'It's simply harder to unwind in a cluttered space': the hotel sheet hack that's helping me reclaim my sleep sanctuary

Your bed should be your sleep sanctuary but for a long time mine has doubled as a storage space. Sharing custody of the laundry pile with my desk chair, even moving the clutter before bed can't shake the feeling I'm curling up to sleep in my wardrobe.

As well as being bad for my mattress — clothes can carry all sorts of allergens and dust — this mess is terrible for my shut-eye. Being surrounded by clutter makes it hard to sleep by causing a spike in your cortisol levels, giving you a little burst of anxiety pre-bed.

But then I discovered the hotel bed sheet hack used by luxury hotels including the Ritz-Carlton and the Four Seasons, and found a way to bring back my sleep sanctuary.

I spoke to the experts about why my messy bed was damaging my sleep and how the right environment can improve your sleep.

How clutter impacts your sleep

Gillian Economou, a professional organizer at Sort it Out, explains she sees clutter impacting sleep all the time. "When bedrooms feel calmer and more put together, people noticeably feel more relaxed and are able to sleep better at night," Economou explains.

"When a bedroom is cluttered and messy," she says, "especially when the bed isn't made, or it has piles of clothes and random items on top, it instantly makes the room feel more stressful and unfinished, which can keep your mind running."

Dr. Nina Kocher, a board-certified psychiatrist at quintessence psychiatry, dove deeper to explain to us why a messy bedroom harms your sleep. She explained that a bedroom should be the place where your nervous system switches off but that mess creates a "low-grade state of alertness."

"Mess can make your body feel anxious even when your mind is not actively thinking about it," she said.

"It's simply just harder to unwind in a cluttered space," agrees Economou.

What is the hotel bed sheet hack?

Luxury hotels use two tricks to make their beds look dreamily inviting: clean white bedding and lots of it.

Let's start with the color. Hotels use white bedding because it's associated with cleanliness — any marks will show up instantly.

And as well as looking clean, white sheets are easy to clean. You can put them in a hot wash with plenty of bleach and no worries about fading.

They're also timeless. White bed sheets won't look out of place when soft-Scandi hygge rooms are replaced by the next big bedroom trend. So hotels don't have to update the sheets every season.

Using multiple layers of bedding — some hotels even employ a triple sheet method — also creates an inviting look. A well-made hotel bed is something you just can't wait to burrow into.

(Plus, more sheets can actually make laundry easier. A flat sheet forms a washable barrier between you and your bulkier blankets.)

As a result, hotel beds are a calming oasis. And that's just what we need for sleep.

Why the hotel bed sheet hack helps me sleep

"An unmade bed itself is not inherently bad for sleep," says Dr. William Lu Medical Director for digital sleep clinic Dreem Health. "It won’t physiologically prevent you from falling asleep or directly cause nighttime awakenings."

However, he notes that clutter can tarnish what should be your sleep space.

"It’s not the bed at the end of the day, but how your environment makes you feel," he explains.

Inspired by the best hotel mattresses, I recently switched my worn out bedding for white cotton percale sheets (mine came from Spin & Yarn.) This hotel bedding hack transformed how my bed made me feel — and my cleaning schedule.

White sheets are easier to care for

We recommend changing your bed sheets roughly once a week, with more frequent washing when you're sick (beds can be a reservoir for germs.)

But I'll be honest, I frequently fall behind on my laundry. And when it's a choice between fresh bed sheets or leaving the house in clean clothes, I'll pick the clothes every time.

However, the easy care of white bedding helps me speed through my laundry. Without the worry of fading or running colors, I can simply stick the sheets in the washer and dryer and let the machines do the work.

In addition, multiple white layers allows for a mix and match approach — on the weeks when I can't make time to wash every inch of my bedding, I priorotize the flat sheet and fitted sheet to keep my bed in better condition.

And it makes me want to care for my bed

I've always loved any excuse to stay at a hotel, partly because I relish curling up in those clean, crisp bed sheets at night.

With multiple layers of my own percale bedding, I can come close to recreating that experience at home (okay, I can't quite manage hotel corners.)

As Dr. Lu says, it's about how the environment makes you feel. And my clean white sheets make climbing into bed feel like a treat at the end of the day. The laundry pile is gone, and I instead enjoy the content calm of a night in a hotel — without the frustrating first night effect.

Plus, with any marks showing up easily, I don't want to dump The Pile on my bed during the day. To avoid ruining a sleep environment I'm enthused about, I've finally found another place for my laundry. And no, it's not a floordrobe.

Create good sleep with a luxury turndown service

Let's be honest, at least part of the reason a hotel bed is so inviting is that we don't have to make it ourselves. But these easy tips can create a hotel turndown service in just 15 minutes...

• Turn the temperature down: The optimal temperature for sleep is around 65 to 70°F (18 to 21°C) and it's this neutral feel you'll find in most hotel rooms.
• Keep the nightstand tidy: Often the last thing you see at night, a messy nightstand can give you a little dose of the stress-hormone cortisol before bed. The 15 minute 'set the stage' hack can help you keep things clean.
• Dim the lights: During a hotel turndown service staff will typically lower the lights, which tells your body clock (or circadian rhythm), that it's time to sleep.
• Refresh your bed: Fluff the pillows, neaten the corners and spray a calming sleep mist to create an inviting environment before you drop off.

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