bedroom

Deep-Clean Your Mattress for a Better Night's Sleep

POPSUGAR Smart Living — Thu, 09 May 2013 10:24:32 +0000

Spring-cleaning wouldn't be complete without giving your mattress some serious attention. Along with refreshing your bed, this easy cleaning DIY ensures a better night's sleep. No need for harsh chemicals or expensive concoctions — all you need is a box of baking soda for this cleaner. The addition of essential oil gently scents your bed, helping to soothe and lull you to sleep.

Read on for the basic directions.

What You'll Need

16-ounce box baking soda
Essential oil
Vacuum cleaner

Directions

1. Before beginning, flip or rotate the bed, which is smart to do every six months to extend mattress life and prevent sagging. While you're working on your mattress, toss your bedding in the wash, and fluff duvets or feather beds in the dryer.

2. Open the box of baking soda and add 10 to 20 drops of your favorite essential oil. Close the box and give it a good shake to distribute the essential oil and break up any large clumps. Lavender, chamomile, sandalwood, and ylang ylang are all soothing scents that would be wonderfully calming. And essential oils are naturally antibacterial.

3. Sprinkle the baking soda over the bed, using the entire box. Now it's time for a mattress massage! Rub the baking soda mixture into the bed, which really gives your mattress a deep cleaning. Let the baking soda and essential oil work its magic for at least an hour.

4. While you're waiting, wipe down the walls around your bed and the bed frame, creating a nice and clean sleeping area. After an hour, vacuum the mattress, working slowly to ensure all the baking soda has been removed.

5. Along with freshening your bed, the mixture helps lift dirt and residue while wicking away moisture. And giving your mattress a good vacuuming sucks away any lurking dust mites, which makes everyone sleep easier. Make the bed, and you're ready for some serious slumber.

You might wash your sheets frequently...but how often do you clean your actual mattress? Make it happen with these easy how-to guide.

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7 Ways to Remodel Your Bedroom (Without Demolishing a Thing)

Andrea Karim — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:00:27 +0000

You spend roughly 1/3 of your life sleeping, so shouldn’t you sleep in a room that contributes to sweet dreams? An uninspired or disorganized bedroom can make it tough to relax, and it probably doesn’t help your disposition in the morning, either. What if your bedroom is a focal point for family time — maybe you read in bed, snuggle with the kiddos, or spend quality time with your pets while ensconced in the bedroom. A dingy or depressing bedroom won't contribute to relaxing gatherings.

Fortunately, bedroom remodels are some of the most affordable projects for a make-over (unlike, say, changing up a bathroom or kitchen). You don't have to install new windows or remove any structural objects; often, all that's needed is a deep clean and a little surface work. (See also: 15 Home Decorating Ideas for Under $5)

First Things First

Ready for a bedroom re-do? First, before you get started, do a little soul searching and consider the following.

What Do You Need?

What needs to change to make you happy? Is the room too dark? Does street noise keep you awake? Can you fix everything with a simple furniture rearrange?

What’s Your Style?

What kind of room do you really want — a bright, airy bedroom, or a dark, cozy den of slumber? Pick a style and stick with it to avoid getting derailed.

What Are Your Personal Limits?

Do you love stark, white bed linens but have three black cats that sleep with you every night? Choose bedroom components that work with your lifestyle and habits.

What’s the Use?

Do you do more than sleep in your bedroom? Is it also your office? Your movie theater? If there’s no way to keep the bedroom reserved for sleep alone, then you need to take its other uses into account.

Have you meditated on your own nature and what kind of bedroom you are seeking? Excellent, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty with these simple bedroom remodeling ideas.

1. Organize and Purge

Like with most home make-over projects, a good portion of the actual make-over involves simply getting rid of unneeded stuff that is cluttering up the environment. Sure, you like to read before bed, but do you need a whole stack of books on the bedside table? Put the unread tomes back on the bookshelf or donate them to the library (you read everything on your Kindle now, anyway).

Because your closet is in your bedroom, this is a good time to go through it and get rid of unused clothing, coats, and shoes. If you have a linen closet that needs organizing, consider paring down your excess towels and mismatched sheets.

2. Make Walls That Soothe

Painting a bedroom is probably the fastest and cheapest way to change the overall character. Choose a color that works with your trim (this is where paint chips come in handy). Strive to find a color that enhances the exact ambiance that you want in your bedroom — cozy and warm, light and modern, or bright and eclectic — there are thousands upon thousands of colors to choose from. And remember, if the first color doesn’t work, you can always paint over it.

3. Consider Window Coverings

You may think that it’s the rug that really pulls the room together, but window dressings are more important in the bedroom. Because bedrooms tend to be smaller and dominated by large furniture, the eye is drawn upward beyond the bed — that’s where the window dressing can work its magic. Curtains, blinds, and shades can be very expensive, so first decide what kind of coverage you need, and then go from there. White panel curtains are simple, cheap, match with almost any style. If you need curtains that block the early morning light but don’t appear heavy, consider thick cotton or velvet in light colors.

4. Hang Art That You Love

The bedroom is a great place to display the works of art that mean the most to you. Whether it's paintings or silk rugs, sculptures or kid's drawings, make the most of whatever wall space you have. If you prefer a clean, uncluttered look, choose one or two pieces that you like the most. If your taste runs toward the more eclectic, you can fill up your walls with whatever you want. Framing art can be expensive, so look into cheaper art displays for your favorite works.

5. Pick Appropriate Linens

Hey, this IS the bedroom, right? Sleeping is the name of the game, is it not? Your linens should be comfortable first and foremost, with style coming in second. Unless you are the type of person who fastidiously makes your bed every morning, don’t plunk down hard-earned cash on pricey bedspreads and decorative pillow shams. Stick with the basics, in simple colors or basic patterns, and straighten up as needed.

