Intentionally Design Your Main Bedroom Part One: What to Avoid

Designing a main bedroom is important because it is one of the rooms in our life that we spend the most amount of time in. In a 24 hour day, each of us are in this one room on average of 6 to 8+ hours. That is a good chunk of our day, week, year, life occupying this space. Not only do we spend so much time in this room, the activities we engage in this room are incredibly valuable to our health and wellbeing. I intend to share with you various design applications so you know how to intentionally design your own bedroom for rest, self-care and pleasure.

Photo: Kels Munn Photography

In Feng Shui, the main bedroom is one of the top 3 most influential spaces in your home. The primary purpose of the main bedroom is to enjoy a deep restful sleep. As such, there are several recommendations on what to avoid having in this room.

For today in part 1, I am going to begin with what to avoid in this space:

  1. Electronics (such as the television, laptop/desktop or tablets)
  2. Clutter
  3. Family Photos
  4. Tall or Heavy Furniture
  5. Bright Colors
  6. Mirror Across From Your Bed
  7. A Collection of Books

Most of what I’ve listed above deflect rather encourage rest. You may notice that electronics is the first item listed… this is intentional ha. I have worked with many clients who have a television in their bedrooms. However, the television broadcasts a lot of information, entertainment that can be quite energizing and having this easy access to it – encourages more “unintentional” channel cruising than focusing on rest. I have also worked with many clients who’ve found that having their home office in their main bedroom created many issues: restless sleep and working too much. Together we were able to move the office equipment out of this important space to help fuel their personal energy by putting aside work and focus on sleep.

Clutter, defined as anything that is no longer serving you, can include broken furniture, clothes that no longer fit or require repair, a candle with no wick left to burn etc. It is a blanket term that can apply to many things. Clutter has the ability to “cloud the mind”. Again, it is a distraction.

Family photos are an interesting subject. They are simply lovely to have in your home and are a tremendous addition to other rooms in your home, such as being hung in beautiful frames arranged one by one heading down a hallway, on a family wall collage or in your children’s bedroom. They are not encouraged in a main bedroom as it presents another distraction. On one hand yes they are a reminder of an abundance of love and support, however they also represent responsibility which is a distraction for putting all responsibilities aside for a restful sleep.

Tall or heavy furniture bring the energy down in a space with it’s weight. Having dark furniture or furniture that is to tall to easily reach the top drawers can leave one feeling that they have to reach for items. This plays a very strong role in the subconscious mind. Having one feel as they if what they need is “out of reach” or they need to stretch themselves to get what they need. Ideally furniture used in this room will be easily accessible.

Bright colors are an interesting subject as well as I have worked with clients who have intentionally chosen bright colors to include on their walls to inject their own personality into their bedroom. To this I say, yes! The main bedroom is a place to have creative expression; however, I did encourage this one client to be very intentional on the quantity of this bright fuchsia was used. One wall was painted a deep fuchsia, from navy blue, and it has yielded very positive results for herself. When choosing the color palette for your bedroom – think of how you currently feel with what you have and how you desire to feel. Adding small pops of red can turn up the passion and intimacy. Too much red could be overpowering and cause restful nights. Their is a balance here.

Having a mirror in your bedroom can be really beneficial. They allow you to see yourself, fully if it’s full length. Saying that, mirrors also amplify what they reflect. As such, they are not recommended to be placed in a main bedroom especially if facing you from the end of the bed. While sleeping, your subconscious mind is still scanning your environment for threats. I mean when we sleep, we are in a vulnerable state. With a mirror, any toss or turn in bed could be alarming. This could prevent you from sleeping deeply and staying asleep throughout the night.

The last item that I will discuss in today’s post is having a collection of books in the main bedroom. Books are full of information and entertainment, similar to the television. However, unlike the television, they are enjoyed individually. If you share your bedroom with a partner, books could encourage you to stay up reading yes, but it could also separate yourself from your partner. To this, I encourage you to limit the number of books to possibly or two. Bonus points if these books subjects are related to creating intimacy with yourself and/or partner, such as the Kama Sutra.

Bravo for making it through all 7 items to avoid in your main bedroom! These are common things I have seen in client’s main bedrooms – that I enjoy explaining further why they are not encouraged from an Interior Design and Feng Shui perspective. With a thorough understanding of what to avoid, let’s dive into what to include in your main bedroom in part 2 of Intentionally Design Your Main Bedroom

Until then, if you are interested in working 1 on 1 to design your main bedroom, you may be interested in an Interior Design Consultation. Head on over to Design Services to check out the various offerings provided by Jess Neary Designs to help you intentionally design spaces you love!

Cheers, Jess