop a single blanket or quilt over the top of them.
HL Tip: Contrary to popular opinion, mattresses don’t double in weight every ten years due to dust mites, dead skin, and oil. It’s a myth. However, dust mites, dead skin, and oil do accumulate on your sheets. So how often should you wash your bedding? It depends. Here’s my rule of thumb: If you wear pajamas and don’t lotion-up before bed, wash those sheets once a week. If your pet sleeps on your bed or if you sleep naked, washing your bed linens twice a week is preferred. In fact, if you sleep naked, you probably should stop reading and go wash your sheets right now.
One more note: If you don’t have your own laundry room and getting to the Laundromat is a challenge for your busy schedule, keep extra sets of clean bedding on hand and just swap them out.
Pillow talk. Queen and king sheet sets come with two pillowcases. But you don’t have to stop there. After all, you can never have too many pillows. Sure, you can buy shams that match your bedding, but it’s a lot more fun to dress your bed in a variety of pillows. On my bed, for example, I’ve got a trio of square Euro pillows that lean against the wall, one king-size pillow that rests against that threesome, and two throw pillows grabbing most of the attention up front. It’s fun to collect random shams and throw pillows, and it’s fairly easy to find a variety on clearance. Or take a methodical approach by selecting perfectly complementary throw pillow covers online. Another thought: If you love monotone bedding, stick with one color, but select pillows in a variety of shades, shapes, sizes, and textures for more interest.
One nightstand. Better yet, two nightstands. So many people keep a plethora of stuff on their nightstand—a lamp, a clock, books and magazines, lotions, medicines, cough drops, a glass of water, a pen or two, earplugs, and more. Unfortunately, that means from the moment you crawl into bed, there’s a mess of stuff next to you. Instead, dedicate one drawer in your nightstand to most of these items, keeping them out of sight yet within reach. When I’m reading in bed, I simply open the third drawer in my bureau (which I use as a nightstand), and that gives me easy access to my glasses, tissues, mints to wet my whistle in the middle of the night, and my trusty flashlight for emergencies. When I’m ready for bed, I simply close the drawer.
HL Tip: For a small and/or dark bedroom, consider adding two or three mirrors to the space. The mirrors will not only reflect the light that’s in the room but also make your space appear larger.
State of the art. Consider moving your best piece of art to your bedroom. Now hear me out: So many people hang “the good art” in the most public area of the house, likely the living room. But why not feature it in your bedroom?
I remember visiting a client awhile back. She was giving me a tour of her house, and I was stunned when I walked into her bedroom and saw an original Henri Matisse painting. I mean, I’d seen his paintings before but never outside of a museum. When I shared my surprise, especially that it was tucked away in her bedroom, she said simply, “It’s my favorite and I want to look at it every morning when I wake up.”
Now you and I might not own a Matisse, but it makes sense to keep the artwork that you love most in your sanctum. After all, it’s the most personal room in your whole house. Plus, you spend a third of your life in there, so it deserves to feature your fave—whether that’s a funky print by your favorite Etsy artist, a Mona Lisa poster from the Louvre, an oil painting you found at an estate sale, or whatever you love best. Also, keep in mind: Your art doesn’t have to match your duvet—and your bedroom definitely doesn’t have to match your house. It’s personal.
Out of the blue. Color studies suggest that blue is the best color for a bedroom, leading to more, and more restful, sleep. Plus, blue has the innate ability to lower our heart rates and blood pressure. Who knew? No wonder it’s considered the most relaxing color. Another nature-related color, green, is also a great choice. But either color in a bedroom should be a pale or a deep shade; bright versions of these colors are actually stimulating—in other words, they wake you up.
HL Tip: Think outside the closet for clothing storage. Short on space? Employ vacuumable, space-saving bags under your bed to store off-season clothes. Rather than tuck away ties or scarves, show them off in your bedroom. I use several vintage department-store hooks to hold all my ties. Consider adding a dress form in one corner of your bedroom and outfit it in all your sweaters or jackets.
How could you adopt these colors in your bedroom? Maybe paint your walls blue and add green plants. Or, if you live near the ocean, open your curtains so you can see the blue sea and sky, and then paint your walls green. Or paint three walls white (another restful color) and add blue wallpaper to the fourth wall behind your bed. Or paint all four walls and wallpaper your ceiling!
