How to Transform Your Bedroom into Your Haven by Donna Thomson

How to Transform Your Bedroom into Your Haven
by Donna Thomson

bedroom decoration

Do you sleep peacefully or restlessly? Is your bedroom your haven or does it double as the office or extra storage space? Your bedroom should be your haven, your place where the worries of the rest of the world (or even just the rest of the house) fall away and you can feel at peace, calm and happy. This article will help you transform your bedroom into your special haven.

Know thyself

Before I go any further, I suggest you develop a vision of how you would like your room to be. As you read on, consider each topic or tip and see if it fits with your vision. There may be many good ideas you come across but trying to use them all is unlikely to work. The top tip is to keep it simple. Think about what you already have and what you feel will work harmoniously for you. Are you a musical person, a nature person, an artistic/creative person, a practical no-frills person or flamboyant, or a spiritual person? Do you like to write, read, meditate, listen to music? Think about creating a theme throughout your bedroom, around a side of yourself or your personality - somewhere you are free to 'hang out' with yourself in delightful company, with the things you love.

Colour

Colour is probably the first consideration for a bedroom and if not much else changes, a colour-change can make all the difference. Colour is very important when trying to create a peaceful, serene feel for your bedroom. Painting your bedroom walls isn't that expensive so if you can, go for it! If you can't paint your walls, you can introduce a dominant peaceful colour via the bedspread, curtains, wall hangings and paintings.

The best colours for a bedroom are soft pinks, apricots, peaches and creams. These colours reflect a loving, peaceful atmosphere. Even though the home and lifestyle shows have done some lovely looking deep red and orange rooms, if you suffer from insomnia, these colours will be too stimulating. So stick to the soft, cooler colours, including soft blue, green and lilac.

Tables & Chairs

A small desk or bureau is nice but only if the room is large enough. Don't make this the location you pay bills or do work from though. This is your personal writing space. A place where you can sit a couple of photo frames, romantic letters, flowers and your journal.

You might prefer to place a large comfy chair in a corner with a side-table to house your journal, favourite books and so on.

You can also use one of those delightful 3-piece setting with a small round table and two chairs that are normally used outdoors to create a sitting area in a corner of your room. If you have a nice view from your room, you could have your morning coffee or herbal tea there.

Music

You want to minimise electrical appliances in the bedroom to reduce the disruptive electromagnetic frequencies, so no televisions, computers and so on in the bedroom! However, it's nice to add a small CD/radio player so you can play relaxing music after a stressful day. Gather a nice selection of CDs to keep in your room, including one or two guided meditation and relaxation CDs.

Computers

If you must have a computer in the bedroom due to space restrictions, a laptop is preferable because it's smaller and less obvious than a desktop computer. Try to keep the computer as far away from the bed as possible and even section off that area with a divider screen. Make sure your computer is turned off during the evening and avoid using the computer before going to bed because it may lead to disturbed sleep. Try to keep any computer paraphernalia stored out of sight in a cupboard or drawers, using organisers to keep everything tidy.

Nostalgia

Sentimental items are lovely and add warmth, but too many old items promotes living in the past. The past can bring fond memories but you always want to be focusing on the present and looking forward to the future. If you find that you live too much in the past, look around to see how many things you have that remind you of the past. Perhaps it's time to clear out the old and make way for some fresh new items that are inspiring rather than nostalgic.

Photographs & Artwork

If this is a couple's bedroom, according to feng shui, you should only have photos of the couple together and leave photos of the children and other family for the living areas. This promotes romance and togetherness - a special place just for the two of you.

As for artwork, choose something that is harmonious, romantic, healing and flowing. You don't want images with jagged edges, strong colours or sad and lonely people, so choose carefully.

Love & Romance

As well as being a place of calm and relaxation, if you have a partner or are looking for one, you'll want to add a touch of romance and sensuality to your room. Add items and colours that represent love and sensuality in the room, especially in the love/relationship sector of the room to support and bring love. (Click here to find out how to identify the relationship corner). While traditional feng shui 'cures' include adding a pair if mandarin ducks or lovebirds, you might add roses or rose petals, a beautiful perfume bottle, sensual artwork, sculptures or ornaments, poetry or anything else that represents love and sensuality to you.

Most important: If you have moved on from a relationship and are looking for a new partner, remove anything that belonged to or reminds you of the ex-partner or their energy will interfere with new love coming to you.

Crystals

Crystals such as amethyst and rose quartz are perfect for the bedroom because they promote love and relaxation. The amethyst also provides protection and it can be useful to place an amethyst cluster under your bed. As for the rose quartz, some feng shui experts recommend placing a pair of rose quartz crystals in your love/relatioship corner (see previous topic) or on your bedside table. Feng shui or not, placing beautiful light-coloured, pink, green and purple crystals in your room can add loving, healing and harmonious energy to the bedroom.

I like to hang a quartz/swarovski crystal suncatcher from the centre of my bedroom window so that when the sun shines into the room the crystal sends the colours of the rainbow against the walls in a lovely, healing display of light.

Plants & Flowers

Don't wait for others to buy you flowers or wait for special occasions. Get in the habit of buying yourself a fresh bunch of flowers when you do the weekly grocery shopping and place them in a lovely vase in your bedroom. This is your gift to yourself. Alternatively you can place a small draping or flowering plant in your room to add that touch of nature. Make sure to tend to these plants and remove the flowers when they've wilted. Unhealthy plants will negatively affect the energy in the room so keep them watered and make sure there is plenty of natural light filtering into your room.

