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How your bedroom colours can impact your mood and your sleep

best bedroom colours to paint your bedroom for a great nights sleep

How your bedroom colours can impact your mood and your sleep

Blue skies, green grass, pink flamingos, yellow bananas — everything has colour. And we are lucky enough to be able to pick out, paint and decorate our spaces with colours we love and gravitate towards. Colours, just like people, have personalities and they can impact our moods, our feelings and even our sleep patterns. So when picking out bedroom colours or doing an interior redesign, it can be helpful to consider how colours can affect you.

Incorporating colour into your home can be a delicate balance of art and science. Although people tend to gravitate toward a colour that reflects their personalities, colour psychology plays an important role in interior design and we are here to help you navigate the best colours for your bedroom, specifically.


best bedroom colours to paint your bedroom for a great nights sleep

Bedroom colours that may help you sleep

The bedroom should be the most relaxing place in your house. This is where you rest after a long day, cuddle up to a loved one at night, read a book, enjoy some quiet time and relax in your sanctuary. Certain colours may evoke relaxation, while others stimulate your mind and make you more awake.

Put the “ooh” in a blue bedroom

Perhaps our colour of choice for a bedroom, blue can evoke tranquillity, calm and the feeling of stability. As one of the most calming colours, having blue on your walls can slow your heart rate down and even lower your blood pressure. Subtle blues are perfectly suited for personal spaces, that want to feel soothing and zen-like.

Blue doesn’t have any warm colour influence as it is surrounded by cool colours on the colour wheel, so add a little pop of warm colour in your bedroom to make sure your space doesn’t feel too cold.

Green is grand

Reminiscent of nature, a green bedroom can put you in a relaxing mood. Many people find this colour to be harmonising and refreshing — no wonder it gets picked so often for restful bedrooms and even spa bathrooms. Being a mixture of yellow and blue, green has the calming effects of blue and the cheerfulness of yellow. This helps your space avoid feeling too cold, as blue might.

Green is great for stress relief and another plus for choosing green as your bedroom colour of choice is that it’s said to prevent nightmares. This could be something to consider when decorating a child’s room.

Tones of emerald, mint, lime or even sage can all add elegance and charm to your room of rest.

Paint your bedroom green for a relaxing sleep

Live life in warm yellows


While not thought of as a sleep-inducing wall colour, waking up to a yellow bedroom can perk you up instantly. Yellow is the colour of affection, empathy and warmth.

The lighter shades are less likely to distract you from your sleep. Keep flamboyant yellows to a minimum in the bedroom, but you could use the bright yellows in places like a study as it’s said to increase your focus.

One thing to note is that yellow makes babies cry the most — this may be because yellow is the first colour the eye sees and it could overstimulate your tiny human. So you probably want to think twice about using yellow in a nursery.

Tickled pastel pink

A subdued shade of pink may have a tint of red, but it has a different effect on your mood. Light pinks have been shown to promote calmness and reduce aggression. It’s whimsical.

Beige is atmospheric

Beige can sometimes be referred to as tan, fawn, cream, taupe or even ivory. Considered constant, adaptable and soothing, beige adds an air of calm to a room. It also allows you to have fun with accessories in cool or warm tones. Pops of other accent colours are great but as a solid colour choice in a space, it can appear bland and washed out.

For individuals that struggle to fall asleep, having beige as their background colour can positively affect the time it takes to fall asleep. Beige is not overstimulating and won’t distract those that can easily be swayed by vibrancy.

The sight of white

White is usually the colour that represents purity and innocence and can create a sense of space. Using white in your bedrooms can often make a room seem larger and more spacious. If done the right way it can hardly be considered bland and sterile. Bedrooms dressed in white feel fresh, lively and dreamy — what is dreamier than drifting off to sleep in a room that resembles a fluffy white cloud.

A good day for grey

Grey can be considered a colour of formality, but it’s very neutral and pleasing to the eye. Almost all decor styles are compatible with this popular calm colour. Using grey alone can project a modern or edgy vibe, or timeless elegance. Being surrounded by grey as you’re falling asleep, can add to your sense of calm and allow your body to focus on resting.

Grey is the best neutral colour to paint your bedroom

The worst bedroom colours for sleep

Overly vibrant colours are beautiful and bold but should be avoided on bedroom walls. Loud and energetic colours can stimulate your mind and may make it difficult to wind down at night.
If you’re feeling the vibrant colours, consider muted versions of them as the general rule of thumb. For example. Swap out bright purple for a light lavender, and fire-engine red with a softer salmon shade.

Red hot and not restful

Red is the most intense of the colours and ramps up the energy in a room. It also raises blood pressure and heart rate. So all that extra energy means it may not be so great for bedrooms where you are trying to relax.

Red walls can make a room feel angry, and your body may struggle to relax in that kind of environment. So avoid red if you want a good night’s sleep.

Don’t think hot pink

We agree that a soft dusty pink feels sweet, nurturing and gentle and could have a calming effect in the bedroom, but if the shade is too intense you aren’t going to feel calm.

Paint your bedroom subtle pink for a calming effect

Orange is zesty, but bedrooms are for rest(y)

Orange is energising and fun, but it is not the right pick for bedroom colours. It may have fewer negative side effects than red, but this colour shares similar characteristics. So if you shy away from red, you will want to avoid rich orange as well.

We don’t recommend painting the town dark brown

Certain shades of brown can make your bedroom feel cosy, welcoming and rustic. Dark brown, however, can evoke feelings of uncertainty. The darker shade can also bring up feelings of sadness, isolation or loneliness.

Avoid glossy paint

No matter which colour you choose, the finish of the paint may be equally important in terms of sleep quality. An overly glossy finish can reflect light and, in turn, stimulate your brain, so aim for a more flat or matte one instead.

use paint colours to give a good nights sleep

The Meelu recommendation

To conclude, bedrooms are meant for serenity and sweet dreams and colours can help build that ambience. We love green because it is relaxing and prevents nightmares, and blue because it is calming and slows down your heart rate. So pick your bedroom colours carefully and then jump into your Meelu mattress to get that well-deserved rest.

One more thing: Don’t forget that your ceiling is your 5th wall and the one you may look at at night, so you can also paint there to add to your bedroom atmosphere.

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