The secret to a good night's sleep

A couple of years ago I was wading through a copy of The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and found myself mulling over her words about sleep, and how important it is to create the right environment that is conducive to a restful night. I've always loved long snoozes, but often find the lure of late night movies or blog reading too tempting. I crawl into bed after midnight and muster just 6 or 7 hours sleep before dragging myself out of bed for work the next day, struggling to shake off the thick fog that clouds my brain (usually with the help of a hefty dose of caffeine). I'd feel groggy, lethargic, grumpy and, well, tired.

When Frank and I moved in together my sleep took a bit more of a battering. It took quite a long time to get used to sharing a bed every night (although thankfully Frank's not a snorer and I'm the one more inclined to hog the duvet). Our mattress was cheap and lumpy, our bed felt too small for my wriggling, and I was woken every morning at 4.50am by the flashing lights and beeping of the corporate recycling lorries outside my window. I convinced myself it was me, yet no amount of calming candles, lavender oil, early nights, bubble baths or meditation seemed to do the trick. Finally one particular night I lay in bed with Frank fast asleep at my side, the cats snoring at my feet, and realised I could see the detail of everything in our room. The flashing lights of the router, the pathetic unlined curtains, the street lamps outside, the lights on my mobile phone. No wonder I was sleeping so badly and feeling so crappy in the morning.

When we moved to Manchester I made a vow to put Gretchen's theories to the test and create a bedroom that was a tranquil space with a luxury bed, full of fresh morning light during the day, but pitch black and restful at night. We plumped for a shade of sage green with off-white woodwork, the thickest, fully lined black-out curtains I could find, and turned our attention to the bed. Normally I would have satisfied myself with a cheap bed frame and mattress from Ikea, but this time I new I wanted something better quality. Foregoing my usual online clothes shopping trips, I scoured website after website looking for beds, and was sorely tempted by some beautiful four poster beds that I spotted online (but would sadly leave little room for manoeuvring around).

Despite our main bedroom not being huge (although it's deceptively bigger than the photo below), we eventually decided on a king size antique metal frame with a way-more-expensive-than-we're-used-to pocket sprung mattress and an all-season feather duvet. It turned out to be the perfect plan, and despite the sting of paying a bit more for the mattress and curtains, I haven't consistently slept this well in months.

I'm looking forward to giving you a proper house tour once we've completely finished decorating. I still need to buy a couple of lamps and side tables, a lampshade and all those other nick nacks that seem to add up. But one thing's sure, as I stretch out in my huge bed under my cosy duvet in the pitch black, saving up some pennies and spending them wisely has given me the best nights' sleep I can remember.

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