6. Turn on Good Lighting

You can usually identify a well-designed room by the type of lighting used — it’s always the exact right amount for the right time of day (or night). Is your bedroom suffering from too much light? Recessed pot lights are fine for the living room, but use a lot of electricity and can seem harsh in a bedroom. Consider installing a dimmer (between $60-100) to reduce the overhead glare. Alternately, your bedroom might have dim lighting that strains the eye. In either case, you can benefit from a few well-placed lamps that increase visibility without overloading the senses. Lamps are a wonderfully cheap accessory — check out IKEA’s selection before hitting Target or other big box retailers. Try out a new lampshade on an old fixture for an instant bedside accessory facelift.

7. Find Furniture That Fits

New or different furniture should be your last resort in redoing your bedroom, unless a change is drastically needed. Sometimes a new coat of paint or varnish can completely change the character of your dresser or headboard. Check out DIY websites for inspiration, but don’t get too caught up in the idea of completely overhauling every piece of furniture you own. A plain white table runner can hide a multitude of surface damage to dressers. Sometimes, wooden furniture just needs a good polish or scratch repair.

Have you successfully changed your bedroom recently? Have any tips for readers about how to make a bedroom a better place to sleep?

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This article is from Andrea Karim of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Build a Bed for Cheap (and Look Good Doing It)

Linsey Knerl — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:05:06 +0000

Without a doubt, there are some components to today's beds that are just unnecessary. I see things like elaborate canopies or ornate sleigh beds and think, "Cool, but not me." Perhaps it is the price tag they bear (or the fact that in any given 3-month period a toddler will vomit in it) that keeps me from considering anything beyond my immediate needs. I think that most can agree on the core parts of a functioning bed. (See also: Build Your Own Furniture: 9 Helpful Tips for Non-Carpenters)

The Mattress

While you can get a little creative with the makeup of your mattress, for budget's sake, it's not always prudent. Today's mattresses have really come a long way, and offer everything from organic, memory foam, pillow-top, extra-firm, and air-filled models. A great way to save money, space, and delivery hassle is to invest in an all-in-one mattress (one that requires no additional box-spring, and uses slats in the bed frame to keep everything supported.) You can pick the mattress size that suits your lifestyle, but remember that bigger is always more expensive (and this includes an increase in frame, sheets, and covering costs, as well). If you can get away with a double or queen, it can save you a lot in the long run over the cost of that coveted California King (which wouldn't even fit in most doorways of my home.)

Eco-friendly options are hitting the markets by the gaggle, offering everything from recycled components and organic coverings to their consumers. A recent trip to Keetsa in San Francisco turned out to be a very enlightening stop for me. The mattress (while not claiming to totally eliminate the petroleum problem of memory foam) did make use of recycled materials and tea leaf extracts to counter some of the waste and toxicity. The best perks of the product was that it was uber-comfortable, and had a unique form of odor control (all-natural, of course). While not the cheapest on the market, they were reasonable, and with free shipping to your door, I could see myself as a customer. (And don't even get me started on their ingenious method of vacuum-compressing the mattresses into a box that you can carry home on the public transit systems.) Check Yelp for a look at over 50 reviews on this very shoppable store.

The Frame

Unless you plan on convincing your friends that minimalist is best, putting your mattress on a frame is a must. (I won't even go into all the problems that can occur from allowing your mattress to rest directly on the floor — bugs are enough of a mention for me.) Frames don't have to be fancy, and some of the most functional and attractive models have come from the collection at IKEA. You can build a frame yourself (check out super-easy instructions for a platform or a simple wooden frame ), but if you can part with $200-250, you can get one ready-made to match any décor.

Simple box-like frames with clean lines will cost you the least, and they will allow for you to get a little creative with your headboard choices. (They also take up much less room than sleigh beds or elaborate frames with storage systems.) Keetsa (mentioned above) also offers a bed frame that folds in half for easy storage and transportation (and it's made from recycled metals). You may find a daybed frame or super-sturdy futon frame can also meet your needs.

The Head and Footboards

I never had headboards on my beds. Space almost never allowed it, and I found them to be more trouble and expense than they were worth. Since doing my recent bed-shopping experience, however, I've been convinced that there may be a headboard out there for me (although I'm still convinced that a nice cedar chest or ottoman makes the best foot furnishings).

If you decide to go with a headboard, simple will cost you less. Try to avoid anything covered in cloth (unless you are a very, very neat person). With three drooling toddlers and a proclivity towards bed rest with each pregnancy, I find that the less porous surfaces are better. Easy cleaning and maintenance leave them looking better, longer.

Very clever individuals can avoid commercial headboards altogether, using creative juices to mount most any solid, attractive, or personal object directly to the wall (just behind where the bed will be). I've seen surfboards, vehicle grills, and canvas paintings used at the "head" of various beds — all giving off a sense of style that just can't be manufactured in an offshore furniture assembly plant.

Bedding

Blankets, sheets, duvets (and duvet-covers), shams, comforters, quilts, and the like can really make a bed the place to come home to. Buying new isn't always necessary (I love picking up handmade quilts at auctions and flea markets), but layering is helpful to regulate temperatures in areas where hot vs. cold is an hourly battle. Styles can change as often as you wash your bedding, so go bold and pick something that says, "This is your room!"

Do you have a bed that screams who you are? Or do you prefer to crash anywhere (including your best friend's couch?) Let us know what you've done, where you shop, and how you've kept it under budget. I'd love to hear from you!

(And thank you, Roger, for sharing 6 hours of bed-shopping fun with me in San Francisco — next time, let's shop online.)

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This article is from Linsey Knerl of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: