Art for the Bedroom: Calming Colors for Sleep and the First Painting You See in the Morning

The bedroom is where each day begins and ends. At night, just before you turn off the light. In the morning, right after you open your eyes. Compared with other rooms, most of our time there is spent asleep, and perhaps for that reason, what we see in those few waking moments tends to stay with us. Here I have gathered feng shui ideas about the bedroom, along with what sleep experts say about color, as a guide to choosing a painting for the bedroom.

In feng shui, the bedroom is a place to recharge

An article on feng shui from CREX calls the bedroom a “charging station for good fortune.” The idea is that while we sleep, we take in good energy and build up strength for the next day.

For color, the basic suggestion is to use warm, light colors such as ivory, beige, and off-white as the base, and then add small touches of blue, green, pink, or yellow. As decoration, the article also mentions bringing in lively floral motifs through cushions, curtains, or framed art. Details can differ between schools, so I think it is best to take this as one way of thinking.

Gentle colors recommended by sleep experts

Apart from feng shui, there is also advice about bedroom color from the point of view of sleep. Sleep consultant Nao Tomono suggests that the large surfaces in a bedroom, such as duvet covers, curtains, and carpets, work well in colors like ivory, yellow-green, light blue, and pink. She writes, “Avoid strongly contrasting colors and unify the room in gentle tones!”

Image consultant テート小畠利子, in her book on British-style homemaking, also recommends calming colors such as light blue, green, lavender, cream, and gray for the large surfaces of a bedroom. Red is said to give off lively energy and stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, so she suggests not using much of it in the bedroom.

The colors these two experts recommend are very close to the base colors suggested in feng shui. A painting with soft colors or calm tones seems to blend most easily into the quiet of a bedroom.

Things to check when hanging art in the bedroom

What you see from the bed: Notice what comes into view when you lie down and when you sit up. In the bedroom, you will look at a painting from the bed more often than while standing
How strong the colors are: Keeping the large surfaces gentle and letting the painting carry just a little of a color you love tends to feel natural
Evening and morning light: A bedside lamp at night, light through the curtains in the morning. Looking at the painting in both kinds of light will show you where it looks its best
Hanging it safely: If you hang a painting directly above the bed, use hardware that holds it securely

The first painting you see in the morning

A painting in the bedroom does more than help you settle at night. It also becomes the first picture you meet when you open your eyes in the morning. A woman in her thirties who welcomed one of my paintings told me, “I look at this work every morning before I start my day.” She also wrote, “Every time I see it, I feel the mindset I need falling into place.” Having a painting made for you close by at the start of each day can be a quiet source of strength.

My commissioned art begins with listening to the person’s story before I paint. When a painting is meant for the bedroom, I also ask about the room’s light, how the wall is seen from the bed, and how they would like to feel when they look at it at night and in the morning, and I think about color and size together with that. Paintings for yourself or someone dear to you are described on the PERSONAL ORDER ART page, and paintings for companies and clinics on the BUSINESS ART page.

Summary

In feng shui, the bedroom is called a “charging station for good fortune,” with warm, light colors such as ivory and beige as the base
Sleep experts also recommend gentle colors for the bedroom’s large surfaces and suggest avoiding strong contrast and red
Paintings with soft colors blend easily into a bedroom, and floral motifs are also recommended
Check what you see from the bed, how strong the colors are, the evening and morning light, and secure hardware, so the painting is pleasant to see every day

Sources

CREX (寝室の風水で運気アップ！やってはいけない配置と色10選を解説)
All About (ぐっすり眠れる「空間づくり」のポイント3つ) Nao Tomono
Gentosha Gold Online (やめたら『夫婦喧嘩』がなくなった…寝室に絶対使ってはいけない『色』) テート小畠利子
Mermaid nao official website (VOICES)