Need one more reason to paint your bedroom blue? There’s an old Southern legend that haints, or evil spirits, avoid water, so painting your spaces blue like water will keep you safe. They even call a certain pale blue-green color haint blue. That tradition is why people continue to paint their porch ceilings blue. But why stop there? If there’s one place you don’t want haints, it’s definitely in your bedroom.
Other colors conducive to sleep include soft beige and light pink. Colors deemed too stimulating for the bedroom, at least when used on walls, include bold shades of red, orange, pink, and purple, plus black, dark gray, and brown, which can have a depressive effect on the people who sleep there.
All that said, choose a color you respond to. Back when I worked at high-end department stores, I was constantly surrounded by rich, sumptuous colors, so I chose a more neutral palette at home. These days, without that super-colorful environment, I’m a little more open to adding more colors to my living spaces.
Whatever paint color you choose for your bedroom, be sure to select a flat or matte finish, which diffuses light, helping to create a more restful space.
Closet How-Tos
In terms of rooms, closets are relatively new spaces. It wasn’t that long ago—only a couple centuries—that people began to own too many clothes to hang them from wall pegs or in armoires. That’s also about the same time that a new invention came about: clothes hangers.
For most of us today, our closets—both reach-in and walk-in—burst with tops and bottoms, shoes and boots, and every possible accessory. Meanwhile, arranging one’s closet has become a science, and professional closet installation is an industry.
In the popular sitcom Modern Family, the patriarch Jay Pritchett made his fortune designing and manufacturing the almighty closet or, as he described it, “the sanctuary where a man dons his armor in the morning and takes stock of the battle at night!” I’m not so sure about that, but having a well-organized closet goes a long way toward simpler mornings.
While there are lots of suggested rules and regulations for closets, their organization really comes down to common sense and visual order. For example, regarding hangers:
- Use all matching ones; having a mix draws your eyes and your attention away from your clothes. For maximum storage, space efficiency, and staying power, I recommend slim, velvet-covered hangers, which hang on to clothes. (Use these and your favorite shirt won’t go missing on the floor of your closet.)
- Hang all of your clothes facing the same direction for easy browsing. Plus, your closet will just look better.
- What should you hang? Dress shirts, blouses, dresses, skirts, dress pants, jackets, and suits stay their best, and nearly wrinkle-free, if they’re hung.
- Keep like items together by category—for example, hang all the long-sleeved shirts together and all the pants together.
- Within each category, you can be really extra by hanging your clothes from light to dark or by placing solids with solids and patterned with patterned. You can even hang your clothes by color—not by ROYGBIV, but as retailers do in this order: white, cream, tan, yellow, peach, orange, pink, red, burgundy, powder blue, green, blue, gray, brown, navy blue, and black.
Be imaginative when it comes to clothing and accessory storage. Of course, there are always clear plastic shoe and sweater boxes and wall-mounted wire baskets. But for more environmentally friendly options, consider woven baskets of sustainable materials like palm, rattan, or sisal. You might employ that wine rack or office supplies drawer unit you no longer use for scarves or jewelry, respectively. Or hang your favorite coats or tomorrow’s outfit on a dress form. My friend Louise once created a floor-to-ceiling closet shelving unit with boxes tipped on their sides and covered in white Con-Tact paper—brilliant, cheap, and sturdy. It lasted a decade!
Also, don’t neglect the brilliance of folding your clothes to maximize closet efficiency. Folding is ideal for sweaters, T-shirts, jeans, lingerie, underwear, and socks. Here are my quick how-tos:
- To fold a shirt, spread it out with the back facing up. Fold in each side to meet the middle and then fold the sleeves down toward the shirt’s hem. Now fold the bottom hem to the top and flip the shirt over. If possible, whether you place your shirts in a basket or a drawer, tuck them in vertically, like file folders, to make them more accessible.
- To fold a sweater, again, spread out the garment with its back facing up. Fold in each side to meet the middle and then fold the sleeves down toward the hem. Now fold in thirds. If your dresser can’t accommodate all your sweaters, feel free to hang each folded sweater over the bottom rung of a hanger. Hanging a sweater right on a hanger will stretch it out.
- To fold casual pants, place one leg atop the other, fold in half, and then fold in thirds. Like the shirts, line them up in a drawer or basket. If you prefer, you can also hang these pants—folded in half and draped on the bottom rung of a hanger.
- To fold socks, lay one atop the other and roll them up, or fold in halves or thirds for long socks. One trick I’d skip: pulling one sock around the other in a ball—it stretches out the sock.
