How a Wool Quilt can Keep You Cool in summer

Wool is one of the best-loved fabrics during winter time. This snuggly fabric is soft to the touch, lightweight offers great protection from the cold and is available in an abundance of different shades, hues, yarn thicknesses, and textures.

Wool is used for manufacturing a great variety of clothing items, bed linen and is especially loved for creating beautiful quilts. 

6 Ways to Make Your Bedroom Feel Like a 5-Star Hotel Room

The bedroom is the one room in the house where you can let your imagination run free and create a space that truly reflects your taste. It’s the place where you go to rest after a stressful day, so why not take some ideas from luxury hotels and turn your bedroom into your ultimate sanctuary? 

From choosing a colour palette to creating the most comfortable bed complete with a sumptuous woollen underlay, here are 6 ways to make your bedroom feel like a 5-star hotel room.

1.       Decide on a Colour Scheme

While many hotels choose neutral colour schemes, you don’t need to be restricted to beige, white or grey unless you really want to. Have some fun in your room and experiment with paint samples and wallpapers to create a colour scheme you really love. 

2.       Plan Your Space

Hotel rooms often have clearly defined areas, depending on the amount of space they have available. If your room allows, create an area for sleeping, maybe add a reading space with a chair and lamp, and an area to dress. Work out which activities you plan to do in your room and plan the space accordingly. 

3.       Add Layers of Comfort

Having a well-ventilated, quiet room is the key to restful sleep. You may need to add air-conditioning if you live in a hot climate or it may be necessary to add extra insulation, both to keep the room at a constant temperature and to muffle external noises. 

Install a luxurious deep pile carpet or rug to cushion bare feet, hang fabric on the wall and think about changing your wooden headboard for the padded variety. You’ll may also want to add extra layers of luxurious fabrics to your bed, such as a wool underlay and duvet, together with pillows, cushions and throws. 

4.       Dim the Lights 

Hotel rooms rarely have just one ceiling light and a couple of bedside lamps. The designers know that the correct lighting is key to creating a relaxing environment. 

So think about extras such as three-way switches that turn on bedside lamps from the doorway, installing a light in your closet to shed light on your clothes, individually controlled reading lights and, of course, dimmer switches.

If you have an ensuite bathroom attached, you’ll need extra bright light particularly above your makeup/shaving mirror, but you may want to think about adding LED lighting strips around or under the vanity unit or bathtub for extra impact. 

5.       The Bed

Of course, the most important aspect of any bedroom is the bed, so buy the best you can afford. Add an Australian wool underlay to keep your body at an optimum temperature and protect the mattress and buy top quality bedding, such as 300 thread count sheets and duvet covers. 

Top it off with a throw that can double up as blanket when you want to snuggle up in your chair and read. 

6.       The Finishing Touches

Add your favourite art and photographs, fresh flowers and plants and any other items that reflect you and your personality to make the room unique and personal. Then lie back and enjoy all your hard work – in your luxury 5-star bedroom.

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Is There A Difference Between a Wool Underlay and a Wool Topper?

Many of us are aware of the advantages of sleeping on a wool underlay rather than on one made of down, foam or polyester but with so many different products on the market; we’re often confused about whether we should be investing in an Australian wool underlay or in a woollen topper. 

So if you’ve been wondering if there a difference between the two, read on for our advice. 

The Visible Differences Between Wool Toppers and Wool Underlays

The easiest way to tell the difference between a wool underlay and a topper is by using your eyes.

An underlay has wool visible from the outside which makes it look more like a rug and is fitted to your mattress by way of a cotton skirt, much in the same way as you fit an elasticated sheet. 

A woollen topper looks more like a quilt as the woollen filling is encased inside a quilted cotton cover which is fitted to your mattress with four corner straps. 

So Why Use an Underlay Rather than a Topper? 

An underlay is used as a layer of cushioning between the mattress and your sheets to give more comfort as you sleep and protect the mattress from moisture, sweat and spills. This will help your mattress to remain cleaner and will extend its lifespan. 

The underlay also helps to spread your body weight more evenly which may help to reduce pressure on specific areas of your body, plus the natural fibres will help to keep your body at its optimum temperature throughout the year. 

However, underlays made from wool are often more expensive than woollen toppers because they are reversible. During the hot months, you can reverse the underlay so that you rest on the cotton side and then reverse it back to the wool side as it gets colder.

Wool toppers are primarily designed to protect your mattress from dirt and sweat. While the woollen filling does offer additional softness and comfort, you don’t have the advantages of being able to lie directly on the wool. 

This, of course, may be a benefit for anyone who has an allergy to wool and makes it a particularly comfortable option for summer use.

In addition, as toppers are not reversible, they often cost less than an underlay, plus they do tend to be lighter in weight too. 

The Choice is Yours

Whether you choose a woollen underlay or topper is down to personal preference and budget. While underlays tend to be more expensive, you do get all the benefits of sleeping on wool.

However, if cost is a consideration or you are irritated by woollen fibres, a topper may be a better option for you. 

But whichever you choose, you’ll still have the experience of sleeping on 100% Australian wool and the benefits that sleeping on natural fibres brings.

Halcyon Dreams Wool Bedding

Halcyon Dreams Wool Bedding

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Create the Perfect Bedroom for Restful Sleep

Many of us struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep and get the rest that we need. While many things can affect the quality of our sleep, including what you consume in the evening, there’s no doubt that your sleeping environment is a major contributing factor. 

If you’re finding that your sleep is impaired, there are several things you can do to improve it – from ensuring you’re comfortable in bed by sleeping on a Australian wool underlay to completely blocking out the light with black-out blinds – so let’s take a look at 5 easy ways to create the perfect bedroom for restful sleep.

1.       Ensure Your Bedroom is Cool

Sleep will come far easier if your bedroom is cool. Researchers have found that warmer temperatures have an effect on the quality of your sleep, with temperatures of between 60 and 72^o Fahrenheit being the optimum. This may necessitate using air con in the summer or perhaps a ceiling or freestanding fan.

2.       Buy Natural Bedding

If you’re sleeping in bedding that’s been manufactured with man-made fibres, you may want to try natural bedding instead. 

Replacing your polyester based mattress toppers with a king or queen wool underlay will help you to remain cooler and help you sleep better. A new king wool underlay may be an investment, but you’ll soon feel the difference in your quality of sleep.

3.       Block Out the Light

Our body works based on our natural biorhythms and one way to tell it that it’s time to sleep is to make sure that it’s dark in the bedroom. 

If your room is light, your brain will delay the release of melatonin – the hormone which regulates our sleep cycle – and produce cortisol which tells your body that you should be awake and alert. Installing blackout blinds is a simple solution. 

4.       Banish TV and Other Electronics

How many of you watch TV or use your tablet or phone in bed? Researchers suggest that the blue light that comes from TVs and other screens may negatively affect your internal clock. Keep TV and scrolling out of the bedroom and you may find you have a better night’s sleep. 

5.       Reach for the Earplugs

Noisy neighbours, your partner’s snoring, loud televisions. There’s no doubt that noise can affect our ability to fall asleep. If you can’t control the noise itself, consider wearing earplugs. Other alternatives include playing white noise or sounds from nature to mask irritating background noises. 

The Bottom Line

Ensuring that your bedroom is cool, dark, quiet and distraction-free can go a long way to helping you to improve your sleep, as can investing in natural, sweat-wicking wool bedding. So, if you want to optimise your sleep, why not try a few of these changes this weekend?