Lighting & Windows

Just as your plants need natural light and fresh air, so too do you! Try to avoid thick, heavy curtains that block out the light and choose light flowing curtains. As well as affecting the amount of light that enters your room, heavy curtaining tends to collect energy, whereas you want energy to be able to flow freely so that it is fresh and healthy. If you need to block early morning sun, try a pull-down blind that can be opened once you wake to let the light flow in. This reduces the need for masses of fabric in curtaining and you can choose something light and pretty to frame your windows instead.

Also have one or two lamps in the bedroom. They not only look good but create gentle, ambient lighting in the evenings. However, if you read by lamplight, make sure the bulb is bright enough so you don't strain your eyes. Look for lighting options that are unique and unusual, such as a salt crystal lamp that looks wonderful and purifies the air at the same time. You can also get lamps made out of crystals, incorporated into beautiful sculptures etc.

Candles look lovely and fragranced candles add a nice aroma too. Consider a group of similar but different sized candles as a feature. Candelabras also look great and there are so many styles to choose from - from the shabby chic to antique, wooden to brass. According to feng shui, candles are the best lighting in the bedroom because they add a 'healing glow'.

Positive Energy

Most things mentioned in this article are actually geared to bring your fresh, positive energy. For instance, removing old items and keeping only fresh flowers in the room. You will also need to remove all clutter, so regularly remove the books you've read and any magazines and so on that don't need to be in your room.

Clutter

You may have a lot of 'things' but you'll feel a lot better is you arrange your furniture and other items so the overall feel of the room is light, airy and flowing. If there is too much in the room (and that includes clutter like clothes, magazines, etc.) it will feel heavier and you'll find it harder to relax. So maybe it's time to weed out all the clothes that are outdated or no longer fit you too. Even though your clothes may be behind wardrobe doors, overfilled spaces aren't conducive to a light overall feel to the room. Don't forget to look under the bed and store those items elsewhere to prevent stagnant energy under the bed - who wants to sleep on that!

Work has no place in the bedroom

Well, except for the fun kind (if you know what I mean!). I've already mentioned keeping your bedroom computer-free and free of unpaid bills and other paperwork. However, also consider books you use for study. Now I'm personally someone who likes to study all sorts of subjects and have a lot of books. I decided to get the majority of books out of the bedroom and just have a select few that I'm reading. At one time my study-related books became piled up under my side of the bed and I wondered why I couldn't sleep peacefully - too much active, intellectual energy, as well as clutter!

Do you have an Ab Trainer under your bed? While the bedroom is a popular place to store the exercise equipment it's certainly not the right place for it because it's all about 'work' of course. When considering anything for the bedroom, ask yourself, "Does this promote rest, healing and love?". If not, get it out of there!

Transformations

If your existing furniture doesn't suit the look you have in mind, you don't have to replace it...simply transform it! You can repaint old furniture or cover with fabric to create lovely new items for your bedroom.

For example if you have an old chest of drawers you could paint it cream and use a stencil or freehand to add a lovely floral or abstract design. Use sample pots of paint for the main colour and artist's acrylic paints for designs and edging.

Paint your bed head a nice co-ordinating colour to give it a lift. Or, get a staple gun, some nice fabric and wadding/padding. Cut the wadding and fabric to size so it will overlap around to the back of the bed head, then stretch evenly and staple onto the back. Then you have a beautiful new padded bed-head! This would look great in satin or a floral cotton fabric.

If you have an ensemble, you may not even have a bed head. If so, why not make yourself one by following the above steps but staple the wadding and fabric onto a piece of ply board that has been cut the same width ad your bed and the desired height. Attach it to the wall behind your bed, from the top of your mattress.

If your furniture is limited, why not drape some fabric over a sturdy cardboard box for a make-shift side-table or display table! Look around your house, and even in storage, for items that you may be able to use - use your creative eye to look for the possibilities in your existing items.

Placement

Some of the main things to remember when considering how to arrange everything in the bedroom are:

Place the bed against a solid wall. If it must go under a window try creating a solid bedhead to maintain a feeling of 'support'.
Don't place shelves or heavy paintings etc above the bed. Shelves have stagnant energy under them and heavy items will subconsciously create a feeling of anxiety if placed above your head.
Try not to place the foot of your bed directly in line with the door as the energy entering the room is too direct and may cause disturbed sleep.
Also, try not to face the bed towards a mirror, whether a dresser or mirrored wardrobe doors.

If these things cannot be avoided you can usually create solutions. For instance, my bedroom is quite large but I can only utilise this extra space if I place the bed under the window. While this concerned me initially, we have a strong, healthy hedge growing outside the window that seems to act like a wall to give that support feeling.

If in doubt, simply do what feels right to you and consult a feng shui expert for further advice.

Solitude

If you like to meditate or would like to start, it might be a priority for you to create a meditation corner in your room. When you meditate in the same location regularly, it will infuse it with a special energy and if you have no other place in the house for this, the bedroom is ideal.

So rather than having a corner for a table and chairs for example, you might like a couple of large comfortable cushions facing a table where you can sit your favourite meditation items such as crystals, candles, a mandala or healing/spiritual images and ornaments, etc. You may like to include incense and/or an oil burner for essential oils too.

A few additional plants would be nice and could even section off this section of your room slightly, to create your mini-haven!

Hopefully these considerations will get your creative juices flowing and you'll be able to create a calm, beautiful, healing atmosphere where you can unwind and get many restful nights' sleep.