Tips to Get More Sleep: Refresh Your Bedroom and Nighttime Routine

Any parent knows the importance of sleep, and how quickly your sleep can take a back seat to EVERYTHING else! I’m dishing on how I refreshed my bedroom and nighttime routine to help me get more sleep!

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Tips to Get More Sleep

I’ve always been someone who needs and loves a lot of sleep.  Before kids I could easily sleep half the morning away.  Two kids later and it’s a very different story!  I still need and love a lot of sleep, but I just don’t get much.  Sleep deprivation is my worst nightmare.  Let’s just say the newborn stage was not a pretty time in my life.  I made it out alive and my kids are now one and four!

Since my kids are a little older, and sleeping a little more, I’ve found that I will stay up later to try to accomplish more!  As a stay at home mom, I always try to squeeze in a ton, usually too much, after the kiddos are in bed.  Every single morning I say to myself, “I’ll go to bed earlier tonight!”  It never happens, but the best part is, I actually believe it!

I know that getting enough sleep is SO important in how I manage myself, my day, my kids, etc.!  Inevitably, when I’m exhausted or sick, at least one, and if I’m really lucky, both of my kids will wake up in the middle of the night and need me.  I recently had pneumonia and realized that I wasn’t taking care of myself or getting enough sleep.  I knew that I needed to make some changes, so I started a new nightly routine and gave my bedroom a tiny refresh to help me get more sleep!  With the help of Wayfair and a few items that I already had around the house I was able to do this.  I thought there might be some other mamas (or papas) who can completely relate, so I decided to share my tips for getting more sleep!

A Tiny Bedroom Refresh

I love our house, but with 1,800 square feet, we have to make smart decisions on what to have in our home!  A full bedroom update is not in cards right now, so getting the room organized and adding some cheerful things from Wayfair was the perfect way to make me feel at ease in my bedroom again.  The first thing I did to refresh my space was to declutter the room.  Next, I added a couple of small items to make it feel a little more relaxing.  Here’s what I used to refresh my room:

1. Storage baskets/bins– I used some proper storage baskets, similar to what you see HERE, to reorganize my closet.  I also reused some white storage boxes that I had.  I painted some letter stickers gold and labeled the bins.  It finally looks like an adult’s closet!
2. Plastic bins– I put my out of season clothes in plastic bins like THIS one under our bed.  
3. Faux flowers– There’s something about flowers that makes me feel calm and refreshed, but as we all know, real ones don’t last long enough!  There are so many beautiful faux flowers on Wayfair right now, so don’t be ashamed to use them!  The ones I have are very similar to THESE peonies.
4. Water carafe– I drink a lot of water, and I love having water by my bed at night.  Sure I could have a metal canteen, but THIS glass carafe makes me feel like I’m at a quaint bed and breakfast…until my kids come in at 6:00 a.m

Organizing and decluttering goes a long way to help rejuvenate you and your space.  It probably won’t happen over night, but baby steps will make you feel so good!  I’ve been working hard at organizing my whole house and have teamed up with a friend of mine who is a home organizer.  We have shared three parts in our four-part series “The Ultimate Guide to Staying Organized: Must-Read Solutions!”  Our fourth installment will be posted later this week.  You can read the first three installments here: Part 1 (organizing paper clutter), Part 2 (designating empty spaces for organizing), or Part 3 (creative organizing solutions for kids)!  Now here’s a before and after picture of my closet!  It’s hard to share the before, but it’s reality!

A New Nighttime Routine

As you have now learned, I do most of my work in my bedroom.  I don’t have an office or even a desk, so it’s the most comfortable place in the house!  We don’t have a TV in our bedroom, so there’s little distraction.  After being so sick, I knew that I needed to alter my nightly routine in order to get more sleep.  Here is what I have been trying to do.  Obviously it’s still a work in progress, but I’ll eventually work out the kinks!

1. Drink a cup of hot tea– I have a cup of decaffeinated mint tea almost every night while working in bed.  It definitely helps me relax.  It could be mental, and that’s fine with me!
2. Stay on top of the covers– This sounds so silly, but this IS definitely a mental thing.  I use a knit blanket on top of the covers so that I can save the bedding specially for sleep time!
3. Shut down devices 30 minutes prior to going to sleep– Experts recommend even longer, but this is what I am capable of right now!  During the day I only get naptime to work, so I tend to stay up late blogging to complete things!
4. Relaxation techniques– Once I shut down my laptop, I plug in my phone and turn on my app “Relax Melodies.”  I love this app because you can choose YOUR relaxing sounds.  I like rain and storms.  Also I’ve turned off the sounds for notifications on my phone to prevent them from waking me up.  Cheese ball alert!  After I turn on my relaxing sounds, I try to think of one thing that made me happy that day.  Some days it’s tough, but I still try.  Then, I think of one thing that I want to achieve.  Finally, I focus on my breathing and relax my body.  (I had two natural childbirths and used a relaxation method with them.  I actually use the same techniques for going to sleep!  Ha!)

Honestly, I have a really hard time falling asleep.  I feel anxious, and my brain starts swirling with list after list of things I need to do.  I can tell you that if I follow these tips above, they really do help me to get more sleep!  I am no expert and am far from having this habit formed, but I’m trying!  Hopefully you can take something away from this post, whether it’s to refresh your bedroom or nighttime routine, to help you get more sleep!  I’d love to hear how your bedroom space relaxes you!  What can’t you live without?  How do you wind down at night?