We spend one third of our lives sleeping, yet we treat sleep as the leftover of productive hours. The bedroom often becomes a storage of stimuli, a place where we accumulate objects, glowing screens, and unresolved thoughts.
In my book A Green Architect as a friend, I write about how homes must return to the ancient intelligence that understood the body’s needs before they became emergencies. Sleep is the first of these needs.
Bioarchitecture teaches that a bedroom is not something to furnish but something to design.
The bed’s position is essential: the headboard should rest against a solid wall, never under a window (as is so common in many Anglo-Saxon countries!) because we turn our backs to an opening we cannot control. Nor should it align with the door–window axis: psychologically (and unconsciously) we never feel fully protected.
Keep it away from mirrors, which multiply stimuli, and from walls adjacent to noisy bathrooms. None of this is folklore, but applied physics: the body perceives discontinuities and insecurity even when the mind is asleep.

Materials speak directly to the nervous system.
A bed frame made of natural wood offers the stability that metal structures cannot. Wood breathes, absorbs humidity, and regulates temperature. Linen or organic cotton sheets create a different microclimate than synthetic microfiber, which traps heat.
Cork or wooden floors muffle noise, while clay walls breathe and balance humidity.

Colors are not just an aesthetic choice, but a physiological tool.
Ganglion cells in the retina, sensitive to blue, continue to inform the brain even with eyes closed, influencing melatonin. Blue slows heart rate and lowers blood pressure.
British studies show that people sleeping in blue bedrooms rest 7 hours and 52 minutes on average: more than any other color.
Green evokes forests and activates relaxation: sage, matcha, rosemary tones.
Neutrals work best when they recall skin and earth: beige, blush pink, taupe, sand.
Avoid pure white, which dazzles; gray, which depresses; and red, which overstimulates.

The ideal temperature? Between 16 and 18°C.
Prefer near-total darkness (not complete): light interferes with circadian rhythms, but a touch of dawn light supports a natural and healthy awakening. Silence is best ensured through sound-absorbing materials.

The pre-sleep ritual should begin one hour before bed: no screens, as they block the natural production of melatonin, which induces sleep.
Dedicate thirty minutes to slowing down: a warm bath, very soft music, reading a printed book, or the 4-7-8 breathing technique (inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7, exhale for 8).
Writing down your thoughts in a journal clears the mind: try it! Journaling is an incredibly effective natural sleep aid.

What not to do: don’t eat late or heavily: active digestion disturbs sleep.
Avoid caffeine after 3 p.m.: it stays in your system for up to six hours. Skip alcohol, which seduces but breaks sleep cycles. No intense workouts within three hours before bed.
And never start serious discussions before sleeping: they activate cortisol, the hormone of stress and wakefulness!

Going to bed at the same time every night, even on weekends, helps enormously.

The art of sleep is not a luxury, but a form of mental hygiene translated into practical choices.
When we prepare our bedroom and body with care, sleep becomes what it was designed to be: a natural crossing toward the essential restoration of our cells.