Be Your Own Guest
When prepping for an overnight visitor, lots of people think ahead, outfitting the guest bedroom with everything Aunt Luna could possibly need. But she comes only one weekend a year, and you live there year-round. Isn’t it time to be as considerate of yourself as you would a guest? So, besides making your bed with fresh linens and thoroughly cleaning your room (just like you do before Aunt Luna arrives), what else can you do to treat yourself as a guest? Display a bouquet of your favorite flowers. Introduce a carafe or a vintage pitcher and a glass on your bedside table for late-night sips of water. Add an essential oil diffuser to make your room smell just as lovely as it looks. Indulge in a rich hand cream—a single jar can last many months, so that price tag is a lot smaller than you think. Buy a luxurious new bath towel and perhaps a matching bath mat to dig your toes into—then keep it just for you. And tuck a treat into your bedside drawer—or, better yet, leave it on your pillow.
Trick It Out
With only the addition of a microwave and a mini fridge, I swear I could live in my safari-vibe bedroom. It has everything: my comfy bed, my former kitchen table (now used on the other side of my bed), a leather couch, a wingback chair, some greenery in the form of my new favorite plant (a tree fern), and a reproduction woodstove, which reminds me of so many happy memories. Back in the day, my 140-year-old house needed woodstoves; getting out of bed was nearly impossible in otherwise frigid bedrooms. Plus, I’m in Minnesota—she cold.
How else might you spruce up your bedroom and thus simplify your life? Here are a bunch of ideas:
- Do you work in your bedroom? Create a dedicated corner with a small desk and chair, or pair a lounger with a laptop desk and an ottoman with hidden storage. You might also add an under-bed box to hide away work materials, or a room screen that you can set up between your desk and the rest of your bedroom. Being in bed and unable to see your workspace is more conducive to relaxing sleep. (And not being able to see your bed from your workspace may help you resist a midday nap.)
- Like a really clean bedroom? Keep an extra spray bottle of 50/50 vinegar-water solution, a couple of cleaning cloths, and a handheld or stick vacuum tucked in your closet. Then you can clean whenever you get the notion—like a hotel room, which gets refreshed nearly every day.
- Love to read in bed? Then invest in a great reading light. While lots of options exist, I prefer a dimmable, wall-mounted light. Not only does such a sconce mean more real estate on your bedside table, but its swing arm also allows you to focus the light right where you need it or to push it away when you’re ready to doze.
- Speaking of dimmers, consider installing a dimmer switch for your overhead light too. With a dimmer, you can lessen the amount of light in the room as you wind down for sleep. I actually recommend dimmers for every room in the house—yes, even the bathroom for mood-lit baths. Plus, these days, you can control dimmer lights via a phone app. In the bedroom, that means you never have to get out of bed to turn off the light.
- Are you like me and dream of a four-poster bed—but don’t have the space or the funds? Here’s an inexpensive approach: Attach a hook from the ceiling to line up with each of the four corners of your bed; then hang a length of fabric from each hook—an instant four-poster! You can also use this ceiling hook trick to hang Christmas lights all around your bed. Just make sure that you’re the one who sparkles brighter.
- If you’re a light sleeper, you can rely on a white noise machine to drown out street hubbub, and blackout curtains to keep those REMs revving on bright, sunny mornings. Or for a cheaper approach, buy earplugs and a sleep mask, both of which work surprisingly well.
Time to Clean Up
Keeping in mind that elusive hotel room standard, tending to your bedroom—even if that means just making your bed every morning—should be a priority. Not only does it start your day off right with a small accomplishment, but for many it also leads to less stress, more calm, and better sleep, says Sarah Vanbuskirk (“The Mental Health Benefits of Making Your Bed,” Verywell Mind, January 29, 2021). And if making your bed does all that, who knows what cleaning your whole bedroom might do? Let’s get started.
- To clean your bedroom, like so many other rooms, start at the ceiling, wiping away any cobwebs with a wool duster. Next, turn off your lights and brush off fixtures, including cloth shades, with a horsehair brush. (As always, be sure your lights are off when dusting.) Lastly, check that light bulbs are working and replace as needed.
- Next, strip the bed to wash the sheets and pillowcases. If it’s been more than two weeks, consider washing the duvet cover or comforter as well. Drying the sheets with wool balls sprinkled with an essential oil like lavender or peppermint will make crawling back into bed all the sweeter.
