Are you decorating and having a hard time identifying the best bedroom products? You’re not the only one :). Everyone dreams of creating the perfect space not just for sleep but also for relaxation and sex. However, with so many products, textures, and colors to choose from, it often becomes an impossible mission. Let’s try to make it a bit easier!
Bedroom Products Shopping Tips
- Minimalism rules! Try to stick to the basics and focus on necessities only: bed, dressing room or wardrobe, nightstand, maybe a chest of drawers, and/or a beauty table.
- Space matters! Before you start shopping, take measurements and draw a plan of the room. Maybe use old newspapers to mark the different elements and ensure you have enough room to move around.
- Match colors! Try to stick to a color theme, especially as far as your bedroom furniture is concerned. You can further spice it up or add contrasts with the curtains, carpets, bedding, pillows, and other decorations. Keep in mind that dark-colored floors and furniture highlight dust and stains, so lighter colors would be easier to maintain. While Magenta is the color of 2023, unless you plan on renovating or redecorating every year, it may be better to stick to less controversial, evergreen colors.
- Stay safe and practical! Besides aesthetics, the safety, usability, and lifespan of the products you buy matter too. Slippery floors could be a hazard. Tiles on an unheated floor may keep you too cool. Very thin floors will wear out fast and require replacement.
- Compare features too, not just prices! If you’re on a budget, you may be tempted to choose the cheapest products. However, in many cases, cheap also means low quality. So check materials, features, lifespan, etc. You won’t replace your bedroom furniture every year, and your comfort and well-being will depend on the products you buy, so think long-term. Choose what’s best for you, even if it means pacing the spending, turning to buy-now-pay-later solutions, or cutting costs elsewhere.
Now you’re ready to go shopping, but another question comes up.
Should You Shop for Bedroom Products Online or Local?
Both local and online shopping have their benefits.
Benefits of Shopping Local
- Personal experience with the product
- Better customer service
- Possibility to schedule delivery better
- New product setup and, in some cases, old product removal services
- Supporting local businesses
Unfortunately, physical stores have higher bills to pay and, quite often, that translates to higher prices.
Benefits of Shopping Online
- Shop anytime, from anywhere
- Access to a wider range of products and services
- Possibility to compare prices and check reviews
- Lower prices, discounts, cashback
- Better terms (trial period, warranty, etc.)
Online stores often exaggerate product benefits, creating unrealistic expectations and misleading buyers, and some products can be difficult to return.
Under the circumstances, it may be a good idea to visit a couple of stores and get an idea of the available bedroom products and their prices, and then shop online. This way, you can get the best of both worlds and especially the products you need at the best price available.
If you share your bedroom with someone else, it’s important to align before you go out shopping, to ensure your partner is on board with your strategy and doesn’t get more excited than necessary on your store visits. The real trouble begins when you have different tastes and preferences.
How to Solve Differences of Opinion
If you and your partner want different things, decorating your bedroom can easily turn into a nightmare. Here are a few tips on how to avoid that:
- Stay open to ideas and suggestions
- Settle on a theme: classic, modern, rustic, etc.
- Agree on a color range
- Make a pact not to buy until you find products that you both like
- Shop online and/or local and make lists of favorite products
- Review your lists, trying to find products you both like
- If needed, look at prices, features, matching products, etc.
Eventually, it will come down to negotiations and compromise. If you can’t find products you both like, you’ll have to agree to disagree and share decisions in such a way that allows both of you to get what you want.
For example, if you care more about esthetics and your partner cares more about comfort, you can choose the bed design and let your partner choose the mattress. If you have different needs and preferences when it comes to the mattress, a split king bed should solve your problem and, on it, you can each have your preferred mattress, on the condition that you settle for the same firmness.
It’s also important to keep in mind that not all bedroom products are alike. Some are affordable and easy to replace. Others will be with you for years, perhaps decades. You physical and mental well-being will depend on them, so they deserve special attention.
The Most Important Bedroom Products
1. The Mattress
This is the most important bedroom product. If you don’t have a bed already, you can place it directly on the floor. If it’s too firm or too soft, it won’t be comfortable and you’ll wake up tired and with back, neck, or hip pain. We already have an in-depth guide on how to choose your mattress, so I won’t get into more details.
I would recommend a thickness of minimum 12”, cooling properties, and correlating firmness with your and your partner’s sleeping positions, while also considering your weights, motion isolation, and how your co-sleeping may influence your comfort level on the new mattress.
2. The Pillows
Unless you’re a stomach sleeper, case in which you may not use them, you need pillows. These are important not just for your comfort and sleep quality, but also for adding color and style to your overall bedroom decor. For that reason, I recommend traditional, queen-size pillows, and not the crazier shapes and models currently available on the market.
There are quite a few pillow models with various layers or fillings that can be adjusted to your needs and preferences. And, although they come with washable covers, you can play with pillowcases as you see fit to get a variety of colors and textures that will match the theme of your bedroom decor, no matter what that is.
3. The Bed
It’s the centerpiece of any bedroom, and also important for your comfort and rest. You have enough options to choose from:
Metal frame- Platform bed
- Storage bed
- Adjustable bed
- Headboard
It’s important for the bed to match the overall room design, but its contribution to your comfort and well-being shouldn’t be neglected either. In that sense, I’d recommend combining an adjustable base with an upholstered bed frame with a headboard. This way, you can change your position with the switch of a button and still have a beautiful bed design that matches the rest of the room.
4. Window Curtains or Blinds
Leaving aside their importance for the room design, I strongly recommend blackout curtains or blinds, especially if you live in an area where the street lights could become an issue or you like to sleep in late or take afternoon naps. The colors, textures, and designs will be entirely up to you.
5. Other Bedroom Products
Yes, there are many other products needed in a bedroom, from the nightstands to the dressing room, lighting, carpets, and more. Since those don’t really impact your sleep and comfort, I’d rather leave the choice to you.
Another controversial decision is whether to have a TV in the room or not. For some people, watching TV in bed is a pleasure, part of their bedtime routine. For others, it’s a distraction, an impediment to their rest and an active sex life.
Personally, I think the TV in itself is not a problem. What you do with it matters. You need to find a balance, to know when to turn it off and when to make the most of it. Used right, it may actually spice up your sex life and help you go to sleep earlier.
Final Thoughts
The bedroom should be your home sanctuary, your place of peace and quiet, your oasis of comfort and well-being. Give it some thought, and give yourself time to shop around and find the best bedroom products. After all, the decisions you make when redecorating will impact your sleep and well-being for nights, months, and years to come – it’s important to make the most of them!