Room Makeover: From an Uncharted Territory to Your Very Own Sanctuary

Image by: Jaymantri

Do you find yourself waking up in the middle of a jungle? There are hills and valleys of laundry lying around. There are sheets of paper scattered all over the place. There are random things lying on the bed. There’s a trashcan in the corner of the room that you play jenga on. Do these sound familiar to you? Too familiar? Similar? Whichever the case is, if you somehow relate to this and are wishing or even dying to have a room makeover, stick around as we will be giving you three points to turn the uncharted territory that you call your bedroom into a relaxing sanctuary!

Image from: Pixabay.com

1. Styling

Plain white walls may be classic, however, it can look dated depending on the other elements of your room. Update your plain walls by painting about a third of its height with a touch of color. You can also add a focal wall by painting one wall of the room with a different color. Be careful of using bright and vibrant colors. If you want a sanctuary, muted colors are recommended. You can also get inspiration from the colors of nature, for a start. Which part of nature makes you feel relaxed? Is it the greens of the forest, the blues of the skies or the oceans, the browns of the trees and lands or the grays of the rocks? Have some thought about it and see where it takes you!

You can also take advantage of the season in painting your walls. You won't just get the feels for the season by seeing your wall color, but you also reap the benefits of the heat absorbing or reflecting properties of colors! For summertime, light hues are recommended. For colder seasons, dark, muted tones are the way to go! Light colors reflect light while dark colors absorb it, converting light energy into heat.

Now let's talk about the focal point of the bedroom, your bed. If you want to opt for a relaxing vibe, go for neutral colored sheets. You’ll never go wrong with it! However, if  you want to put a little bit of character, you can go for prints or embroideries. Remember also not to get too playful with it, since we are aiming for a sanctuary. Too much prints and colors may cause visual clutter. Not sanctuary material, right?

Some alternative to put a little bit of character on your bed are colored pillows, statement pillows or covering your pillows with textured pillow cases (like fur pillow covers!). What does your pillow say?

Wall art and other decors can give your room a touch of class or a glimpse of disaster. What I would recommend is to pick (or DIY!) your art pieces to match well with the colors of your room.

For reference, look at the color wheel. Be careful of using complementary colors. The contrast between the two colors can give you a feeling of unease. If you're planning on using complementary colors, consider their saturation. A simple tip is to make one color saturated and make the other unsaturated.

Analogous colors (or 3 colors that are side by side in the color wheel) on the other hand, can give a harmonious touch to your room. 

It is recommended to put thick curtains to block any light coming from the outside as they can disrupt your sleep. Either you’re a heavy or light sleeper, light can also be a thief to your precious sleeping time.

 
Image by: Malidate Van

2. Comfort

Something that robs you of a good night sleep is body pain. You are sure to wake up at the wrong side of the bed if you woke up with a sore back or neck.

It is recommended that you invest on some quality mattress, pillows and sheets. Sleep deprivation is linked to some diseases and malfunctions to our systems. Your decisions are affected. Your mood is affected. Your health is affected. Almost everything that you do is affected.

For these, it’s a matter of preference. If we are talking about mattress, there are different kinds: latex, foam, coil, pillowtop, adjustable, and a hybrid of all of those. If you’re undecided or don’t know which mattress best suits you,Sleepopolis.com can help you discern on this matter.

Pillows are no different than mattresses. There are also varieties of pillows that target different concerns.Odybd.net provides you the information that you need (including the pros and cons of each kind) in choosing your pillows.

Last but not the least, bed sheets! You cannot forget about your bedding since it takes up most of the bed space. It’s where you directly lie down. There are also varieties to this matter. You can refer toOverstock.com for more information. (But seriously, we go for bamboo sheets all the way!)

Image from: ATBO

3. Get Organized

A well-organized room, even without much decoration can look… well… neat! There’s no additional tension due to the clutter. Everything is at their proper places. Everything is in order. There’s space that you can dance on to the latest hits, or if your room is small, there’s still at least some space for you to work it like you’re on Top Model.

But what if you are practically sleeping in an uncharted territory inside your house and you don’t know where even to begin? Let’s start with a popular method that you can typically see on house makeover shows (or even in fashion makeover shows). First, sort out everything that’s in your room. Divide them into three categories: Keep,Throw and For Occasional Use. You put the items that you use frequently in the “Keep” container, the things you don’t need anymore under “Throw”, and store away the items under “For Occasional Use” in a storage box so that you can get them anytime the occasion calls for it.

Now that your stuff is sorted out and you’ve thrown everything that needs to be thrown away, it’s time to place the “keep” items into their appropriate places. Do you need some storage? You could buy drawers or storage boxes, or DIY them yourself! Here are some ideas byJensen’s DIY andDIY Network to get you started:

For the final touch, let's go back to basics. Keep the bed clean, and make it after waking up. The whole room would look a million times better and more organized if you do so!

Image by: iAlicante Mediterranean Homes   

Bonus: Habit and Commitment

So you’ve cleaned your room, and you’ve taken the first steps to making your room into a sanctuary. The first steps may seem like the most difficult ones, but whether or not your room will remain a sanctuary boils down to your habits. If you clean your room today but leave it in a mess the next day, your efforts may be for naught. Before you notice it, you’re back to square one.

In forming a habit, it helps to have a written commitment to yourself. State why you want to turn your bedroom into a sanctuary. You can also add the benefits that convinced you to do so. If you feel unmotivated to organize, you can read that to refresh yourself on your reasons as to why you’ve decided to turn your room into a sanctuary.

It also helps to keep a habit tracker. It can trigger a sense of achievement when you see your streak! When you reach a certain streak, you can get yourself a reward to motivate you too!

Image from: Pixabay.com

A sanctuary will always be something that you’d want to return to to retreat, relax and unwind. You don’t have to go anywhere else to feel all good. You can start with what you have, your bedroom!