Yoga Studio Reveal (and The Design Tips You Can Use In Your Bedroom)

To me, design is all about creating spaces that support you and your health, both physically and mentally. So when I was asked to design a yoga studio for a very special friend and client, I jumped at the chance. Yoga has been an important part of my life for years so I couldn’t wait to help her create a beautiful and balanced space for her clients.

The space was an unused room on the lower-level of her home. The terra cotta tiles were the first thing that needed to go. We decided on a vinyl oak flooring with cork laid beneath. Why did we choose vinyl? It’s low-maintenance and extremely durable and it’s warmer than wood, which makes sense when you have people on the floor. In addition, the cork under the flooring helps with acoustics in a room without furniture to absorb sound. The vinyl was laid directly over the old tiles.

We chose a soft, grounding color palette of wood tones, beige and whites. One feature wall was created as a focal point in the room. The beige wall with white mandala has become the perfect backdrop for Anne while she’s teaching. I’m so pleased with how the studio turned out and have had the pleasure of practicing yoga in this very space.

Into the Bedroom…

Just as yoga can boost your health, wellbeing and happiness, so can a good night’s sleep. So here are four design ingredients that I used in the yoga studio that are just as beneficial in your bedroom:

1. Calming Color Palette

I bet you’ve never seen a yoga studio in a primary color. The warm beige we chose, along with the wood tones in the flooring, are nurturing tones associated with growth, comfort and security. The other walls are soft white, which creates a clean and calm environment.

In the bedroom, color has the power to turn the room from just a place we lay down at the end of the day, into a supportive, comfortable haven. The predominant influence should be a low-intensity color to encourage you to go off to sleep peacefully at night. There isn’t a right or wrong color, it’s all about the tone. Whether a color is stimulating or soothing depends on its intensity. Dark, saturated colors are stimulating, whereas light, less saturated colors soothe.

2. Soft Lighting

You wouldn’t want just one bright overhead light glaring in the yoga studio just as much as you wouldn’t want that in your bedroom. In the studio we added a decorative lamp with diffused light as well as candles for ambience.

In your bedroom you want to create an enveloping feel. Make sure you have adequate reading light on both sides of the bed, but make sure that’s not the only source of light. Add another decorative lamp on a dresser to create a feeling of soft pools of light coming from multiple sources in the room. Choose warm-toned lightbulbs to create a cocooned feeling. And don’t forget the candles.

3. Less is More

When I first started working on the yoga studio space, we came up with ideas for each wall in the room. But in the end we kept it really simple with one mandala as a focal point on the main wall. There’s no reason to take attention away from your yoga poses.

The same can be applied to the bedroom. More things to distract you and take your mind away from rest and relaxation is not beneficial. This is especially true for surfaces. Dressers, nightstands and windowsills should have the bare minimum of what you need (lamps, alarm clock) and just enough for the space to look beautiful and calming (a plant, candles, books) Don’t fill it with stuff and try to develop the habit of clearing off the surfaces regularly of things that just get set down (we all do that).

4. Banish Tech

One of the reasons a yoga studio feels so calm and relaxing is because you would never expect to see a screen or other tech devices there. That’s the same way you should feel about the bedroom. I know this is a tricky topic and not everyone is ready to banish their phones, iPads and TVs from the bedroom, but I encourage you to at least think about it and the effect screens can have on your sleep. Looking at a screen before bedtime tells your brain that you are wide awake and going strong, which may be directly opposed to your exhausted body, resulting in poor or interrupted sleep.

I hope this gives you some inspiration to take a yoga class or create a calming and relaxing bedroom.

If you would like to chat with me about improving your bedroom (or any other parts of your home), please reach out here . 

xx

Nicole