How window dressings can help to improve sleep, rest and calm within the home

Window dressing plays a crucial role in sensory design, a decorating and styling strategy that ensures all interior spaces activate the human senses – sight, scent, sound, touch, and taste. By considering all senses when styling a room, you can create somewhere that completely supports you and your needs.

Why is sensory interior design important?

Sensory experiences can massively impact how you feel in a space. For example, when we’re at home, we want to feel safe, secure, relaxed, and calm (although there are some exceptions), and sensory interior design allows us to manipulate spaces in a way that helps to trigger the emotions we’d like to feel and the experience we’d like to have.

How window dressings can help to improve sleep, rest and calm within the home

The fabrics we choose for our window dressings are integral for getting a good night’s sleep, as they help block out the light or diffuse bright light to create a calming environment. This is because sleep and rest are crucial for our wellbeing, and more studies show it’s just as important, if not more so, than exercise to keep us healthy.

Hillarys have launched the new ‘Calm Living’ collection, which aligns with the sensory design principles. The range offers roman blinds, roller blinds and curtains, all with blackout options. This broad range of window treatments, made from sustainable and natural fabrics, comes in neutral and pastel shades, perfect for finishing off the look and feel of the room. So whether you need blinds for a study or curtains for a bedroom, their collection has a sustainable and practical solution in various colours to enhance the feeling of calm.

Natural light plays a massive part in the quality of our sleep. As light pours into the room, it has an effect on our bodies which causes them to wake up and warm up. Similarly, when it’s dark outside, our body starts winding down and releases melatonin to make us sleepy. Studies show that interference from light whilst you sleep can negatively impact your health, with links to depression and obesity. So if you have street lights outside your window, it’s even more important to have effective window dressing with a blackout treatment to block out the light. Equally, if you have a bright room, you can use linen curtains or voile to diffuse the light during the day, making it less of an intense space.

The body’s temperature is also vital for sleep, and window treatments are an effective way of keeping the room warm in the winter and the heat out in the summer. Our sleep can be interrupted if the body is too cold or overheats. Hillarys Calm Living collection has an extensive selection of high-quality, sustainable fabrics and materials, which help to provide a soothing look for your space. From lovely thick textured curtains to faux wood blinds, their range has something to suit every room and style. The curtains also come with the option of a thermal lining, ideal for
keeping the heat in.

Our wellbeing is crucial to how we function in day-to-day life, and sleep is a huge part of that. Make sure your window treatments are suitable for your room, provide cosiness, and warmth and block out the light effectively to give you the best sleep possible. If you need some inspiration for any of your rooms, look at the Hillarys Calm Living collection; their collection is focused on giving you a serene and practical space to sleep, study, live and play in.