- While the bed is bare, take two minutes with your hand vacuum or an attachment to vacuum your mattress—plus any upholstery. (Also, if you find any stains, treat the spots with a horsehair brush, a little laundry soap, and warm water.)
- Before remaking your bed, plump any decorative pillows plus cushions on other bedroom furniture. If you find stains, spot treat or, if covers are removable, remove and wash once a month or so. When they’re still damp, right out of the wash, replace them on the cushions and pillows, and stand to dry. Machine-drying may cause shrinkage and make zipping back onto the cushions difficult.
- Before dusting your dresser and any side tables, remove all the items that don’t belong—yesterday’s coffee mug, a bottle of hair gel, a newspaper, and pens, for example—and return them to where they belong. Now spray a clean terrycloth towel with your 50/50 vinegar-water solution and wipe down your headboard and footboard, side tables, dresser, any glass-fronted art, and windows. If you’ve got a TV in your bedroom, be sure to wipe the screen and the remotes.
- If you’ve got a small area rug, roll it up and shake it out in your garbage can or outdoors. If you have a large area rug, simply vacuum. (To actually clean your small or large rug, see “Called on the Carpet.”)
- Before returning the rugs to a laminate floor, sweep the floor with a stiff corn or straw broom. If the floor is hardwood, use a horsehair broom. If your sealed hardwood floor—it must be sealed—could use more than a quick sweep and you’ve got a steam cleaner, use that multitasker. Again, caution: Don’t use a steam cleaner on an unsealed wood floor or an engineered floor; a steam cleaner can damage both types.
HL Tip: Just like your kiddos and your pets, their toys need a regular bath: To clean plastic toys, place them in the sink and spray them with the 50/50 vinegar-water solution or apply dish soap and water and clean them like you wash the dishes. If you’ve got toys that are too large to wash in the sink, move this job to the bathtub. Drop a toy on the floor? Don’t count on the five-second rule. Instead spray with vodka to sanitize, wait a beat for evaporation, and then you can return the toy to the owner. To clean Teddy and his stuffed pals, simply place them in a mesh bag and wash them in your next load with soap flakes and oxygen bleach. However, if the stuffed animals were made pre-2000, the stuffing isn’t machine washable; in that case, spray them with vodka and let them dry.
- If you’ve got wall-to-wall carpet or a large area rug, get vacuuming after first picking up any bobby pins, wrappers, coins, etc. Even one doodad can cause issues for a vacuum. And don’t discount the power of the crevice tool to suck up dust and dirt from room corners, ceiling corners, sofa cushions, bookcases, and more.
- Throw dirty clothes in the hamper, return clean clothes to your dresser and closet, and close that closet door. (For tips on cleaning the closet, see “How to Clean Your Closet—Not Clean Out Your Closet.”)
- Last, straighten any stacks of books and magazines, donating or recycling those you no longer want. Organize items that belong on your bedside tables and dresser, and empty the trash can.
- Now it’s time for a nap—fortunately, your perfectly made bed with its clean bed linens is waiting!
The Ten-Minute Clean: Bedroom
Your oldest friends and tonight’s dinner guests have just voiced interest in touring your whole house. It’s their first visit and they won’t be swayed—they want to see every room. While they dally over dessert, you excuse yourself for ten minutes, all the time you need to make your bedroom look fantastic.
- Light one lamp—if the rest are dusty, they’ll never know.
- Make your bed, plump the pillows, and refold your throw.
- Organize any items on your bedside tables and dresser.
- Gather up any glasses and mugs, and set them by the bedroom door to take with you back to the kitchen.
- Straighten your stack of reading materials.
- Plump any pillows on a love seat or chair.
- Throw dirty clothes in the hamper.
- Stuff any clean clothes, shoes, belts, etc., inside the closet and close the door.
- Return to your guests (after dropping off those glasses and mugs) and lead them on the tour, perhaps with glasses of wine in hand.
My Ten-Minute Cleaning Playlist: Bedroom (Upbeat)
- “Dress You Up” by Madonna (3:38)
- “Just Like Heaven” by the Cure (3:32)
- “So What” by Pink (3:35)
My Ten-Minute Cleaning Playlist: Bedroom (Mellow)
- “The Winner Takes It All” by ABBA (4:55)
- “Sittin’ Up in My Room” by Brandy (4:51)