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Sleep
Better by Having Darker Surfaces in Your Bedroom To Absorb
Light
A less-than-dark bedroom is an enemy of sleep. Your body won't
produce sleep-inducing melatonin in the quantity it should
if your bedroom lacks darkness when you are trying to sleep.
To help achieve darkness in your bedroom, you should have
as much darker-colored surfaces as you can, such as darker-colored
walls, carpeting, bedding and furniture.
This is because darker colors absorb light, as opposed to
reflecting it. Having darker-colored surfaces can make a dramatic
difference in the brightness of your room.
Form should follow function
It's important to remember that your bedroom has a specific
function. Since it's the place where you sleep, its main function
should be to help foster sleep, not deter it. So the form
or colors of your bedroom should help this important function.
Many people think that the bedroom's main function is to look
pleasing, which may include having bright colors. No, no,
no. Take my mother, for example. She has yellow-colored walls
in her bedroom with white curtains. Her room seems bright
24 hours a day. Even her small illuminated clock can light
up the whole room at night because of the light-reflecting
surfaces.
While the colors in her bedroom may look nice, it is not a
good sleeping environment. And, yes, she complains that she
does not sleep well!
Dramatic personal example
For years, I had a bedroom that had off-white walls and brighter-colored
furniture. I hated the way that the early morning sunlight
illuminated the room and disrupted my sleep. I knew that a
lack of light-absorbing darker colors in my bedroom was at
least part of the problem.
So one day I painted the room dark tan. Lo and behold, the
next morning I was not awakened by sunlight that entered my
bedroom because the darker paint had absorbed much of it.
I was amazed at the difference. I also eventually bought,
in addition to light-blocking
window treatment, a darker-colored bed spread and darker-colored
furniture. Now my bedroom is as dark as a cave when I sleep,
and I have no doubt the quality of my sleep has improved as
a result.
Absorb light from your clock
and electronics
Often a significant and bothersome source of light in the
bedroom while you try to sleep is the illuminated time display
of your clock or clock radio. There is a fairly simple solution
to this problem.
Find an
old black sock or black cloth. Then lay it over the top of
the clock so that at least part of it dangles over the time
display and covers it. (You don't want to cover the clock
completely because it needs to effectively release the small
amount of heat that it generates.) This will block much of
the light, and black is best because it will absorb the light.
Then when you need to see the time you can just lift the sock
or cloth. The other solution is to put black tape over the
illuminated time display, but this, of course, makes finding
out the time difficult and time consuming.
Another source of bothersome light can come from electronics,
even when they are off. A power indicator light on a TV or
computer can dimly light up a small room. In this case, placing
black electrician tape over the lights is probably the best
solution. You can cut a piece of tape that's just large enough
to cover the light so it won't make the electronic device
look trashy. It's true that if you ever want to know if the
electronic device is plugged in without looking at the wall
you will have to take the tape off, but this does not seem
that something that will happen often.
Light
entering under the bedroom door
If light is entering under your bedroom door, then consider
putting a towel at the base to block the light. A dark or
even black towel is best since it will largely absorb the
light.
Still skeptical?
If you are skeptical about how darker colors can darken your
bedroom, conduct a little experiment. Get a flashlight and
go into a small dark room, such as a small bathroom, and shut
the door to keep all light out.
Turn the flashlight on and find a light-colored surface (the
lighter colored the better). Shine the flashlight onto the
surface just a few inches away. The result will be that the
light reflects off of the light-colored surface and illuminates
the small room. Now find a dark-colored surface (the darker
the better) and do the same thing with the flashlight. This
time the result will be that the dark-colored surface absorbs
most of the light, leaving the room largely dark. Pretty neat.
So what does this prove? It shows that light is no match for
darker surfaces, and that you should apply this lesson to
your bedroom. The final result will be a better chance for
great sleep.
External resources
The
Atlantic article -- Hello Darkness
National
Institues of Health
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